Forgiving can be one of the hardest things you'll ever do. Perhaps you sense deep down that it will be good for you and others to put the past in the past. But sometimes no matter what you do, you just can't seem to forgive and get on with life. You still feel hurt, bitter and angry. How can you break the cycle? Grounding their analysis and advice in the latest psychological research, the authors of To Forgive Is Human reveal how you can forgive and begin to repair broken relationships. Inside you'll discover why, when you forgive, it sometimes doesn't last what you can learn about forgiveness from the latest brain research why you can't forgive by forgetting why simply deciding to forgive often doesn't do the trick how memory research can help you actually change your memories what it means to forgive yourself how to balance justice and mercy how children can learn to forgive how you can gain empathy for those who have hurt you Life is messy. Relationships are messy. And forgiveness is messy. But with this complete book on forgiveness, you can learn how to move ahead positively and constructively in ways you may never have thought possible. To err may be human, but so is to forgive.

A fine achievement.--Peter Singer, author of The Life You Can Save and The Most Good You Can Do A sweeping psychological history of human goodness -- from the foundations of evolution to the modern political and social challenges humanity is now facing. How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others? Since Darwin, scientists have tried to answer this question using evolutionary theory. In The Kindness of Strangers, psychologist Michael E. McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead. From the moment nomadic humans first settled down until the aftermath of the Second World War, our species has confronted repeated crises that we could only survive by changing our behavior. As McCullough argues, these choices weren't enabled by an evolved moral sense, but with moral invention -- driven not by evolution's dictates but by reason. Today's challenges -- climate change, mass migration, nationalism -- are some of humanity's greatest yet. In revealing how past crises shaped the foundations of human concern, The Kindness of Strangers offers clues for how we can adapt our moral thinking to survive these challenges as well.

Gratitude, like other positive emotions, has inspired many theological and philosophical writings, but it has inspired very little vigorous, empirical research. In an effort to remedy this oversight, this volume brings together prominent scientists from various disciplines to examine what has become known as the most-neglected emotion. The volume begins with the historical, philosophical, and theoretical foundations of gratitude, then presents the current research perspectives from social, personality, and developmental psychology, as well as from primatology, anthropology, and biology. The volume also includes a comprehensive, annotated bibliography of research on gratitude. This work contributes a great deal to the growing positive psychology initiative and to the scientific investigation of positive human emotions. It will be an invaluable resource for researchers and students in social, personality, and developmental, clinical, and health psychology, as well as to sociologists and cultural anthropologists.

Why do we give a damn about strangers? Altruism is unique to the human species. It is also one of the great evolutionary puzzles, and we may be on the brink of solving it. It turns out that, over the last 12,000 years, we have become more and more altruistic. This is despite the fact that, the majority of the time, our minds are still breathtakingly indifferent to the welfare of others. In solving the enigma of generosity in a world of strangers, McCullough takes us on a sweeping history of society and science to warn that, if we are not careful, our instincts and sympathies have as much potential for harm as for good. The bad news is that we are not designed to be kind. The good news is that we can push ourselves to be kind anyway, together.

Bringing together a distinguished array of researchers and scholars, this volume reviews the breadth of current knowledge on the psychology of forgiveness. In addition to presenting cutting-edge theory and research, the book outlines crucial issues that must be addressed to advance the state of the science in years to come. The first section provides a historical and conceptual overview, examining definitional problems and giving special attention to religious and cultural influences on how forgiveness is understood and experienced. The biological, developmental, social, and personality foundations of forgiveness are then explored. The final section covers applications in clinical research and practice, including guidelines for studying and applying forgiveness-based strategies in psychotherapy, counseling, and interventions to promote health. This volume will be of interest to a broad interdisciplinary audience of researchers, educators, students, and practicing professionals.