The Mediating Role of Self-Forgiveness in the Relationship Between Social Exclusion and Psychological Symptoms in University Students

The Mediating Role of Self-Forgiveness in the Relationship Between Social Exclusion and Psychological Symptoms in University Students | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Mediating Role of Self-Forgiveness in the Relationship Between Social Exclusion and Psychological Symptoms in University Students Furkan Kaşıkcı, Burak Can Korkmaz This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5323750/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Social exclusion is a risk factor for the psychological well-being of university students. Because they pass through emerging adulthood characterized by pressure and uncertainty, interpersonal resources are more significant for them. However, social exclusion limits these resources. It also causes negative emotional states, such as guilt and sadness. At this point, self-forgiveness may play a significant role as an emotion-focused coping strategy. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of self-forgiveness on the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms in university students. This study included 725 university students aged 18-24 years, with a mean age of 21.01 years. Of these university students, 481 (66.3%) were female, and 244 (33.7%) were male. The participants completed the Social Exclusion Scale, Self-Forgiveness Scale, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. The findings revealed that social exclusion was significantly associated with psychological symptoms. Furthermore, self-forgiveness mediated the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms. Therefore, psychological symptoms can be prevented by focusing on the self-forgiveness of university students experiencing social exclusion. Social exclusion self-forgiveness psychological symptoms mediating role Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Introduction The state of being in full health is defined by the World Health Organization (2022a) as a state of complete physical, social and mental well-being. As it can be understood from this definition, health is not only seen as one dimension, such as physical health. Its all dimensions are evaluated as a whole. If one of these dimensions is adversely affected, whole health is at risk because the problem spreads to other dimensions simultaneously. Hence, it is crucial to consider prevalent problems to improve the overall health of people. In terms of mental health, depression, anxiety, and stress are the leading conditions that negatively affect individuals worldwide. Proving this situation, the World Health Organization (2022b) reported that approximately 280 million people in the world have depression. In a large-scale study conducted in China, 31.6% of the participants reported anxiety symptoms, while 27.9% of them had symptoms of depression (Wang et al., 2021). A recent multinational study from 35 countries found that 26.7% of the participants had depression symptoms. It also showed that 28.2% had anxiety symptoms, and 18.3% had stress symptoms (Chen et al., 2021). Depression, anxiety, and stress affect individuals seriously. For example, Lew et al. (2019) found that psychological symptoms pose a significant risk for negative behaviors, such as suicide, in university students. However, these kinds of behaviors are rarely caused by a single factor. In the background of the effect of psychological symptoms on undesirable processes, these individuals feel intensely excluded (Martínez-Monteagudo et al., 2020). This situation reveals the importance of a person's belonging to a group. From the moment of birth, a person makes an indispensable effort to be accepted into a social group. Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) sees this effort as a universal and basic psychological need. Therefore, not meeting this basic need leads to undesirable consequences on the mental health of the individual (Arslan & Yıldırım, 2021; Ladd & Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2016). The need to be included in a social group comes to the fore during the university period. University life is considered the transition period before adulthood in which young people need to develop personally, socially, and academically. Young people in this period have limited social support due to staying away from their families for university education. This situation highlights the need for the socialization of human beings (Author, 2020). Failure to meet this need for social contact is seen as an important source of stress. This situation is defined as social exclusion in the literature. Williams and Sommer (1997) define social exclusion as the rejection or disregard of the individual by the groups around him. This situation is based on the individual's perception that he is not accepted or supported by others (Arslan, 2018a). In this context, social exclusion, loneliness (Allen et al., 2020; Arslan & Yıldırım, 2021), low self-esteem (Tuncel & Kavak, 2021), low academic achievement (Raabe, 2019), negative perceptions towards school (Satici, 2020), psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and stress (Li et al., 2021; Lin et al., 2017) have been associated with mental health (Arslan, 2018b). Individuals who are excluded in the social context produce negative perceptions about themselves, which negatively affects the well-being of individuals and leads to mental health problems. Previous researchers have found that socially excluded individuals report more symptoms that negatively affect psychological health, such as depression, anxiety, and stress. For example, in a study by Li et al. (2021), they found that the exclusion of university students by a social environment was a significant predictor of depression. These symptoms can create serious personal and societal costs for students, such as alcohol use (Balestrieri et al., 2018) or suicide (Longobardi et al., 2020). Despite the strong relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms, studies examining the factors of this strong relationship are quite limited in the literature (Arslan, 2019; Li et al., 2021; Niu et al., 2022). In other words, the mediators in this strong relationship need to be revealed. This study aims to explore the mediating role of self-forgiveness on the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms, which are depression, anxiety, and stress. The Mediator Role of Self-Forgiveness Self-forgiveness is a process of emotion regulation and includes the gradual change of one's feelings, thoughts, and behaviors toward himself (Hall & Fincham, 2005; Li et al., 2020). Self-forgiveness, which is an important structure in coping with stress in case of any crime or mistake, is a basic feature of social life (Costa et al., 2021). As we mentioned above, socially excluded individuals often experience factors that negatively affect their psychological health, such as anger, depression, anxiety, and stress. Numerous studies document the relationship between self-forgiveness and psychological health. For example, the study by Fincham and May (2020) shows that self-forgiveness is negatively associated with depression. Increasingly, studies support that self-forgiveness significantly and positively contributes to interpersonal relationships (Cheavens et al., 2016; Fincham & May, 2020; Yao et al., 2017). In addition, socially excluded individuals tend to blame themselves through low self-esteem (Yao et al., 2017). This situation causes the person to produce negative feelings towards himself and affects him psychologically or physically. At this point, self-forgiveness is considered an important coping strategy and helps to turn negative emotions into positive ones (Hall & Fincham, 2005). Moreover, considering the negative emotional state of individuals with psychological symptoms, self-forgiveness, a coping mechanism, may be necessary at this point. In other words, the feeling of guilt of the socially excluded individual or the development of thoughts that he deserves this situation may lead to a negative emotional state. In this relationship, how the mechanism of self-forgiveness functions is important. As the authors, we have seen very limited studies (Arslan & Çoşkun, 2021) examining the relationships between social exclusion and self-forgiveness. Also, we have not found any study examining the mediating role of self-forgiveness in undesirable situations such as depression, anxiety, and stress resulting