Table 1. The Distribution of the Sample by Department, Grade Level and Gender
The aim of the current study is to analyze the mediating role of unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between perceived parental attitudes and forgiveness levels among university students. 1179 (753 females, 426 males) university students studying at Mersin University constitute the sample group for the study. Data was collected using the Volunteer Participant Form, the Parental Attitude Scale, the Unconditional Self-Acceptance Scale, and the Heartland Forgiveness Scale. Pearson correlation, descriptive statistics, an ordinary least squares regression-based approach, and the Bootstrap method were used to analyze the data. The results of the study found that there is a partial mediating role for unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between perceived parental attitudes (authoritative, protective, and authoritarian) and forgiveness among university students. The mediating models tested in the study were also found to be statistically significant (p<.001). It was found that there is a significant mediating role of unconditional selfacceptance in the relationship between perceived authoritative parental attitudes and forgiveness levels of university students (F(2-1176)= 164.45, p<.001). The total variance explained by authoritative parental attitude and unconditional self-acceptance in the study is 47%. Similarly, it was found that there is a statistically significant mediating role of unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between perceived protective parental attitudes and forgiveness levels of university students (F(2-1176)=163.54, p<.001), explaining 47% of the total variance. Lastly, it was concluded that the authoritarian parental attitude model is significant (F(2-1176)=158.51, p<.001), and that the authoritarian parental attitude and unconditional self-acceptance variables together explain 46% of the total variance in the study. The results were discussed and evaluated within the context of the research, and suggestions were made for further research to examine relevant variables.
Humans are social creatures and have a fundamental need to connect and interact with other people. Our social structure is made up of the various relationships we have with different individuals and groups. Interpersonal relationships play a crucial role in shaping our social structure, as they help us form connections and build networks with others. These relationships can provide us with emotional support, companionship, and a sense of belonging. They can also help us navigate the complexities of human interaction and build the skills necessary to function in society. People who are social beings (Dwyer, 2013) attach importance to interpersonal relationships and past lives that form the basis of forgiveness in their lives (McCullough et al., 2009). Moreover, they need to share their feelings, thoughts, experiences and excitement with the individuals they have a relationship with (Baymur, 1990). During these sharing, it is highly likely that disagreements or conflicts occur between individuals. In addition, individuals can be angry, hurt, or offended by these conflicts. On the contrary, individuals in a relationship can hurt the other person as a result of the conflicts they experience (Dwyer, 2013). As a result, individuals prefer to give one of two responses, such as punishing or forgiving by taking revenge against the individuals who hurt them in the face of their feelings of anger and hurt (Cousineau, 2011). Forgiveness is defined as the willingness to give up reactions such as annoyed and indifferent behavior, negative judgment, and anger towards the person who hurt her (Enright, 1991). The reason forgiveness is very interesting in developmental psychology is that forgiveness can be developed and facilitated through family relationships (Maio et al., 2008). Family that forms the basis of society consists of mother, father and child. Children firstly have a relationship with their mothers and fathers in their lives. Their interpersonal relationships are affected by the human relationships they establish with their parents, and memories and experiences about these relationships in their adult years (Cagan, 2019). Studies show that people who are raised with an authoritative parental attitude can have high levels of self-esteem and self-affection (Gouveia et al., 2016). Thus, it is predicted that the authoritative parental attitude, which contributes to the healthier interpersonal relationships, will increase the level of forgiveness along with the increase in the sense of compassion. Conversely, it can be thought that the protective and authoritarian parental attitude will not approach the problems they experience in a forgiving manner, as they reduce the selflove and trust.
Ellis (1977) defines unconditional self-acceptance as accepting oneself without conditions, regardless of behavior, approval from others, or love from others. Research shows that individuals who accept themselves unconditionally are better able to cope with negative situations in their lives. This type of acceptance, including both positive and negative aspects, leads to the development of positive feelings and thoughts towards oneself and others. It has been concluded that individuals who accept themselves unconditionally have an increased ability to forgive themselves, others, and the situation.
