Liliana Costa, Everett L Worthington, Cristina Cavadas Montanha, Ana Bela Couto, Carla Cunha
{"title":"Construct validity of two measures of self-forgiveness in Portugal: a study of self-forgiveness, psychological symptoms, and well-being.","authors":"Liliana Costa, Everett L Worthington, Cristina Cavadas Montanha, Ana Bela Couto, Carla Cunha","doi":"10.4081/ripppo.2021.500","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Several studies have suggested that self-forgiveness promotes psychological well-being. The state self-forgiveness scale (SSFS) and the differentiated self-forgiveness process scale (DSFPS) are two self-report questionnaires that assess self-forgiveness in psychotherapy, personal change, and health. The present study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the SSFS and the DSFPS in a Portuguese sample, highlighting reliability and validity properties for scores on both scales. We examine the relationships among self-forgiveness, self-criticism, psychological well-being, and global psychopathological symptoms. The two scales were completed in a random nonclinical sample of 475 University students. The psychological well-being scale was used to explore the relation between self-forgiveness and well-being. Our findings show evidence of a good estimated internal consistency for scores on both scales - SSFS and DSFPS. Self-forgiveness is related to higher indexes of positive feelings (<i>e.g</i>., self-compassion, self-esteem) such as positive behaviors and beliefs about the self. Thus, self-criticism (<i>e.g</i>., hated self) tends to decrease while self-forgiveness feelings and actions, as well as positive feelings of the self (self-compassion; self-love) tends to increase. In clinical practice these are positive indicators, which can lead to personal improvement, as well as positive affect and lower symptomatology (<i>e.g</i>., symptoms of depression).</p>","PeriodicalId":44262,"journal":{"name":"Research in Psychotherapy-Psychopathology Process and Outcome","volume":"24 1","pages":"500"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2021-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/3d/81/ripppo-24-1-500.PMC8082530.pdf","citationCount":"6","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Research in Psychotherapy-Psychopathology Process and Outcome","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2021.500","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2021/3/31 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 6
Abstract
Several studies have suggested that self-forgiveness promotes psychological well-being. The state self-forgiveness scale (SSFS) and the differentiated self-forgiveness process scale (DSFPS) are two self-report questionnaires that assess self-forgiveness in psychotherapy, personal change, and health. The present study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the SSFS and the DSFPS in a Portuguese sample, highlighting reliability and validity properties for scores on both scales. We examine the relationships among self-forgiveness, self-criticism, psychological well-being, and global psychopathological symptoms. The two scales were completed in a random nonclinical sample of 475 University students. The psychological well-being scale was used to explore the relation between self-forgiveness and well-being. Our findings show evidence of a good estimated internal consistency for scores on both scales - SSFS and DSFPS. Self-forgiveness is related to higher indexes of positive feelings (e.g., self-compassion, self-esteem) such as positive behaviors and beliefs about the self. Thus, self-criticism (e.g., hated self) tends to decrease while self-forgiveness feelings and actions, as well as positive feelings of the self (self-compassion; self-love) tends to increase. In clinical practice these are positive indicators, which can lead to personal improvement, as well as positive affect and lower symptomatology (e.g., symptoms of depression).