from social exclusion. On the other hand, instead of focusing on the shortcomings and weaknesses of individuals, the positive psychology approach focuses on their strengths, positive aspects, happiness, and positive emotions. In this context, it is important to identify factors that enable individuals to develop positive coping strategies in stressful situations. One of these potentially significant factors is self-forgiveness. Self-forgiveness is a situation that can be learned and developed. For this reason, we thought that self-forgiveness would be a significant factor for socially excluded individuals to cope with negative consequences. The Purpose of the Present Study In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of self-forgiveness in the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress). As it is known, social exclusion is defined as social death by Williams (2007), and it brings many undesirable situations. In this context, it can be expressed as a more economical situation to focus on the structures that mediate these undesirable situations. The mediating factor in this study was self-forgiveness. In this way, we tested the mediation of self-forgiveness between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (H1). We have given the model we tested in figure 1. Methods Participants The present study recruited 725 undergraduate students from a state university in Turkey as participants. The mean age of the participants was 21.01 years, with a range of 18 to 24 years (SD = 2.01). The sample was composed of 481 female participants (66.3%) and 244 male participants (33.7%). Recruitment was conducted by sending an electronic link to eligible students, resulting in a total of 750 students who expressed interest in participating. However, during the data analysis phase, 25 participants' responses were excluded from the dataset due to non-normality. Measures Social Exclusion Scale (SES) In order to assess the perceptions of social exclusion among the university students participating in the study, the Social Exclusion Scale (SES) was utilized. The SES is a sub-dimension of the General Belonging Scale developed by Malone et al. (2012) and is a valid measurement tool for Turkish youth, as reported by Duru (2015). The scale consists of 6 items rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale. The results of the study revealed that the scale demonstrated sufficient reliability, with an alpha coefficient of .82. Self-Forgiveness Scale (SFS) The study utilized the Self-Forgiveness Scale (SFS) to measure the self-forgiveness levels of university students. The SFS is a sub-dimension of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Thompson et al., 2005), and it is a valid measurement tool for Turkish youth, as reported by Bugay and Demir (2010). The scale consists of 6 items rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale. Results of the study showed that the scale demonstrated sufficient reliability, with an alpha coefficient of .83. Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) In order to gather information about the psychological symptoms of the students participating in the research, the Psychological Symptoms Scale developed by Lovibond and Lovibond (1995) was utilized. The scale consists of 21 items and three sub-dimensions (depression, anxiety, and stress), and it is a valid measurement tool for Turkish youth, as reported by Sarıçam (2018). Results of the study indicated that the scale demonstrated sufficient reliability, with alpha coefficients of .81 for depression, .79 for anxiety, and .80 for stress sub-dimensions. Data Analysis The present study aimed to investigate the potential mediating role of self-forgiveness (M) in the relationship between social exclusion (X) and psychological symptoms (Y) among university students. Data analysis was conducted in a multi-step process. In the first stage, the normality of the data was assessed using various statistical tests, including extreme value analyses (kurtosis, skewness, Z-score, Mahalanobis, Cooks, Leverage). Data from 25 participants whose data disrupted the normal distribution were removed from the dataset. In the second step, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the study variables. In the final stage, a mediation model was tested using the PROCESS macro (Model 3) developed by Hayes (2018) in SPSS. The hypothesis was supported if the values within the 95% confidence interval (CI) did not include zero (MacKinnon et al., 2004). Moderating analyses were carried out using the PROCESS macro, and the SPSS-22 program was used to determine the relationship among variables in the study. Results Descriptive Statistics and Intercorrelations The descriptive results revealed that the kurtosis and skewness values of the scores obtained from the participants ranged from -.46 to .69. It was found that the kurtosis and skewness values fell within the criteria of -2 to +2, as proposed by Finney and DiStefano (2006) for the assumption of normality, indicating that all variables had a normal distribution. Additionally, the correlation analysis conducted to test the relationships between the variables revealed positive and statistically significant associations between social exclusion and depression, anxiety, and stress. Conversely, there were negative and statistically significant associations between social exclusion and self-forgiveness. The descriptive statistics and correlation analysis results are presented in Table 1. Table 1. Correlations and descriptive statistics Descriptive statistics Correlations M SD Skew. Kurt. 1 2 3 4 5 1. SE 24.03 .99 -.09 -.46 1 2. SF 27.96 .98 -.02 -.45 -.32** 1 3. Dep. 8.09 .91 -.14 -.15 .41** -.30** 1 4. Ank. 5.03 .97 .04 -.39 .30** -.46** .28** 1 5. Str. 7.09 .97 -.08 -.40 .25** -.32** .44** .41** 1 Note SE= Social Exclusion; SF= Self-Forgiveness Mediation Analyses The results of the analysis revealed that social exclusion and self-forgiveness accounted for 19% of the variance in depression, 24% of the variance in anxiety, and 12% of the variance in stress. Additionally, social exclusion was found to have a positive and statistically significant effect on psychological symptoms (depression: β = .37, t = 11.95, p < .05; anxiety: β = .29, t = 8.57, p < .05; and stress: β = .24, t = 6.98, p < .05). Furthermore, social exclusion was found to have a negative and statistically significant effect on self-forgiveness (β = -.31, t = 9.01, p < .05). Similarly, self-forgiveness was found to have a negative and statistically significant effect on psychological symptoms (depression: β = -.19, t = 5.95, p < .05; anxiety: β = -.40, t = 11.88, p < .05; and stress: β = -.26, t = 7.34, p < .05). These results indicate that the model is suitable for testing the mediating relationship. Based on these findings, we further examined the mediating role of self-forgiveness in the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress). The results showed that the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms decreased when self-forgiveness was included in the model (as shown in Figure 2). To determine the significance of the mediating role of self-forgiveness in the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress) for a sample of 5000 individuals, as well as to reveal the direct and indirect effects between the variables, a bootstrap analysis was conducted as per the method proposed by Preacher and Hayes (2008). The results of the analysis, including the indirect effect and corresponding confidence intervals, are presented in Table 2. Table 2. Bootstrapping process for the mediating model Discussion The current study examined the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress) by elucidating the mediating role of self-forgiveness in university students. The findings of this study are in line with previous research that demonstrates a positive association between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (Arslan & Coskun, 2021). Furthermore, the results suggest that greater social exclusion is associated with less self-forgiveness. A negative correlation is also found between self-forgiveness and psychological symptoms. Thus, socially excluded university students show less self-forgiveness, and this results in psychological symptoms. The need for belonging is present at every stage of life, but this is especially important for university students. After leaving the family home for university education, university students do not have the chance to meet with their families frequently. In