As a result of the literature review, there are no studies in which forgiveness has been extensively studied and is examined together with perceived parental attitudes and unconditional self-acceptance levels. It is predicted that forgiveness, parental attitudes, and unconditional selfacceptance, which have important effects on human relations, can shed light on studies in the field of positive psychology and human relations. In addition, it is thought that a study in which these variables, which seem to affect each other indirectly, are examined together can make an important contribution to the literature.
According to Maslow (1954), self-acceptance is about thinking and accepting the individual's nature, flaws, inadequacies, and mistakes as an ordinary part of nature without any shame or guilt. Ellis (1977), who brought a new dimension to the concept of self-acceptance and introduced the concept of unconditional self-acceptance in line with Rational Emotional Behavioral Therapy, identified unconditional self-acceptance as accepting yourself regardless of your characteristics, character, success, or social approval or disapproval (Kapıkıran & Kapıkıran, 2010). Moreover, it is defined as accepting oneself unconditionally, regardless of whether one is acting competent or correctly and whether others are likely to respect it in Rational Emotional Behavioral Therapy (Davies, 2008).
The act of an individual's willingness to give up harmful feelings that are not positive towards themself and others and leave these feelings to positive emotions is called forgiveness (Rye & Pargament, 2002). Rye and Pargament (2002) define forgiveness as the way an individual reacts to injustice. Forgiveness is also defined as giving positive and constructive reactions instead of negative reactions such as seeing the other person as an enemy and having a desire to take revenge, which are accompanied by not forgiving the situation that the individual considers to be a fault. Similarly, Hargrave and Sells (1997) defines the process of reorganizing the relationship with the person and repairing the emotional damage instead of anger and revenge towards the person they seem to be guilty as forgiving.
Parental attitude is defined as a parents' effort for observing to their children, strengthening human relations of them and raising healthy children (Baumrind, 1991). Kuzgun and Eldeklioglu (1999) aimed to measure the perceived parental attitude with the authoritative, protective, willing, and authoritarian attitude subdimensions while developing the "Parental Attitude Scale.”
1.3.1 Perceived Authoritative Parental Attitude
Raising children with supportive, demanding, and sensitive behaviours is defined as having an authoritative parental attitude (Darling, 1999). Correct, Authoritative parental attitude consists of setting mature behavioral expectations and clear standards for the child, enforcing rules and standards strictly but fairly, promoting independence and individuality, fostering open communication and encouraging verbal expression, and recognizing the rights and needs of both parents and children. It is considered a positive and effective parenting style (Baumrind, 1971, 1973).
1.3.2 Perceived Protective Parental Attitude
A protective parental attitude involves parents who are extremely caring and protective of their children. They are often highly involved in their children's lives, constantly communicating with them, making decisions for them, and taking an active role in helping them achieve their goals. They may also remove barriers or obstacles that may stand in their children's way (LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011).
1.3.3 Perceived Authoritarian Parental Attitude
Authoritarian parental attitude is defined as a style of raising children with overly controlled, rejecting and demanding attitude towards their children with less acceptance. Children raised with an authoritarian attitude are not accepted by their parents and are raised in a very controlled manner. These parents are often dismissive towards their children, but they have many expectations and demands from them and expect them to obey these demands without question. If their children do not fulfil their demands, they can be punished (Berk, 2006).
The study is methodized by using a relational scanning model and descriptive research methods. A relational scanning model is used to examine the relationship between variables and predict the possible consequences of this relationship (Büyüköztürk, 2017). In this study, firstly, a correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the forgiveness level of students and perceived parental attitudes. Secondly, the mediating role of unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between perceived parental attitudes and forgiveness levels of university students was analyzed.
The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between university students' perceived parental attitudes and their forgiveness levels.
