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The mental health benefits of forgiveness are well-established in the literature. The growing research on dispositional forgiveness in adolescence is indicative of the need to better understand its role in youth’s well-being. In order to examine dispositional forgiveness in adolescence, measures regarding Big 5 personality factors (individual level), family relationships, school climate (system level), and sociodemographic variables at an individual and system level were used. Participants were 1,378 adolescents attending junior and senior high schools located in the broader area of Attica, Greece, randomly selected. Younger age, lower levels of neuroticism, and higher levels of extraversion, agreeableness and quality communication with the mother predicted higher forgiveness of self. Higher levels of openness to experience, agreeableness, quality communication with the father, positive behavior, positive attitude, and lower levels of lack of respect in the school predicted higher forgiveness of others. Finally, lower levels of neuroticism, higher levels of extraversion, agreeableness, and positive behavior in the school predicted higher levels of forgiveness of situations. The findings highlight the important role of personality factors and indicate the significance of primary prevention interventions in the school community regarding school climate that could contribute to the promotion of dispositional forgiveness and well-being of adolescents.

Despite increasing popularity and intensive worldwide use, few studies have assessed the validity and factorial structure of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS). However, scientific literature showed that the original factorial structure of the HFS was not fully replicated and—in addition—the Italian translation is still lacking. To fill this gap, this study aims to extend evidence about the original HFS factorial validity by analyzing the Italian version. The final sample was composed of 523 randomly enrolled participants [139 males (26.6%), 384 females (73.4%)] aged from 18 to 82 years (mean = 42.53, SD = 16.41) who completed the Italian version of the HFS. The confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit indices for the original hierarchical factor solution and a significant decrease in model fit was found for all of the competing models. Also, the Italian version of the HFS revealed good reliability and very good psychometrical properties. Findings suggest that the Italian version of the HFS can be considered a reliable and good psychometrically based instrument for the assessment of dispositional forgiveness of the Self, Other, and Situation.