addition to being alone, social and emotional expectations increase due to the unique nature of the emerging adulthood period. Social support and belonging are of paramount importance to university students. That is why they want to be included in a social group (Author, 2020 ). The emergence of psychological symptoms as a result of social exclusion can be explained by the decrease in social support and belonging. Individuals with limited external resources are likely to turn to internal resources. Just as social exclusion is a barrier to the use of external resources, low self-forgiveness can play a similar role in the use of internal resources. Because self-forgiveness is an emotion-focused coping strategy, low self-forgiveness can make it difficult to access and use internal resources. Therefore, reduced resources resulting from social exclusion can dramatically decrease with low self-forgiveness, which may result in leaving the individual helpless. Moreover, fundamental needs are threatened by social exclusion. Failure to meet needs such as control, belonging, meaningful existence, and self-esteem can lead to problems (Timeo et al., 2019a ). Even if limited resources do not create a psychological effect on the individual at first, the fundamental needs at risk due to social exclusion may directly affect the individual's psychological symptoms. In the process of social exclusion, which is characterized by losses in many respects, feelings similar to the mourning process may arise. The individuals may question why they are socially excluded and why it happens to them. At this point, it is likely that there are changes in self-forgiveness due to social exclusion. Self-forgiveness, which is effective in reducing negative emotions, becomes ineffective when social exclusion occurs. When the feelings such as guilt, anger, and sadness arise and self-forgiveness decreases, the effect of these feelings may substantially increase. At the same time, cognitive performance declines due to social exclusion (Lincoln et al., 2021 ). Therefore, when self-forgiveness declines, negative feelings and thoughts may persist, as if in an endless mourning process. Depression The findings suggest that social exclusion leads to depression with the mediating role of self-forgiveness. Similarly, previous studies demonstrate that self-forgiveness reduces the risk of depression. However, forgiveness to others does not show the same effect (Gençoğlu et al., 2018 ; Toussaint, 2022 ). The significant effect of self-forgiveness on depression may be more meaningful if it is evaluated in terms of factors that trigger depression. Self-blame resulting from social exclusion can trigger rumination. Rumination gradually increases in people who constantly make negative evaluations of themselves. Socially excluded university students may show high rumination because university students, many of whom are far from their family homes, are likely to feel a lack of social support. The existing negative perceptions of university students may start to grow and be proven in their minds due to the lack of social support. At this point, self-forgiveness can affect negative perceptions by regulating emotions and thoughts (Worthington & Wade, 2020). Thus, self-forgiveness emerges as a factor that prevents depression. Along with rumination, cognitive problems often occur in depression, and these are mostly associated with increased self-focused. Fossati ( 2019 ) claims that self-focused increases after social exclusion because socially excluded people find the external world risky and direct attention resources to the internal world. Due to the lack of social support, social exclusion adversely affects the external world of the individual. Similarly, social exclusion may prevent the regulation of emotions and thoughts by causing a decrease in self-forgiveness, and this affects the internal world of the individual. For example, individuals with high self-forgiveness experience less negative affect, which reduces their risk of depression (Gençoğlu et al., 2018 ). Thus, socially excluded university students are likely to experience depression due to low self-forgiveness. Anxiety The present study revealed a significant effect of social exclusion on anxiety through self-forgiveness. According to evolutionary psychologists, even if anxiety is not a pleasant experience, it protects the individual from social threats (Karasewich & Kuhlmeier, 2020 ). Social exclusion is considered one of the most powerful forms of social threats (Timeo et al., 2019b ). Even if self-forgiveness keeps anxiety at a certain level, this is not possible when social exclusion occurs. Today, university students are in a competitive environment and are exposed to many social experiences due to their increasing responsibilities. This increased social encounter can lead to exposure to humiliation and rejection many times when social exclusion occurs (Gilboa-Schechtman, 2020 ). As a result, maintaining a high level of self-forgiveness can become even more difficult when today's university students face social exclusion, and this results in anxiety. Stress The finding on stress is remarkable for university students. Similar to other psychological symptoms, social exclusion adversely affects stress with the mediating role of self-forgiveness. Stress emerges similarly at first in individuals exposed to social exclusion but then changes to a large extent (Lincoln et al., 2021 ). This change can be explained by a coping strategy that acts consistently over time rather than an external stimulus. Correspondingly, O’Beirne et al. ( 2020 ) found that decreased tolerance for pain is associated with a low level of self-forgiveness. Similar to the mechanism for pain, self-forgiveness can produce changes in stress over time. Thus, decreased self-forgiveness leads to stress in university students whose social exclusion levels increase. Limitations and Implications The study had a number of limitations. First, although the reliability and validity of the scales used in the research proved suitable, the findings were based on self-declaration measures. Therefore, other evaluation methods (for example, peer and parental reports) should be used in later studies. Second, the cross-sectional nature of this study is a significant limitation. In this respect, researchers can conduct longitudinal studies. Third, the findings of the current study can only be generalized to Turkish university students. Thus, these findings need to be tested among other populations. This study was conducted via an online scale because, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic at the time of writing, students were studying online. Therefore, participants may be a possibility of not being able to express themselves correctly. A larger sampling can be applied to ensure the reliability and validity of the results of the study. Psychological services can implement interventions focused on self-forgiveness for the prevention of psychological symptoms. Although developing external resources is critical in situations such as social exclusion and loneliness, it may be more beneficial to develop self-forgiveness at first due to the intensity of guilt and sadness. Moreover, this is important for the social exclusion situation to be handled as a manageable issue without being personalized. Therefore, self-forgiveness can be used as a powerful instrument for social exclusion in psychological services. Conclusion The findings of this study made a significant contribution to the literature on the association of social exclusion, self-forgiveness, and psychological symptoms because there have been very few studies on the relationship between these factors, especially regarding the mediating effect of self-forgiveness. The current study, thus, reveals important implications for the function of self-forgiveness in university students experiencing social exclusion. University students with high self-forgiveness can cultivate positive emotional skills, and this can be beneficial to optimize psychological well-being. However, while psychological symptoms occur in university students who face social exclusion, self-forgiveness decreases at the same time. Therefore, this study demonstrated the mediating role of self-forgiveness on the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms in university students. Abbreviations Not applicable. Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate This study was conducted in adherence to the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and only involved the participation of volunteers. Ethical considerations were taken into account throughout the research process, and all necessary permissions were obtained from the X University, Educational Sciences Institute Directorate, Educational Sciences Unit Ethics Board (permission number 06/23, dated 18/06/2021). Informed consent was obtained from all participants, and they were informed that they had the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Research and publication ethics were strictly followed throughout the course of this study.Consent for publication Consent for publication Not applicable. Data Availability The data used and /or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Competing Interests The authors declare no competing interests. Funding The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article Authors’ contributions FK and BK agreed to determine the objectives of the study, how the data would be collected, and which analysis would be applied. FK and BK played an active role in the completion of the study. FK obtained the ethics committee approvals and the official permission studies for the application of the scales and carried out the data collection process. 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P., Pillow, D. R., & Osman, A. (2012). The general belongingness scale (GBS): Assessing achieved belongingness. Personality and Individual Differences , 52 (3), 311-316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.10.027 Martínez-Monteagudo, M. C., Delgado, B., Díaz-Herrero, Á., & García-Fernández, J. M. (2020). Relationship between suicidal thinking, anxiety, depression and stress in university students who are victims of cyberbullying. Psychiatry Research , 286 , 112856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112856 Niu, G. F., Shi, X. H., Yao, L. S., Yang, W. C., Jin, S. Y., & Xu, L. (2022). Social Exclusion and Depression among undergraduate students: The mediating roles of rejection sensitivity and social self-efficacy. Current Psychology , 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03318-1 O’Beirne, S., Katsimigos, A. M., & Harmon, D. (2020). Forgiveness and chronic pain: a systematic review. Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971-) , 189 (4), 1359-1364. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-020-02200-y Raabe, I. J. (2019). Social exclusion and school achievement: Children of immigrants and children of natives in three European countries. Child Indicators Research , 12 (3), 1003-1022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-018-9565-0 Sarıçam, H. (2018). The psychometric properties of Turkish version of depression anxiety stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) in health control and clinical samples. Journal of Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy and Research, 7 (1), 19–30. Satici, B. (2020). Social exclusion and adolescent wellbeing: Stress, school satisfaction, and academic self-efficacy as multiple mediators. The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , 37 (1), 67-74. https://doi.org/10.1017/edp.2020.7 Thompson, L. Y., Snyder, C. R., Hoffman, L., Michael, S. T., Rasmussen, H. N., Billings, L. S., ... & Roberts, D. E. (2005). Dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations. Journal of Personality , 73 (2), 313-360. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00311.x Timeo, S., Riva, P., & Paladino, M. P. (2019a). Dealing with social exclusion: An analysis of psychological strategies. Current directions in ostracism, social exclusion, and rejection research , 65-81. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351255912 Timeo, S., Riva, P., & Paladino, M. P. (2019b). Learning to cope with everyday instances of social exclusion: A review of emotional and cognitive strategies for children and adolescents. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research , 24 (4), e12173. https://doi.org/10.1111/jabr.12173 Toussaint, L. (2022). Forgiveness and flourishing. Spiritual Care . https://doi.org/10.1515/spircare-2022-0042 Tunçel, N., & Kavak, B. (2022). Being an ethical or unethical consumer in response to social exclusion: The role of control, belongingness and self‐esteem. International Journal of Consumer Studies , 46 (2), 459-474. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12693 Wang, Y., Shi, L., Que, J., Lu, Q., Liu, L., Lu, Z., ... & Shi, J. (2021). The impact of quarantine on mental health status among general population in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Molecular Psychiatry , 26 (9), 4813-4822. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01019-y Williams, K. D. (2007). Ostracism: The kiss of social death. Social and Personality Psychology Compass , 1 (1), 236-247. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00004.x Williams, K. D., & Sommer, K. L. (1997). Social ostracism by coworkers: Does rejection lead to loafing or compensation?. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 23 (7), 693-706. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167297237003 World Health Organization, (2022a). Health and Well-Being . https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/major-themes/health-and-well-being World Health Organization, (2022b). Depression . https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression Yao, S., Chen, J., Yu, X., & Sang, J. (2017). Mediator roles of interpersonal forgiveness and self-forgiveness between self-esteem and subjective well-being. Current Psychology , 36 (3), 585-592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9447-x Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5323750","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":371735493,"identity":"6b02f41e-6b84-4987-9ea3-e30dc1ccb3bc","order_by":0,"name":"Furkan Kaşıkcı","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6UlEQVRIie3OMYvCMBTA8QcdujzJmoL4GQKBju1XyZHBJRxOIjh4ky4FP4u4OryjoEtu7ygInTpUXBQcbMHhQC89N4f8h0cI+YUH4PO9YWHWDEWADCC43yk3QXsn0ddvQl2kfSHo3wTzQ723SV/ufnJx2STAQiOC48ZBevOYq0JjbD/1R1ZqiLJKAJV/k5RBDKomjMlIQgpAFKYhjs2Qhae6JXJZye8rzSDtJL1MNIsRCm6kRsqhOXQQtGOurEZeVFL2aYfcliOyTjJcH8/bJGVLI6OKpgO20Kv9xEEe/2jHK8Dn8/l8T7oBrbtUtsPi2OwAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Ankara University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Furkan","middleName":"","lastName":"Kaşıkcı","suffix":""},{"id":371735494,"identity":"b0e142ca-b8e1-4f77-a9fc-d55ea0a022f7","order_by":1,"name":"Burak Can Korkmaz","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Republic of Turkey Ministry of Family and Social Policies","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Burak","middleName":"Can","lastName":"Korkmaz","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-10-24 07:53:07","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5323750/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5323750/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":69244649,"identity":"75132ba1-7687-4cb2-a38e-c127da0f417a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-18 10:53:58","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":48045,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe conceptual model\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5323750/v1/f32f39f329e196159c201417.png"},{"id":69244648,"identity":"bbc39ce0-a252-4ab3-b960-8a2839be5bc4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-18 10:53:58","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":41016,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMediation role of Self-Forgiveness variable (*p \u0026lt; .05).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote: Path coefficients in parentheses are the values (belonging to the direct effect) after the mediator variables are included in the model.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5323750/v1/6e2daefe98aad4acd8ba9b66.png"},{"id":71960623,"identity":"9a3c738b-350c-43c4-979a-5cece761d5d9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-12-20 06:39:25","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":555587,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5323750/v1/2cc10988-d30a-455b-bbb8-e3059ecd4ec9.