Model 1:
Model 2:
Model 3:
The sample of the study consists of 1179 undergraduate students who study in the Faculty of Education, Science-Literature, Engineering and Economic sand Administrative Sciences at Mersin University. It also consists of 753 female (63.9%) and 426 male (36.1%) university students. Their average age is 21. There are 349 (29.6%) first, 271 (23%) second, 304 (25.8%) third, 255 (21.6%) fourth grade students in the sample of the study. Convenience sampling method was used in this study. The distribution of the sample according to class level, department and gender is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. The Distribution of the Sample by Department, Grade Level and Gender
The Volunteer Participant Form, which was prepared by the researcher, contains research information such as the purpose, duration, confidentiality of the research, expectations from the participants, etc. Reading that form carefully and providing approval are expected from the participants. There are questions about gender, age, departments, and grade levels of the participants at the end of the form.
The original scale was created in 1972 by Kuzgun, in order to measure the parental attitude of Turkish people. Kuzgun and Eldeklioglu (1999) researched again for the purpose of improving the scale. As a result of the factor analysis, the number of items on the 5-Likert-type Parental Attitude Scale has been reduced from 119 to 35. Also, the number of sub-dimensions on the scale decreased to 3 subdimensions which are authoritative, protective, and authoritarian. As a result of reliability analyzes for subdimensions of the scale in the study. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were found to be .93 for authoritative attitude, .86 for protective attitude, and .82 for authoritarian attitude respectively.
Chamberlain and Haaga (2001) developed the original version of the questionnaire. It was adapted into Turkish by Kapıkırans in 2010. It is a 7-point Likert type rated between "right for me" and "not right for me" and consists of 20 items. USAQ has two sub-dimensions: unconditional selfacceptance and conditional self-acceptance. The Cronbach alpha coefficient showing its reliability was found to be 0.61 (Kapıkıran & Kapıkıran, 2010).
Thompson et al. (2005) developed the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS). It consists of three subdimensions, which are self-forgiveness, forgiveness of others, and situation. It is a 7-point Likert type, and there are 18 items on the scale. Bugay and Demir adapted the Heartland Forgiveness Scale into Turkish in 2010. Cronbach's Alpha coefficient was found to be 0.81.
Kurtosis (unconditional self-acceptance = -.060, forgiveness = .084, authoritative attitude = .126, protective attitude = -.069 and authoritarian attitude = .447) and skewness values (Unconditional self-acceptance = .052, forgiveness = .093, authoritative attitude =-.718, protective attitude =.568, and authoritarian attitude =.898) of the scores obtained with the scales were measured in the study. When the kurtosis and skewness values are examined, the data from the study show a normal distribution. Moreover, Pearson's Correlation Coefficients between variables were measured, and the Bootstrap Method was used to analyse whether unconditional self-acceptance mediates the relationship between perceived parental attitudes and forgiveness levels among university students. Bootstrapping is a method that aims to create large data sets and sample again from these sets (Thelen & Riloff, 2002). During the research, Bootstrap analysis of the data was carried out by using "Multiple Mediation Model 4" via PROCESS Macro. In addition, the statistical significance of the model tested in the study was analysed with 5000 bootstrap samples. The significance level in the research was determined as .01.
This section contains the findings of the research. It includes descriptive statistics on variables used in research, correlation coefficients between these variables and the results of multiple mediation analysis.
The arithmetic mean information, standard deviation, and kurtosis-skewness coefficients of the data obtained in the study are shown in Table 2. When Table 2, including descriptive statistics, is investigated, the sub-dimensions scores of perceived parental attitudes are, authoritative parental attitude (=58.82 and SD =11.48), protective attitude (=34.17 and SD =10.01), and authoritarian attitude (=20.01 and SD =7.02). Unconditional selfacceptance (mediator variable) score's mean is 78.99 and standard deviation is 11.30. Participants' forgiveness score is 83.44, SD =14.66.
Table 2. Descriptive Statistics
As seen in Table 2, the kurtosis and skewness coefficient values are between +1.5 and -1.5, so it is stated that the data shows a normal distribution (Turan, 2012).
Table 3 shows the correlation results between perceived parental attitudes, self-acceptance and forgiveness.
Table 3. Correlation Coefficient Values Between Variables
There are negative significant correlations between authoritative parental attitude and protective attitude (r = -.41, p <.01), and between authoritative and authoritarian attitude (r = -.67, p <.01). Besides, there are positive significant correlations between authoritative attitude and unconditional self-acceptance (r = .26, p <.01), and between authoritative attitude and forgiveness (r = .27, p <.01).
