The Science of Intentional Forgetting and Psychological Resilience
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 14 March 2027 | Viewed by 152
Special Issue Editors
Interests: intentional forgetting; depression; memory retrieval; forgiveness; social problem-solving
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Our memories play a key role in shaping our emotions, decisions and our sense of self; however, whilst remembering has long been considered central to adaptive functioning, there is a growing recognition that the ability to intentionally forget, i.e., to suppress unwanted memories from coming into consciousness, plays a critical role in psychological health and resilience. Intrusive memories have a detrimental impact on well-being and contribute to stress, rumination, and psychopathology. On the other hand, adaptive forgetting protects mental health, supports emotional regulation, and aids recovery from adversity and trauma. Thus, in this context, both intentional forgetting and psychological resilience are closely intertwined processes that deserve systematic investigation. Although existing research has begun to identify the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying intentional forgetting, much remains unknown about how individuals regulate memory content and how these processes support psychological resilience. In light of these considerations, this Special Issue endeavours to advance theoretical and empirical research on the science of intentional forgetting and its role in fostering psychological resilience. We therefore welcome interdisciplinary contributions that deepen our understanding of the mechanisms, boundary conditions, and applied implications of intentional forgetting for resilient and adaptive functioning.
Dr. Saima Noreen
Dr. Nathan Ridout
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- intentional forgetting
- psychological resilience
- depression
- memory control
- psychopathology
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