ORIGINAL ARTICLE Developing the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a Measure of Self-Forgiveness Related to Failing and Succeeding Behaviors Diana Ferroni Bast & Dermot Barnes-Holmes Published online: 8 November 2014 # Association for Behavior Analysis International 2014 Abstract This study aimed to develop the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a measure of response biases related to emotional reactions and expected outcomes in the context of minor failings and successes in everyday life. Additionally, the research explored the extent to which such implicit reactions were related to standardized measures of psychopathology, including depression, anxiety, stress, and a scale that was based directly on the IRAP. Sixty undergradu- ates completed two IRAPs and the explicit measures. The pattern of biases observed across the implicit and explicit measures diverged, and the correlations between the two types of measures were either absent or relatively weak. The results suggest that implicit measures may provide an additional source of information concerning self-forgiveness beyond that provided by explicit self-report measures per se. Keywords IRAP . Implicit measure . Self-forgiveness . Success . Failures . Feelings and outcomes Self-forgiveness has been a somewhat neglected topic in psychological research, although much has been written about forgiveness per se. A search conducted in October 2013, using the database PsycInfo, identified 2,794 papers when “forgive- ness” was entered as the search term versus only 141 papers when “self-forgiveness” was entered. Much of the research on forgiveness in general has tended to focus on the victim and his or her reaction to a specific event or relationship (e.g., murder, abuse, betrayal, etc.) in terms of forgiving the per- ceived transgressor. In contrast, studies on self-forgiveness tend to focus on the extent to which one is willing and able to forgive or excuse some wrong-doing committed by the individual him- or her- self. According to Thompson et al. (2005), self-forgiveness entails a reframing—a new understanding of oneself and of the offense committed that helps restore a positive self-image without condoning or excusing the offense. In short, self- forgiveness is the psychological process whereby an offender acknowledges wrongdoing following a transgression he or she committed, and without condoning or excusing it, overcomes negative sentiment toward the self and is reconciled to the self. An interesting distinction has been drawn between self- forgiveness and self-excusing. For example, Fisher and Exline (2006) argued that when measures do not consider acceptance of responsibility as a prerequisite, self-forgiveness may be considered as closer to self-excusing than to what theorists would call genuine self-forgiveness. It has further been argued that distinguishing between self-forgiveness and self-excusing may help to explain the contradictory findings related to the apparent benefits of forgiving. On the one hand, self- forgiveness has been found to be positively related to antiso- cial qualities (Tangney et al. 2005) and to the tendency to be more blaming toward the victim (Strelan 2007; Zechmeister and Romero 2002). On the other hand, self-forgiveness also has been associated with positive outcomes. For example, Mauger et al. (1992) and Maltby et al. (2001) reported that self-forgiveness is related to mental health, in the sense that people who forgive themselves are less depressed, introverted, anxious, and distrusted, and Hodgson and Wertheim (2007) showed that self-forgiveness is related to both mental flexibil- ity and emotional stability and self-compassion (Neff and Pommier 2013). Perhaps the abovementioned sets of findings reflect pseudo and true forgiveness, respectively, with the former characterized by excusing one’ s wrongdoing and the D. F. Bast : D. Barnes-Holmes National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland (NUIM), Maynooth, Ireland D. F. Bast (*) Department of Psychology, NUI Maynooth, John Hume Building, North Campus, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland e-mail: diana.bast.2012@nuim.ie Psychol Rec (2015) 65:189–201 DOI 10.1007/s40732-014-0100-5