Another finding as a result of correlation analysis is that there is a positive correlation between protective and authoritarian attitudes (r =.71, p <.01), negative correlation between protective attitudes and unconditional self-acceptance (r =-.31, p <.01), and a negative correlation between protective attitudes and forgiveness (r = -.28, p <.01).
In addition, authoritarian attitude was correlated negatively with unconditional self-acceptance (r = -.31, p <.01) and with forgiveness (r =-.26, p <.01). Finally, there is a significant and positive correlation between unconditional self-acceptance and forgiveness (r =.44, p <.01).
The findings of the study about the mediation of the level of unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between authoritative attitude and forgiveness are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The Mediating Role of Unconditional Self-Acceptance in the Relationship between Authoritative Parental Attitude and Forgiveness, and Unstandardized Beta Values *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001
First of all, the total effect of protective attitude on forgiveness was significant and negative (c =-.41, SH =.04, t =-10.10, p <.001). Similarly, it was found that protective parental attitude has significant and negative effect on unconditional self-acceptance (B =-.35, SH =.03, t =-11.18, p <.001). In addition, it was observed that the unconditional self-acceptance (mediate variable) has a direct significant effect (B = .51, SH = .04, t = 14.39, p <.001) on forgiveness. When the effect of the protective attitude and the unconditional selfacceptance on forgiveness is simultaneously examined, it was concluded that the direct effect of the protective attitude on the level of forgiveness (c = - .24, SH = .04, t = - 5.96, p <.001) decreased. In addition, the level of significance in the direct relationship between protective attitude and forgiveness was found to remain at the same level when it was examined with the unconditional selfacceptance variable. According to the findings obtained as a result of this tested model, it was seen that unconditional self-acceptance mediates partially the relationship between protective attitude and forgiveness. It was concluded that the model examined in a holistic way is significant (F(2-1176)= 163.54, p<.001). Protective attitude and unconditional self-acceptance explain 47% of the total variance.
Table 4 shows the information on the effects between variables of this model tested.
Table 4. The Effects between the Variables Authoritative Attitude, Unconditional Self-Acceptance and Forgiveness in the Model
The importance of indirect effects was examined statistically on the research models tested in the study among 5000 bootstrap samples. The values obtained as a result of the analysis were evaluated according to the 95% confidence interval by clearing and correcting the bias error. When Table 4 is analyzed, it is seen that the indirect effect of an authoritative attitude on forgiveness with the moderating role of unconditional selfacceptance is statistically significant (Estimation of point = .1336 ve % 95 BCa GA [.1071, .1684]).
The findings of the study about the mediation of unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between protective attitude and forgiveness are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. The Mediating Role of Unconditional Self-Acceptance in the Relationship between Protective Parental Attitude and Forgiveness, and Unstandardized Beta Values *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001
First of all, the total effect of protective attitude on forgiveness was significant and negative (c=-.41, SH=.04, t=-10.10, p<.001). Similarly, it was found that protective parental attitude has significant and negative effect on unconditional self-acceptance (B=-.35, SH=.03, t=-11.18, p<.001). In addition, it was observed that the unconditional self-acceptance (mediate variable) has a direct significant effect (B = .51, SH = .04, t = 14.39, p <.001) on forgiveness. When the effect of the protective attitude and the unconditional selfacceptance on forgiveness is simultaneously examined, it was concluded that the direct effect of the protective attitude on the level of forgiveness (c '= - .24, SH = .04, t = - 5.96, p <.001) decreased. In addition, the level of significance in the direct relationship between protective attitude and forgiveness was found to remain at the same level when it was examined with the unconditional self-acceptance variable. According to the findings obtained as a result of this tested model, it was seen that unconditional self-acceptance mediates partially the relationship between protective attitude and forgiveness. It was concluded that the model examined in a holistic way is significant (F(2-1176)= 163.54, p<.001). Protective attitude and unconditional self-acceptance explain 47% of the total variance.
Table 5 shows the information on the effects between variables of this model tested.
