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v t e

Acceptance in human psychology is a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) that is a fait accompli without attempting to change it or protest it. The concept is close in meaning to acquiescence, derived from the Latin acquiēscere (to find rest in).^[1]

Definition

The term acceptance is a noun with various different meanings.^[2] When the person to whom a proposal is made signifies their assent, it is an "acceptance" of their offer, also called an agreement. For example, if someone gives a gift and another receives it, then they have accepted the gift; therefore, having acceptance.

Types of Acceptance

Self Acceptance

Self-acceptance is described as an ongoing process that has an effect on us mentally, emotionally, within our relationships and overall life. To put it into simpler terms it is the foundation of knowing our self-worth, and self-love.

In other words self-acceptance is being satisfied with one's current self. It is an agreement with oneself to appreciate, validate, and support the self as it is, despite deficiencies and negative past behavior. People have trouble accepting themselves because of guilt, trauma, or a perceived lack of motivation.^[3] Some people have the misconception that if one is happy with oneself, it means that they would not change anything about who they are.^[4] To accept yourself means to no longer reject yourself. Being rejected is bad for your health.^[5] Protracted feelings of isolation, loneliness, and rejection tend to coincide with deteriorations in physical health, which can be derived from a lack of eating or exercise. These negative feelings may result in worsened sleep, immune system, and lessened life span compared to those who are surrounded by others who care about them. Loneliness has been a source of chronic stress and associated with impaired cellular immunity.^[6]

Psychological Acceptance

Acceptance is the core of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This main process involves actively contacting psychological internal experiences (emotions, sensations, urges, flashbacks, and other private events) directly, fully, without needless defense while behaving effectively. The idea is to accept the things you cannot change like your psychological experiences, but build the courage to change the things you can.^[7]

Public Acceptance

Public acceptance is stated as a “general agreement that something is satisfactory or right, or that someone should be included in a group.”^[8] An example of public acceptance would be the LGBTQ+ community. It is a very important aspect to the movement because its involves understanding, and inclusion of many individuals with different gender identities, and sexual orientation within the public(society).

Social Acceptance

Social acceptance as described in the Psychology Dictionary, “The acceptance of a person into a group and/or the absence of social disapproval.” To use the same example as I did for public acceptance, the difference between public and social acceptance within the LGBTQ+ community is that social usually only includes the individual’s family, relatives, friends and anywhere they are able to express their identities without any judgement.

In other words, social acceptance affects people of all social and age groups. Social acceptance can be defined as tolerating and welcoming the differences and diversity in others because most people attempt to look and act like others do in order to fit in.^[9] Data shows that those with high self-acceptance scores tend to accept others and feel accepted by others.^[10]

Children and teenagers tend to desire to be accepted by friends, and act upon that desire through peer pressure. Peer pressure sometimes determines how people style their hair and clothing to "look cool". A desire to be accepted by those whose friendship one values can determine one's openness towards popular behavior including smoking, drinking, and swearing.^[11] People exhibit and avoid certain behaviors out of the desire for the approval of their friends, which may include drinking or taking drugs.

When it comes to mental disorders, social acceptance plays a big role in recovery. Many people do not understand mental illness, so they are unsure of how to embrace people who have a disease, leaving these people with feelings of isolation in friend groups.^[12] Being accepted by a friend and having support can help with mental health and give a healthy sense of self.^[13]

Cultural Acceptance

Cultural acceptance is the ability to accept the individual for their cultural beliefs and their principles. This includes religion, cultural language, identity, and their overall beliefs and/or boundaries. As the example we are using is the LGBTQ+ community, cultural acceptance can be different for every different individual who identifies with a different sexual orientation or gender identity. Some cultures do not allow or are accepting of the LGBTQ+ community because of their beliefs whether it is religion or not. One of the main reasons as to why the LGBTQ+ community has a high percentage in suicide is because of this type of acceptance because it involves family, friends and feeling judged.

Parental Acceptance

Parental acceptance is described as the affection, nurturance, support or simply the love a parent has for that child and the experience the children can gain from it. Since the example being used is the LGBTQ+ community, parental acceptance can be a very difficult and harsh time for those who identify in the community. If parents are not accepting, they show lack of emotional support, education about the LGBTQ+, lack of advocating for their children, and lack open communication. If the parent and/or caregiver are not willing to support it shows lack of parental acceptance.

Conditional Acceptance

A type of acceptance that requires modification of the initial conditions before the final acceptance is made, is called conditional acceptance, or qualified acceptance.^[14] For instance, in a contract involving two parties, adjustments or modifications may be made to ensure it aligns with the satisfaction of both parties. When a person receives an offer and is willing to agree to it, provided that certain changes are made to its terms or certain conditions or events occur, it is referred to as conditional acceptance. In a business contract between a company and an employer, both parties have the option to change and modify the terms until mutual agreement or acceptance of the contract's details is reached.

Expressed Acceptance

Expressed acceptance involves making an overt and unambiguous acceptance of the set conditions. For example, a person clearly and explicitly agrees to an offer. They accept the terms without any changes.^[15]

Implied Acceptance

Implied acceptance refers to a situation where one's intent to consent to the presented conditions is understood or inferred, even if not explicitly stated. Acceptance is implied by an act that indicates a person's assent to the proposed bargain. For example, if a person selects an item in a department store and pays the cashier for it, the person thereby indicates that they agree to the offer of the item for the price stated on the price tag.^[16]

Degrees of Acceptance

Source:^[17]

In an article: Degrees of Acceptance states, “Acceptance comes in degrees in at least one sense of term and acknowledging this helps to resolve problems in at least two physical domains. First, degrees of acceptance play vital roles. . . and second, we need degrees of acceptance to ground the common ground of a conversation. . .”(579).

The first degree of acceptance is based on our own voluntary control. Meaning, taking control and letting our thoughts or actions be guided accordingly.

The second degree of acceptance is “setting aside other potential argument places a point in time”(581).

The third degree of acceptance is stated as “are subject to norms of practical rationality rather than norms of epistemic rationality”(582).

Conclusion

Acceptance in a mindfulness scope can be defined as accepting what happens, whether it be positive or negative.^[18] Acceptance typically contains the concept of approval; the psycho-spiritual use of the term implies a non-judgmental mindset. Acceptance is contrasted^{[by whom?]} with resistance, a term that has strong political and psychoanalytic connotations that do not apply in most contexts.

To simplify, acceptance means allowing; allowing unwanted private experiences (thoughts, feelings, and urges) to come and go without struggling with them.