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Mediating Role of Self-Forgiveness in the Relationship Between Social Exclusion and Psychological Symptoms in University Students","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe state of being in full health is defined by the World Health Organization (2022a) as a state of complete physical, social and mental well-being. As it can be understood from this definition, health is not only seen as one dimension, such as physical health. Its all dimensions are evaluated as a whole. If one of these dimensions is adversely affected, whole health is at risk because the problem spreads to other dimensions simultaneously. Hence, it is crucial to consider prevalent problems to improve the overall health of people. In terms of mental health, depression, anxiety, and stress are the leading conditions that negatively affect individuals worldwide. Proving this situation, the World Health Organization (2022b) reported that approximately 280 million people in the world have depression. In a large-scale study conducted in China, 31.6% of the participants reported anxiety symptoms, while 27.9% of them had symptoms of depression (Wang et al., 2021). A recent multinational study from 35 countries found that 26.7% of the participants had depression symptoms. It also showed that 28.2% had anxiety symptoms, and 18.3% had stress symptoms (Chen et al., 2021). Depression, anxiety, and stress affect individuals seriously. For example, Lew et al. (2019) found that psychological symptoms pose a significant risk for negative behaviors, such as suicide, in university students. However, these kinds of behaviors are rarely caused by a single factor. In the background of the effect of psychological symptoms on undesirable processes, these individuals feel intensely excluded (Mart\u0026iacute;nez-Monteagudo et al., 2020). This situation reveals the importance of a person\u0026apos;s belonging to a group.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the moment of birth, a person makes an indispensable effort to be accepted into a social group. Self-determination theory (Deci \u0026amp; Ryan, 1985) sees this effort as a universal and basic psychological need. Therefore, not meeting this basic need leads to undesirable consequences on the mental health of the individual (Arslan \u0026amp; Yıldırım, 2021; Ladd \u0026amp; Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2016). The need to be included in a social group comes to the fore during the university period. University life is considered the transition period before adulthood in which young people need to develop personally, socially, and academically. Young people in this period have limited social support due to staying away from their families for university education. This situation highlights the need for the socialization of human beings (Author, 2020). Failure to meet this need for social contact is seen as an important source of stress. This situation is defined as social exclusion in the literature.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilliams and Sommer (1997) define social exclusion as the rejection or disregard of the individual by the groups around him. This situation is based on the individual\u0026apos;s perception that he is not accepted or supported by others (Arslan, 2018a). In this context, social exclusion, loneliness (Allen et al., 2020; Arslan \u0026amp; Yıldırım, 2021), low self-esteem (Tuncel \u0026amp; Kavak, 2021), low academic achievement (Raabe, 2019), negative perceptions towards school (Satici, 2020), psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and stress (Li et al., 2021; Lin et al., 2017) have been associated with mental health (Arslan, 2018b). Individuals who are excluded in the social context produce negative perceptions about themselves, which negatively affects the well-being of individuals and leads to mental health problems. Previous researchers have found that socially excluded individuals report more symptoms that negatively affect psychological health, such as depression, anxiety, and stress. For example, in a study by Li et al. (2021), they found that the exclusion of university students by a social environment was a significant predictor of depression. These symptoms can create serious personal and societal costs for students, such as alcohol use (Balestrieri et al., 2018) or suicide (Longobardi et al., 2020). Despite the strong relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms, studies examining the factors of this strong relationship are quite limited in the literature (Arslan, 2019; Li et al., 2021; Niu et al., 2022). In other words, the mediators in this strong relationship need to be revealed.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study aims to explore the mediating role of self-forgiveness on the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms, which are depression, anxiety, and stress.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Mediator Role of\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSelf-Forgiveness\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSelf-forgiveness is a process of emotion regulation and includes the gradual change of one\u0026apos;s feelings, thoughts, and behaviors toward himself (Hall \u0026amp; Fincham, 2005; Li et al., 2020). Self-forgiveness, which is an important structure in coping with stress in case of any crime or mistake, is a basic feature of social life (Costa et al., 2021). As we mentioned above, socially excluded individuals often experience factors that negatively affect their psychological health, such as anger, depression, anxiety, and stress. Numerous studies document the relationship between self-forgiveness and psychological health. For example, the study by Fincham and May (2020) shows that self-forgiveness is negatively associated with depression. Increasingly, studies support that self-forgiveness significantly and positively contributes to interpersonal relationships (Cheavens et al., 2016; Fincham \u0026amp; May, 2020; Yao et al., 2017). In addition, socially excluded individuals tend to blame themselves through low self-esteem (Yao et al., 2017). This situation causes the person to produce negative feelings towards himself and affects him psychologically or physically. At this point, self-forgiveness is considered an important coping strategy and helps to turn negative emotions into positive ones (Hall \u0026amp; Fincham, 2005). Moreover, considering the negative emotional state of individuals with psychological symptoms, self-forgiveness, a coping mechanism, may be necessary at this point. In other words, the feeling of guilt of the socially excluded individual or the development of thoughts that he deserves this situation may lead to a negative emotional state. In this relationship, how the mechanism of self-forgiveness functions is important. As the authors, we have seen very limited studies (Arslan \u0026amp; \u0026Ccedil;oşkun, 2021) examining the relationships between social exclusion and self-forgiveness. Also, we have not found any study examining the mediating role of self-forgiveness in undesirable situations such as depression, anxiety, and stress resulting from social exclusion.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the other hand, instead of focusing on the shortcomings and weaknesses of individuals, the positive psychology approach focuses on their strengths, positive aspects, happiness, and positive emotions. In this context, it is important to identify factors that enable individuals to develop positive coping strategies in stressful situations. One of these potentially significant factors is self-forgiveness. Self-forgiveness is a situation that can be learned and developed. For this reason, we thought that self-forgiveness would be a significant factor for socially excluded individuals to cope with negative consequences.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Purpose of the Present Study\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this study, we aimed to investigate the role of self-forgiveness in the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress). As it is known, social exclusion is defined as social death by Williams (2007), and it brings many undesirable situations. In this context, it can be expressed as a more economical situation to focus on the structures that mediate these undesirable situations. The mediating factor in this study was self-forgiveness. In this way, we tested the mediation of self-forgiveness between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (H1). We have given the model we tested in figure 1.