Table 5. The Effects between the Variables Protective Attitude, Unconditional Self-Acceptance and Forgiveness in the Model
As seen in Table 5, the indirect effect of protective parental attitude on forgiveness with moderating role of unconditional self-acceptance is statistically significant (Estimation of point = =- .1771ve % 95 BCa GA [-.2204, - .1379]).
The research model showing the mediating role of unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between authoritarian parental attitude and forgiveness is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. The Mediating Role of Unconditional Self-Acceptance in the Relationship between Authoritarian Parental Attitude and Forgiveness, and Unstandardized Beta Values *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001
According to the results, there is a significant direct and total effect of authoritarian parental attitude on forgiveness (c= -.55, SH=.06, t=-9.39, p<.001). Similar to first effect, authoritarian attitude has a significant and direct effect on unconditional self-acceptance (B=-.49, SH=.04, t=-11.05, p<.001). Moreover, it was found that unconditional self-acceptance affects directly and significantly to forgiveness levels of the participants (B=.51, SH=.04, t=14.59, p<.001). When the effect of the authoritarian attitude and the unconditional self-acceptance on forgiveness is simultaneously examined, it was observed that the direct effect of the authoritarian attitude on the level of forgiveness (c'=- .30, SH=.06, t=- 5.23, p<.001) decreased. According to analysis of the model, it is seen that there is a partial mediating role of unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between forgiveness and authoritarian attitude. It was stated that the model is significant (F(2-1176)=158.51, p<.001) and authoritarian attitude and unconditional self-acceptance explain 46 % of the total variance.
Values and information regarding the effects between variables in the model in the model is shown in Table 6.
Table 6. The Effects between the Variables Authoritarian Attitude, Unconditional Self-Acceptance and Forgiveness in the Model
When the indirect effect of authoritarian parental attitude on forgiveness with moderating role of unconditional selfacceptance is examined, it was found that the values are significant (Estimation of point = -.2359 ve % 95 BCa GA [- .3179, -.2014]).
It was found that there is a positive correlation between the authoritative parental attitude perceived by the university students, unconditional self-acceptance levels and forgiveness in the study. In other words, it is among the findings that individuals who perceive authoritative parental attitude also have high unconditional selfacceptance scores. According to a study that supports this result of the research, it was found that there is a positive and significant relationship between perceived authoritative parental attitude and self-acceptance in university students. In addition to this relationship, it is argued that children raised with an authoritative parental attitude are more self-accepting than others, and thus growing up with an authoritative parental attitude contributes positively to the self-acceptance of the individual (Bilir & Guney, 1988). When the literature is examined, there are no other studies directly investigating the authoritative parental attitudes and unconditional self-acceptance variables. However, it draws attention by examining the unconditional self-acceptance relationship with some positive parental attitudes. According to Grolnick (2002), parental attitudes contribute greatly to one's unconditional selfacceptance. For example, Meyers and Battistoni (2003) showed that people who perceive warmth and empathy by their parents have high levels of self-acceptance. As a result of the study, the level of forgiveness of those whose attitude perceived from their parents is authoritative is also found to be high. When the relevant literature is examined, the studies analyzing to authoritative parental attitude with forgiveness have not been found. However, authoritative parents raise children by showing their parental warmth. Based on this, the results of a study examining the relationship between parental warmth and forgiveness support the findings of this study. It was observed that the warm attitude shown by the parents predicted interpersonal forgiveness and self-forgiveness. Interpersonal and self-forgiveness are explained at a significant level by parental warmth (Wright et al., 2017). In addition, Goldsworthy (2019) concluded that individuals whose perceived parental attitude is authoritative have higher levels of self-compassion. For this reason, increasing the feeling of self-compassion will help increase someone's forgiveness level.
As a result of the current study, it was found that perceived protective parental attitude has a significant and negative relationship with unconditional selfacceptance and forgiveness among university students. There is a direct and negative effect of protective parental attitude on unconditional self-acceptance on university students. Gibbs (2009) supported that raising a child with a protective parent attitude inhibits psychological immunity against difficulties and painful experiences in children and thus reduces the psychological well-being level of the individual. It is among the studies that individuals with low psychological well-being have difficulty in accepting themselves unconditionally (Garcia et al., 2014).
