Self-Forgiveness Reasoning Scale: a Cross-Cultural Validation Study

Abstract In this article, we validate a measure of self-forgiveness reasoning based on a typology that relates the type of self-forgiveness to the offender’s socio-cognitive decentering ability. A total of 309 Brazilian and 363 Portuguese college students participated in the study. The factorial validity of the instrument was tested in each country using exploratory factor analyses followed by confirmatory factor analyses. Results showed that the scale is composed of seven items organized into a two-factor structure. The factors demonstrated acceptable internal consistency indices, ranging from .61 to .81. Additionally, the CFI, TLI, and GFI indices were greater than .90 in both samples. Factor analysis revealed that the proposed scale was consistent with the theoretical proposition of self-forgiveness reasoning and sociocognitive typology. The construction and validation of this scale contribute to future studies, as there are few instruments in this area, especially from a sociocognitive perspective.