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eParticipants\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present study recruited 725 undergraduate students from a state university in Turkey as participants. The mean age of the participants was 21.01 years, with a range of 18 to 24 years (SD = 2.01). The sample was composed of 481 female participants (66.3%) and 244 male participants (33.7%). Recruitment was conducted by sending an electronic link to eligible students, resulting in a total of 750 students who expressed interest in participating. However, during the data analysis phase, 25 participants' responses were excluded from the dataset due to non-normality.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMeasures\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eSocial Exclusion Scale (SES)\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn order to assess the perceptions of social exclusion among the university students participating in the study, the Social Exclusion Scale (SES) was utilized. The SES is a sub-dimension of the General Belonging Scale developed by Malone et al. (2012) and is a valid measurement tool for Turkish youth, as reported by Duru (2015). The scale consists of 6 items rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale. The results of the study revealed that the scale demonstrated sufficient reliability, with an alpha coefficient of .82.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eSelf-Forgiveness Scale (SFS)\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study utilized the Self-Forgiveness Scale (SFS) to measure the self-forgiveness levels of university students. The SFS is a sub-dimension of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Thompson et al., 2005), and it is a valid measurement tool for Turkish youth, as reported by Bugay and Demir (2010). The scale consists of 6 items rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale. Results of the study showed that the scale demonstrated sufficient reliability, with an alpha coefficient of .83.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDepression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21)\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn order to gather information about the psychological symptoms of the students participating in the research, the Psychological Symptoms Scale developed by Lovibond and Lovibond (1995) was utilized. The scale consists of 21 items and three sub-dimensions (depression, anxiety, and stress), and it is a valid measurement tool for Turkish youth, as reported by Sarıçam (2018). Results of the study indicated that the scale demonstrated sufficient reliability, with alpha coefficients of .81 for depression, .79 for anxiety, and .80 for stress sub-dimensions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData Analysis\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present study aimed to investigate the potential mediating role of self-forgiveness (M) in the relationship between social exclusion (X) and psychological symptoms (Y) among university students. Data analysis was conducted in a multi-step process. In the first stage, the normality of the data was assessed using various statistical tests, including extreme value analyses (kurtosis, skewness, Z-score, Mahalanobis, Cooks, Leverage). Data from 25 participants whose data disrupted the normal distribution were removed from the dataset. In the second step, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the study variables. In the final stage, a mediation model was tested using the PROCESS macro (Model 3) developed by Hayes (2018) in SPSS. The hypothesis was supported if the values within the 95% confidence interval (CI) did not include zero (MacKinnon et al., 2004). Moderating analyses were carried out using the PROCESS macro, and the SPSS-22 program was used to determine the relationship among variables in the study.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDescriptive Statistics and Intercorrelations\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe descriptive results revealed that the kurtosis and skewness values of the scores obtained from the participants ranged from -.46 to .69. It was found that the kurtosis and skewness values fell within the criteria of -2 to +2, as proposed by Finney and DiStefano (2006) for the assumption of normality, indicating that all variables had a normal distribution. Additionally, the correlation analysis conducted to test the relationships between the variables revealed positive and statistically significant associations between social exclusion and depression, anxiety, and stress. Conversely, there were negative and statistically significant associations between social exclusion and self-forgiveness. The descriptive statistics and correlation analysis results are presented in Table 1.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 1. \u003cem\u003eCorrelations and descriptive statistics\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"4\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 44%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDescriptive statistics\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"5\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 45%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCorrelations\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eM\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 7%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSD\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSkew.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKurt.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 6%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. SE\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e24.03\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 7%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.99\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.09\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.46\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 6%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. SF\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e27.96\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 7%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.98\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.02\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.45\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.32**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 6%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3. Dep.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8.09\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 7%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.91\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.14\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.15\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.41**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.30**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 6%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4. Ank.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5.03\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 7%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.97\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.04\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.39\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.30**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.46**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.28**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 6%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5. Str.