“Forgiveness is About Building Your Identity Again After the Transgression”: Narrative Identity and Turning Points in the Forgiveness Process
Keywords:
forgiveness, turning point, narrative analysis, life story, narrative identityAbstract
Forgiveness is a multilayered process. However, there is little research on how individuals construct their narrative identity through self-positioning at turning points in the forgiveness process. The present study investigated these questions by interviewing 22 Finnish adults, applying McAdams’s life story interview method. Data-driven thematic narrative analysis demonstrated six turning points for the positioning self: (1) prologue: reflecting on the self from a distance, (2) the self gets help from others, (3) battling with the self, (4) the enlightened self, (5) the self initiates confrontation and (6) epilogue: the stronger future self. For the participants, these turning points were complex and profound experiences. Narrative turning points of forgiveness represented the many shades and phases of the forgiveness process that shaped participants’ positions and lives. The process was not linear and included stalled phases. Self-positioning moved from transgression to forgiveness, and in this process, the self’s agency varied from external to active. Participants described turning points in narratives of learning and empowerment with a strong protagonist who wants to move on in life. Turning points of forgiveness and self-positions may take different narrative forms in the future as individuals continue to narrate their forgiveness.
References
Abrahamson, I., Hussain, R., Khan, A., & Schofield, M. J. (2012). What helps couples rebuild their relationship after infidelity? Journal of Family Issues, 33(11), 1494–1519. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X11424257
Adler, J. M., Dunlop, W. L., Fivush, R., Lilgendahl, J. P., Lodi-Smith, J., McAdams, D. P., McLean, K. C., Pasupathi, M., & Syed, M. (2017). Research methods for studying narrative identity: A primer. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8(5), 519–527. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617698202
Akhtar, S., Dolan, A., & Barlow, J. (2017). Understanding the relationship between state forgiveness and psychological wellbeing: A qualitative study. Journal of Religion and Health, 56(2), 450–463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0188-9
Aristotle. (1961). Aristotle's poetics (S. H. Butcher, Trans.). Hill and Wang.
Baldwin, C., Carty, B., & Estey, J. (2015). Aging, spirituality, and narrative: Loss and repair. Narrative Works, 5(2). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/NW/article/view/25012
Bamberg, M., & Georgakopoulou, A. (2008). Small stories as a new perspective in narrative and identity analysis. Text & Talk, 28(3), 377-396. https://doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2008.018
Baumeister, R. F., Stillwell, A., & Wotman, S. R. (1990). Victim and perpetrator accounts of interpersonal conflict: Autobiographical narratives about anger. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(5), 994–1005. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.59.5.994
Berger, R. (2015). Now I see it, now I don’t: Researcher’s position and reflexivity in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 15(2), 219–234. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112468475
Bochner, A. P., & Riggs, N. A. (2014). Practicing narrative inquiry. In P. Leavy (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 195–222). Oxford University Press.
