Weaknesses of Positive Psychology might be Overgeneralized: Forgiveness Studies as a Counter to the Critiques

Critiques of positive psychology, as summarized by Van Zyl et al. in J Posit Psychol, 2023, have claimed that positive psychology (1) lacks proper theorizing; (2) over-relies on quantitative designs; (3) is poorly supported empirically with non-replicated studies; (4) lacks novelty and is isolated from mainstream psychology; (5) represents de-contextualized neo-liberal philosophy that causes harm; and (6) is a capitalistic means of furthering individualism, consumerism, and medicalization of positive experiences. Forgiveness studies is taken as a well-established subfield of positive psychology. Considering the critiques individually, I show that the field of forgiveness studies resists many of the critiques of the field of positive psychology as a whole. However, I acknowledge the validity and usefulness of some critiques, concluding that if some aspects of the field resist the critiques, that may imply overgeneralization of the critiques.