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 16%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7.09\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 7%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.97\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.08\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.40\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 10%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.25**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-.32**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.44**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 9%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.41**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 6%;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote SE= Social Exclusion; SF= Self-Forgiveness\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMediation Analyses\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results of the analysis revealed that social exclusion and self-forgiveness accounted for 19% of the variance in depression, 24% of the variance in anxiety, and 12% of the variance in stress. Additionally, social exclusion was found to have a positive and statistically significant effect on psychological symptoms (depression: \u0026beta; = .37, t = 11.95, p \u0026lt; .05; anxiety: \u0026beta; = .29, t = 8.57, p \u0026lt; .05; and stress: \u0026beta; = .24, t = 6.98, p \u0026lt; .05). Furthermore, social exclusion was found to have a negative and statistically significant effect on self-forgiveness (\u0026beta; = -.31, t = 9.01, p \u0026lt; .05). Similarly, self-forgiveness was found to have a negative and statistically significant effect on psychological symptoms (depression: \u0026beta; = -.19, t = 5.95, p \u0026lt; .05; anxiety: \u0026beta; = -.40, t = 11.88, p \u0026lt; .05; and stress: \u0026beta; = -.26, t = 7.34, p \u0026lt; .05). These results indicate that the model is suitable for testing the mediating relationship. Based on these findings, we further examined the mediating role of self-forgiveness in the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress). The results showed that the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms decreased when self-forgiveness was included in the model (as shown in Figure 2).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo determine the significance of the mediating role of self-forgiveness in the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress) for a sample of 5000 individuals, as well as to reveal the direct and indirect effects between the variables, a bootstrap analysis was conducted as per the method proposed by Preacher and Hayes (2008). The results of the analysis, including the indirect effect and corresponding confidence intervals, are presented in Table 2.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 2. Bootstrapping process for the mediating model\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg 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\" width=\"538\" height=\"102\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe current study examined the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress) by elucidating the mediating role of self-forgiveness in university students. The findings of this study are in line with previous research that demonstrates a positive association between social exclusion and psychological symptoms (Arslan \u0026amp; Coskun, 2021). Furthermore, the results suggest that greater social exclusion is associated with less self-forgiveness. A negative correlation is also found between self-forgiveness and psychological symptoms. Thus, socially excluded university students show less self-forgiveness, and this results in psychological symptoms.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe need for belonging is present at every stage of life, but this is especially important for university students. After leaving the family home for university education, university students do not have the chance to meet with their families frequently. In addition to being alone, social and emotional expectations increase due to the unique nature of the emerging adulthood period. Social support and belonging are of paramount importance to university students. That is why they want to be included in a social group (Author, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). The emergence of psychological symptoms as a result of social exclusion can be explained by the decrease in social support and belonging. Individuals with limited external resources are likely to turn to internal resources. Just as social exclusion is a barrier to the use of external resources, low self-forgiveness can play a similar role in the use of internal resources. Because self-forgiveness is an emotion-focused coping strategy, low self-forgiveness can make it difficult to access and use internal resources. Therefore, reduced resources resulting from social exclusion can dramatically decrease with low self-forgiveness, which may result in leaving the individual helpless.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMoreover, fundamental needs are threatened by social exclusion. Failure to meet needs such as control, belonging, meaningful existence, and self-esteem can lead to problems (Timeo et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019a\u003c/span\u003e). Even if limited resources do not create a psychological effect on the individual at first, the fundamental needs at risk due to social exclusion may directly affect the individual's psychological symptoms. In the process of social exclusion, which is characterized by losses in many respects, feelings similar to the mourning process may arise. The individuals may question why they are socially excluded and why it happens to them. At this point, it is likely that there are changes in self-forgiveness due to social exclusion. Self-forgiveness, which is effective in reducing negative emotions, becomes ineffective when social exclusion occurs. When the feelings such as guilt, anger, and sadness arise and self-forgiveness decreases, the effect of these feelings may substantially increase. At the same time, cognitive performance declines due to social exclusion (Lincoln et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, when self-forgiveness declines, negative feelings and thoughts may persist, as if in an endless mourning process.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eDepression\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe findings suggest that social exclusion leads to depression with the mediating role of self-forgiveness. Similarly, previous studies demonstrate that self-forgiveness reduces the risk of depression. However, forgiveness to others does not show the same effect (Gen\u0026ccedil;oğlu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Toussaint, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). The significant effect of self-forgiveness on depression may be more meaningful if it is evaluated in terms of factors that trigger depression. Self-blame resulting from social exclusion can trigger rumination. Rumination gradually increases in people who constantly make negative evaluations of themselves. Socially excluded university students may show high rumination because university students, many of whom are far from their family homes, are likely to feel a lack of social support. The existing negative perceptions of university students may start to grow and be proven in their minds due to the lack of social support. At this point, self-forgiveness can affect negative perceptions by regulating emotions and thoughts (Worthington \u0026amp; Wade, 2020). Thus, self-forgiveness emerges as a factor that prevents depression.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlong with rumination, cognitive problems often occur in depression, and these are mostly associated with increased self-focused. Fossati (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) claims that self-focused increases after social exclusion because socially excluded people find the external world risky and direct attention resources to the internal world. Due to the lack of social support, social exclusion adversely affects the external world of the individual. Similarly, social exclusion may prevent the regulation of emotions and thoughts by causing a decrease in self-forgiveness, and this affects the internal world of the individual. For example, individuals with high self-forgiveness experience less negative affect, which reduces their risk of depression (Gen\u0026ccedil;oğlu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). Thus, socially excluded university students are likely to experience depression due to low self-forgiveness.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eAnxiety\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe present study revealed a significant effect of social exclusion on anxiety through self-forgiveness. According to evolutionary psychologists, even if anxiety is not a pleasant experience, it protects the individual from social threats (Karasewich \u0026amp; Kuhlmeier, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Social exclusion is considered one of the most powerful forms of social threats (Timeo et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019b\u003c/span\u003e). Even if self-forgiveness keeps anxiety at a certain level, this is not possible when social exclusion occurs. Today, university students are in a competitive environment and are exposed to many social experiences due to their increasing responsibilities. This increased social encounter can lead to exposure to humiliation and rejection many times when social exclusion occurs (Gilboa-Schechtman, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). As a result, maintaining a high level of self-forgiveness can become even more difficult when today's university students face social exclusion, and this results in anxiety.