Chi, P., Tang, Y., Worthington, E. L., Chan, C. L. W., Lam, D. O. B., & Lin, X. (2019). Intrapersonal and interpersonal facilitators of forgiveness following spousal infidelity: A stress and coping perspective. Journal of clinical psychology, 75(10), 1896–1915. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22825
Cook, K. V., Kurniati, N. M. T., Suwartono, C., Widyarini, N., Worthington, E. L., Jr, & Cowden, R. G. (2022). Differential effects of decisional and emotional forgiveness on distress and well-being: A three-wave study of Indonesian adults. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 918045. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.918045
Drake, C. (2006). Turning points: Using teachers’ mathematics life stories to understand the implementation of mathematics education reform. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 9, 579–608. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-006-9021-9
Field, C., Zander, J., & Hall, G. (2013). ‘Forgiveness is a present to yourself as well’: An intrapersonal model of forgiveness in victims of violent crime. International Review of Victimology, 19(3), 235–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269758013492752
Frank, A. W. (2023). Why wounded storytellers need to be vulnerable readers. Narrative Works, 11, 61–72. Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/NW/article/view/33449
Garcia-Romeu, A., Himelstein, S. P., & Kaminker, J. (2015). Self-transcendent experience: a grounded theory study. Qualitative Research, 15(5), 633–654. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794114550679
Garrido-López, M., Schaffer, B., & Moss, H. (2023). Should I stay or should I go? From turning points to decision to quit in a call center environment. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 23(3), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.21818/001c.90584
Haikola, A. (2023a). Conversations with God: How are religion and spirituality used to make sense of forgiveness? Pastoral Psychology, 72(5), 693–709. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-023-01081-z
Haikola, A. (2023b). “I felt like I wanted to hug the whole world”: Forgiveness as an embodied emotional narrative process. Human Arenas. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-023-00390-2
Hermans, H. J., Kempen, H. J., & Van Loon, R. J. (1992). The dialogical self: Beyond individualism and rationalism. American Psychologist, 47(1), 23–33. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.47.1.23
Hydén, L.-C. (2010). Identity, self, narrative. In M. Hyvärinen, L.-C. Hydén, M. Saarenheimo & M. Tamboukou (Eds.), Beyond narrative coherence (pp. 33–48). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Hydén, M. (2021). Different listener and teller positions, different narratives. Narrative Works, 10, 12–20. Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/NW/article/view/31900
Hyvärinen, M., Hydén, L.-C., Saarenheimo, M., & Tamboukou, M. (2010). Beyond narrative coherence: An introduction. In M. Hyvärinen, L.-C. Hydén, M. Saarenheimo & M. Tamboukou (Eds.), Beyond narrative coherence (pp. 1–15). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Hänninen, V. (1999). Sisäinen tarina, elämä ja muutos [Inner narrative, life, and change] [Doctoral dissertation, University of Tampere]. Juvenes Print – Tampereen Yliopistopaino Oy. https://trepo.tuni.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/67873/951-44-5597-5.pdf?sequence=1
Johnson, H. D., Wernli, M. A., & LaVoie, J. C. (2013). Situational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal characteristic associations with adolescent conflict forgiveness. The Journal of genetic psychology, 174(3), 291–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2012.670672
Kettunen, P. (2013). Auttava kohtaaminen I. Sielunhoidon perusteet ja teologia [Healing encounter I. Rationale and theology of pastoral care and counseling]. Kirjapaja.
Kross, E. & Ayduk, O. (2024). Distancing. What it is, how it works, and where to go next. In J. J. Gross & B. Q. Ford (Eds), Handbook of emotion regulation (3rd ed., pp. 505–512). Guilford Press.
Le, T. N., & Doukas, K. M. (2013). Making meaning of turning points in life review: Values, wisdom, and life satisfaction. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 25(4), 358–375. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2013.765367
Legare, C. H., & Nielsen, M. (2020). Ritual explained: interdisciplinary answers to Tinbergen's four questions. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 375(1805), 20190419. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0419
Lichtenfeld, S., Maier, M. A., Buechner, V. L., & Fernández Capo, M. (2019). The influence of decisional and emotional forgiveness on attributions. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 1425. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01425
Martinez-Diaz, P., Caperos, J. M., Prieto-Ursúa, M., Gismero-González, E., Cagigal, V., & Carrasco, M. J. (2021). Victim’s perspective of forgiveness seeking behaviors after transgressions. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 656689. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.656689
McAdams, D. P. (1985). Power, intimacy, and the life story. Personological inquiries into identity. The Guilford Press.
McAdams, D. P. (2023). Narrative identity and the redemptive self: An intellectual autobiography, with occasional critique. Narrative Works, 11, 6–23. Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/NW/article/view/33446
McAdams, D. P., & Bowman, P. J. (2001). Narrating life’s turning points: Redemption and contamination. In D. P. McAdams, R. Josselson, & A. Lieblich (Eds.), Turns in the road: Narrative studies of lives in transition (pp. 3–34). American Psychological Association.