Another result of the study is that the protective parent attitudes perceived by university students had a direct and negative effect on their level of forgiveness. This result was supported by reaching the negative effects of the protective parenting attitude on the development of the individual with the literature review. Harrison (2012) concluded that negative parental attitudes predict selfforgiveness. In addition, a significant and negative relationship was found in between negative parental attitudes and self-forgiveness.
According to the findings of the present study, it was found that perceived authoritarian parental attitude has a significant and negative relationship with unconditional self-acceptance and forgiveness among university students. Considering the findings regarding the perceived authoritarian parental attitude, it was seen that there is a direct and negative effect of authoritarian parental attitude on unconditional self-acceptance on university students. Some researchers in the relevant literature have conducted studies that support these relationships. In one of these studies, perceived authoritarian parental attitude was found to be significantly and negatively associated with selfacceptance. Hence, individuals who are raised by an authoritarian attitude from their parents have low selfacceptance (Lavasani et al., 2011). Furthermore, Richter et al. (1995) concluded that people who are raised by their parents in a rejecting attitude have less selfacceptance.
The results of the study showed that authoritarian parental attitudes perceived by university students have a direct and negative effect on their level of forgiveness. In addition, there are several supporting researches in the relevant literature. It is said that perceived harsh parental attitude in children has a negative relationship with forgiveness (Wang & Qi, 2017). In some studies, authoritarian parental attitude and self-compassion associated negatively. This relationship means that individuals who see authoritarian attitudes from their parents feel less compassion towards themselves (Gouveia et al., 2016). Regarding the definition of forgiveness, North (1987) defined forgiveness as starting to feel compassion and compassion instead of negative feelings towards the person or situation he/she considered to be guilty. In line with the relationships mentioned, authoritarian parental attitude decreases the level of compassion of the person and negatively affects the forgiveness process. This clearly supports the research finding.
It was found that unconditional self-acceptance has a direct and positive effect on forgiveness among university students. Also, it was seen that there is a positive relationship between unconditional self-acceptance and forgiveness. Relevant research supports that positive relationship in the literature. Gokmen and Cakır (2019) stated that there is a positive relationship between individuals' levels of unconditional self-acceptance and forgiveness in direct proportion to the results of the present study. Similarly, it was observed that there is a statistically significant and positive correlation between selfforgiveness levels and unconditional self-acceptance (Dixon et al., 2014). According to an empirical study that supports the findings of the study, individuals participating in the training program on improving forgiveness have observed an increase in their level of self-acceptance as well as their level of forgiveness (Toussaint et al., 2014).
As a result of the analysis, it was found that there is an indirect and positive effect through unconditional selfacceptance in the relationship between university students' perceived authoritative parental attitudes and their level of forgiveness. According to the analysis of the mediating role, it was shown that unconditional selfacceptance plays a role as a partial mediating variable in the relationship between perceived authoritative attitude and forgiveness in the current study. It means that individuals who perceive an authoritative parental attitude were found to be more unconditionally accepting of themselves and therefore more forgiving.
In the relevant literature, there is no study about the mediating role of unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between authoritative parental attitude and forgiveness. However, some studies on unconditional selfacceptance have been examined. Popov et al. (2016) defined unconditional self-acceptance as accepting oneself completely and unconditionally, regardless of whether the person behaves correctly, intelligently, or competently, and whether others around them love and respect them. If the person accepts themselves unconditionally, they will have positive attitudes towards themselves and their environment. Thus, the psychological well-being of the person will increase. Psychological well-being can also contribute to positive and healthy relationships within the family. Based on this, while having healthy and positive family relationships increases the authoritative parental attitude, it also increases the levels of unconditional self-acceptance through the increase in psychological well-being. Thus, it is predicted that the person's level of forgiveness may also increase. In a study supporting this view, a positive relationship was found between a perceived authoritative attitude and unconditional selfacceptance (Bilir & Guney, 1988). In addition, positive relationships were found between unconditional selfacceptance and psychological well-being (MacInnes, 2006).
