ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an overview of conceptual issues raised by psychological research on forgiveness and culture since 2004. We start with definitions and then summarize key points about the forgiveness and culture research related to (a) research methodologies, (b) similarities in forgiveness across cultures, and (c) differences in forgiveness across cultures. Some findings support cross-cultural similarities and other findings highlight differences in forgiveness across cultures, however we consider several methodological limitations that must be addressed to gain a more complex understanding of interactions between forgiveness and culture. For example, it is striking to note the dominance of cross-cultural, cross-sectional quantitative (etic) studies and the limited attention to qualitative or ethnographic (emic) studies. We describe three important thematic issues to frame the literature on forgiveness and culture: (a) collectivism and individualism, (b) cultural identity development and intercultural conflict, and (c) sociocultural contexts of trauma versus social stability. We conclude the chapter with recommendations for future research.
