WorkLife: The psychology of forgiveness with Michael McCullough
ReThinking
TED
4.7 • 626 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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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sean has had some good ideas over the years. |
| 0:05.0 | But using Canva was a really good one. |
| 0:08.0 | Sean designed some social posts to promote his friend's car boot sale. |
| 0:13.0 | They looked good. |
| 0:15.0 | Really, really good. |
| 0:17.0 | Next thing he knows, someone came and bought the lot, including the car. |
| 0:24.5 | Now Sean doesn't know how he's going to get home. |
| 0:28.0 | Thanks, Canva. |
| 0:30.2 | Gina's a muncher. |
| 0:32.4 | Jackson Nibbler. |
| 0:34.8 | Lucy likes to linger. |
| 0:39.7 | But not for too long And Harry |
| 0:40.8 | Thank you Harry |
| 0:43.1 | Macardo is the crunchy biscuit stick |
| 0:45.5 | dipped in smooth milk chocolate |
| 0:47.3 | And makes other biscuits look so |
| 0:48.8 | Ordinary |
| 0:49.7 | Macado is deliciously Moorish |
| 0:52.3 | However you enjoy it |
| 0:53.5 | Make every day more Macardo. |
| 0:56.5 | Grab a pack in your local store today. |
| 0:58.5 | Find Macardo in the Biscuit Isle. |
... |
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