As a result of the mediation analysis, an indirect and negative effect was found through unconditional selfacceptance in the relationship between the perceived protective parent attitudes and the level of forgiveness among university students. In addition, it was found that there is a partial mediation role for unconditional selfi acceptance in the relationship between perceived protective parenting attitudes and forgiveness. Among those who perceive the protective parent attitude, those with low unconditional self-acceptance levels have also low forgiveness levels. Gibbs (2009) stated that growing up with a protective parental attitude decreases individual's psychological well-being levels and it is among the studies that individuals with low psychological well-being have low tendency to unconditionally accept themselves (Garci et al., 2014). Thus, the negative role of perceived protective parental attitudes in reducing the level of unconditional self-acceptance is supported by research. The fact that this negative effect reduces the forgiveness of the individual has been emphasized by some researchers with supportive results. Gokmen and Cakır (2019) indicated that individuals who cannot accept themselves unconditionally have difficulties with forgiveness processes.
Another mediation analysis is that an indirect and negative effect was found through unconditional selfacceptance in the relationship between the perceived authoritarian parental attitudes and the level of forgiveness among the university students. In other words, the relationship between perceived authoritarian parental attitudes and forgiveness is partially mediated by unconditional self-acceptance. It has been associated with low unconditional self-acceptance in individuals whose perceived parental attitude is authoritarian, and therefore with lower forgiveness.
Authoritarian parents raise their children with punishing, rejecting, and insensitive behaviours (Berk, 2006). Also, when they raise children, they expect their children to obey and fulfil their orders (Baumrind, 1991). It is thought that the attitudes and behaviors they see from their parents may affect the psychological state and emotional mood of the child. A child who grows up with a negative attitude may have difficulty accepting themself unconditionally because they focus only on their negative characteristics. Some studies have produced results to support this. According to social learning theory, children's behaviors are shaped by observation and imitation of their parents (Malone, 2002). As a result of the negative mood and evaluations of children who grow up with an authoritarian parental attitude, their level of unconditional self-acceptance decreases, and therefore the forgiveness of the individual who cannot transform their negative feelings about the person or the situation into positive ones may decrease.
As a result of this study conducted with 1179 (753 women, 426 men) university students studying at Mersin University in Turkey, positive relationships were found between the perceived authoritative parental attitude and the unconditional self-acceptance and forgiveness levels of the individuals. As a result of correlation analysis, it was found that there are negative relationships between protective parent attitude, unconditional selfacceptance and forgiveness. Similarly, when the relationships between authoritarian parental attitude, unconditional self-acceptance and forgiveness are examined, it is seen that they are negative and significant. In addition, it was found that university students, whose level of unconditional self-acceptance increased, also increased their level of forgiveness. As a result of mediation analysis, it was found that there is a partial mediating role for unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between perceived parental attitudes (authoritative, protective, and authoritarian) and forgiveness among university students. Finally, it is seen that the mediation role found as a result of the analysis of three different models established with authoritative, protective, and authoritarian attitudes, which are subdimensions of perceived parental attitudes, is statistically significant.
This research was conducted with students studying at certain faculties of Mersin University. It is thought that reworking the literature with adults, adolescents, couples, or other university students from different cultures will contribute to the literature. In this study, the mediating role of unconditional self-acceptance in the relationship between perceived parental attitude and forgiveness was examined. In the relevant literature, it has been observed that there is a gap for studies that examine the mediating role of these variables. For this reason, the mediating role of positive psychology field variables (such as conscious awareness, self-esteem, and psychological well-being) in the relationship between perceived parental attitudes and forgiveness can be examined. In addition, a different perspective can be brought to the literature by studying whether negative variables (such as anxiety, depression, and perfectionism) mediate the same relationship. Multiple mediator models can be developed in which variables related to unconditional self-acceptance, which have a mediator role between perceived parental attitudes and forgiveness, are examined together. Finally, the relations which are found in the result of the study can be supported by examining multiple regressions with these variables.