McAdams, D. P., & Dunlop, W. L. (2022). The person. A new introduction to personality psychology (6th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Mitchell, C., Reese, E., Salmon, K., & Jose, P. (2020). Narrative coherence, psychopathology, and wellbeing: Concurrent and longitudinal findings in a mid-adolescent sample. Journal of adolescence, 79, 16–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.12.003
Mouton, A. R., & Montijo, M. N. (2017). Love, passion, and peak experience: A qualitative study on six continents. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(3), 263–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1225117
Murray, M. (2000). Levels of narrative analysis in health psychology. Journal of Health Psychology, 5(3), 337–347. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910530000500305
Namdiero-Walsh, A., Massoumi, R., Szarata, V., & Watzlawik, M. (2022). Does magical thinking bind or separate us? A re-analysis of data from Germany, India, South Korea, and Turkey. Human Arenas, 1–27. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-022-00309-3
Nezlek, J. B., Wesselmann, E. D., Wheeler, L., & Williams, K. D. (2012). Ostracism in everyday life. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 16(2), 91–104. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028029
Øverlien, C. (2023). Identifying sexual abuse in same-sex relationships: Turning points and meta-arratives. Journal of Family Violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00671-y
Riessman, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Sage Publications.
Saarelainen, S.-M. K. (2015). Life tree drawings as a methodological approach in young adults’ life stories during cancer remission. Narrative Works, 5(1). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/NW/article/view/23785
Sheldon, P., & Antony, M. G. (2019). Forgive and forget: A typology of transgressions and forgiveness strategies in married and dating relationships. Western Journal of Communication, 83(2), 232–251. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2018.1504981
Strelan, P. (2020). The stress-and-coping model of forgiveness: Theory, research, and the potential of dyadic coping. In E. L. Worthington, Jr. & N. G. Wade (Eds.), Handbook of forgiveness (2nd ed., pp. 63–73). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Stroebe, M., Schut, H., & Boerner, K. (2017). Cautioning health-care professionals: Bereaved persons are misguided through the stages of grief. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 74(4), 455–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222817691870
Talbot, J., Bibace, R., Bokhour, B., & Bamberg, M. (1996). Affirmation and resistance of dominant discourses: The rhetorical construction of pregnancy. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 6(3), 225–251. https://doi.org/10.1075/jnlh.6.3.02aff
Thomas, F., & Fietje, N. (2020). Capturing the cultural narratives of well-being. In A. L. Plough (Ed.), Well-Being: Expanding the definition of progress: Insights from practitioners, researchers, and innovators from around the globe (pp. 67–82). Oxford University Press.
Wenzel, M., Rossi, C., Thai, M., Woodyatt, L., Okimoto, T. G., & Worthington, E. L. (2023). Let's talk about this: Co-rumination and dyadic dynamics of moral repair following wrongdoing. European Journal of Social Psychology, 53(4), 623–644. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2927
Wieslander, M., & Löfgren, H. (2023). Turning points as a tool in narrative research. A tentative typology as exemplified by a case on police identity. Narrative Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.22021.wie
Witvliet, C. V. O. (2020). Forgiveness, embodiment, and relational accountability: Victim and transgressor psychophysiology research. In E. L. Worthington & N. G. Wade (Eds.), Handbook of forgiveness (2nd ed., pp. 167–177). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Woodyatt, L., Wenzel, M., Okimoto, T. G., & Thai, M. (2022). Interpersonal transgressions and psychological loss: Understanding moral repair as dyadic, reciprocal, and interactionist. Current Opinion in Psychology, 44, 7–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.018
Worthington, E. L., Jr. (2020). Understanding forgiveness of other people. Definitions, theories, and processes. In E. L. Worthington & N. G. Wade (Eds.), Handbook of forgiveness (2nd ed., pp. 11–21). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Worthington, E. L., Jr., & Wade, N. G. (1999). The psychology of unforgiveness and forgiveness and implications for clinical practice. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 18(4), 385–418. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.1999.18.4.385
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Anne Haikola

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
