The psychology of forgiveness with Michael McCullough
Worklife with Adam Grant
TED
4.8 • 9.4K Ratings
🗓️ 3 June 2025
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this season of WorkLife, we’re pairing each of our regular episodes with a companion interview to do a deeper dive into the topic. This is the companion for our episode on the secrets of a great apology. Michael McCullough is a psychology professor at UC San Diego and a pioneer in the study of forgiveness, gratitude, and empathy—he finds that although forgiveness is important, it isn’t always the answer to conflict. Michael and Adam discuss why humans evolved to forgive, examine what causes people to hold grudges, and settle last episode’s debate about whether it’s appropriate to ask for forgiveness.
Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/)
Guest: Michael McCullough (Website: michael-mccullough.com/)
Links
psychology.ucsd.edu/people/profiles/mmccullough.html
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