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eStress\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe finding on stress is remarkable for university students. Similar to other psychological symptoms, social exclusion adversely affects stress with the mediating role of self-forgiveness. Stress emerges similarly at first in individuals exposed to social exclusion but then changes to a large extent (Lincoln et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). This change can be explained by a coping strategy that acts consistently over time rather than an external stimulus. Correspondingly, O\u0026rsquo;Beirne et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e) found that decreased tolerance for pain is associated with a low level of self-forgiveness. Similar to the mechanism for pain, self-forgiveness can produce changes in stress over time. Thus, decreased self-forgiveness leads to stress in university students whose social exclusion levels increase.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eLimitations and Implications\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study had a number of limitations. First, although the reliability and validity of the scales used in the research proved suitable, the findings were based on self-declaration measures. Therefore, other evaluation methods (for example, peer and parental reports) should be used in later studies. Second, the cross-sectional nature of this study is a significant limitation. In this respect, researchers can conduct longitudinal studies. Third, the findings of the current study can only be generalized to Turkish university students. Thus, these findings need to be tested among other populations. This study was conducted via an online scale because, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic at the time of writing, students were studying online. Therefore, participants may be a possibility of not being able to express themselves correctly. A larger sampling can be applied to ensure the reliability and validity of the results of the study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePsychological services can implement interventions focused on self-forgiveness for the prevention of psychological symptoms. Although developing external resources is critical in situations such as social exclusion and loneliness, it may be more beneficial to develop self-forgiveness at first due to the intensity of guilt and sadness. Moreover, this is important for the social exclusion situation to be handled as a manageable issue without being personalized. Therefore, self-forgiveness can be used as a powerful instrument for social exclusion in psychological services.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe findings of this study made a significant contribution to the literature on the association of social exclusion, self-forgiveness, and psychological symptoms because there have been very few studies on the relationship between these factors, especially regarding the mediating effect of self-forgiveness. The current study, thus, reveals important implications for the function of self-forgiveness in university students experiencing social exclusion. University students with high self-forgiveness can cultivate positive emotional skills, and this can be beneficial to optimize psychological well-being. However, while psychological symptoms occur in university students who face social exclusion, self-forgiveness decreases at the same time. Therefore, this study demonstrated the mediating role of self-forgiveness on the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms in university students.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Abbreviations","content":"\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study was conducted in adherence to the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and only involved the participation of volunteers. Ethical considerations were taken into account throughout the research process, and all necessary permissions were obtained from the X University, Educational Sciences Institute Directorate, Educational Sciences Unit Ethics Board (permission number 06/23, dated 18/06/2021). Informed consent was obtained from all participants, and they were informed that they had the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Research and publication ethics were strictly followed throughout the course of this study.Consent for publication\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData Availability\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe data used and /or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting Interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthors’ contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFK and BK agreed to determine the objectives of the study, how the data would be collected, and which analysis would be applied. FK and BK played an active role in the completion of the study. FK obtained the ethics committee approvals and the official permission studies for the application of the scales and carried out the data collection process. FK conducted the examination of the suitability of the collected data for analysis. The findings and discussion sections of the study were written by FK and BK. The introduction and methodology sections were written by FK and BK.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAllen, S. F., Gilbody, S., Atkin, K., \u0026amp; van der Feltz-Cornelis, C. (2020). 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Mediator roles of interpersonal forgiveness and self-forgiveness between self-esteem and subjective well-being. \u003cem\u003eCurrent Psychology\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e36\u003c/em\u003e(3), 585-592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9447-x\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Social exclusion, self-forgiveness, psychological symptoms, mediating role","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5323750/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5323750/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSocial exclusion is a risk factor for the psychological well-being of university students. Because they pass through emerging adulthood characterized by pressure and uncertainty, interpersonal resources are more significant for them. However, social exclusion limits these resources. It also causes negative emotional states, such as guilt and sadness. At this point, self-forgiveness may play a significant role as an emotion-focused coping strategy. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of self-forgiveness on the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms in university students. This study included 725 university students aged 18-24 years, with a mean age of 21.01 years. Of these university students, 481 (66.3%) were female, and 244 (33.7%) were male. The participants completed the Social Exclusion Scale, Self-Forgiveness Scale, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. The findings revealed that social exclusion was significantly associated with psychological symptoms. Furthermore, self-forgiveness mediated the relationship between social exclusion and psychological symptoms. Therefore, psychological symptoms can be prevented by focusing on the self-forgiveness of university students experiencing social exclusion.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Mediating Role of Self-Forgiveness in the Relationship Between Social Exclusion and Psychological Symptoms in University Students","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-11-18 10:53:25","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5323750/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f6753c60-c63d-4b64-99ed-eaa2e1d00e3c","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 18th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-12-20T06:39:06+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-11-18 10:53:25","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5323750","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5323750","identity":"rs-5323750","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}