As Psychology is a relatively new science, the interest in the study of forgiveness in this area is also new. More systematic works appeared only in the 80's, outside our country, while here it appeared only in the early 2000s. Considering the recency of the scientific production on forgiveness in our country, this article aims to present a review of the literature addressing the conceptual issues of forgiveness in the field of Psychology. Since it is common in publications about forgiveness the concern of researchers to define and clarify how they understand this construct - always emphasizing that the way how we understand forgiveness has important implications in the way we will study it - a work that addresses these issues seems relevant to those who are engaged into research in the topic in our country. The text is divided into four parts, beginning with a brief presentation of the historical aspects of the studies on forgiveness. Next the main points of disagreement surrounding the concept of forgiveness are presented. After that, the main definitions proposed by the researchers are listed, followed by final considerations.
Forgiveness; Psychology; Social behavior; Concept formation; Scientific research
