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Sketchpad Series 

Cultural Variation in the Cognitive Mechanisms of Self-Forgiveness

Poster Session F - Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Kaylee Miceli¹, Sonia Pan¹, Charlotte Lin¹, Aditya Singh¹, Felipe De Brigard¹, Cristina Salvador¹; ¹Duke University

Forgiveness is a process critical for resolving conflict and has important implications for health and well-being. Recent research supports the emotional reappraisal account of forgiveness, suggesting that forgiven (vs. unforgiven) transgressions are remembered with less negative valence, but the episodic characteristics (sensory, contextual, temporal, and spatial) remain unchanged. This work, however, has not addressed self-forgiveness. Given its unique nature, whereby the transgressor is simultaneously the victim, it is uncertain if self-forgiveness follows the same mechanisms as observed in interpersonal forgiveness. Moreover, existing literature highlights cultural differences in interdependence (embeddedness of self with others), cognitive style (emphasis of dispositional vs. situational causes), and self-enhancement, suggesting that memory for self-transgressions might be moderated by culture.To address these gaps, our current study examines cultural variation in the episodic and affective characteristics of self-transgressions via online survey platforms (Prolific, BeSample, and Credamo). We utilize a 3 (Condition: neutral memory, forgiven transgression, unforgiven transgression) x 4 (Country: United States, Colombia, China, India) mixed within- and between-subjects design to assess whether episodic content and affect differ based on whether individuals have forgiven themselves, across cultures varying in interdependence, cognitive style, and self-enhancement. Preliminary pilot data from all four countries (N = 160) will be presented at this sketchpad poster session. We aim to gather feedback on our experimental design, discuss study expansion using neuroimaging (EEG), and explore implications of our initial findings. If self-forgiveness mechanisms are found to differ from interpersonal forgiveness, or vary significantly across cultures, it will substantially inform targeted therapeutic interventions.

Topic Area: EMOTION & SOCIAL: Emotion-cognition interactions