Although forgiveness is a broad psychological construct of increasing interest, the majority of research has focused on forgiveness of another person for a specific transgression. Independent of other dimensions of forgiveness, self-forgiveness has been significantly associated with health and well-being. Many dimensions of forgiveness share common definitional components; however, due to conceptual differences based on the self as both the offender and the offended, a distinct definition of self-forgiveness is necessary. Indeed, definition and resultant measurement-related limitations have likely slowed the progression of research on self-forgiveness, including understanding the role of self-forgiveness in the promotion of health and well-being and the role of self-forgiveness in facilitating treatment itself. A comprehensive literature review was conducted revealing 177 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles focused on the psychology of self-forgiveness. Of those 177 articles, 85 (48.02%) contained explicit definition-based information regarding self-forgiveness as a particular construct, from which 5 key distinctive definitional components were identified: reconciliation, acceptance, accountability, human-connectedness, and change-commitment. A comprehensive and accessible definition of self-forgiveness is proposed based on a consensus of the scientific peer-reviewed psychological literature. In addition, implications of a consensus definition for more effective assessment and treatment are discussed.

Objective: Suicide risk is a significant public health concern for college students and may be exacerbated by hopelessness resulting from negative life events (NLE), yet may be ameliorated by self-compassion. We examined the mediating role of hopelessness in the relation between NLE and suicidal behavior, and the moderating influence of self-compassion on all model paths. Participants: Participants were 338 undergraduates (89% white; 67% female). Data were collected from December 2014 to December 2015. Methods: Participants completed the Life Events Checklist for College Students, Beck Hopelessness Inventory, Self-Compassion Scale, and Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised. Results: Negative life events were related to greater hopelessness and, in turn, to more suicidal behavior, yet self-compassion attenuated this effect. Conclusions: Self-compassion may buffer the NLE-hopelessness linkage, thereby reducing suicide risk among college students. Therapeutic promotion of self-compassion, and reduction of hopelessness, may be important suicide prevention strategies on college campuses.

Growing evidence for the salubrious association of spirituality with physical and mental health related outcomes has led to the consideration of spirituality as a protective factor against suicidal behavior. Although support for this basic association is robust, particularly in the context of religious belief and attendance, spirituality has yet to be explored as it relates to psychache-intense, unrelenting psychological pain. Additionally, self-forgiveness has emerged as an important protective factor against suicidal behavior, but has not been explored in the context of psychache. Following a model developed by Webb, Hirsch, and Toussaint (2015), we examine the protective role of spirituality on suicidal behavior, based on three dimensions of spirituality: ritualistic, theistic, and existential. Cross-sectional data were collected from the self-report surveys of 262 individuals drawn from the larger U.S. community. Results suggest that existential spirituality may be the dimension of spirituality most robustly associated with suicidal behavior. Further, self-forgiveness and psychache were found to be mediators of the relationship between existential spirituality and suicidal behavior. Synthesis of the findings from this study, and the implications thereof, are discussed.

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