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Abstract: The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between personality correlates associated with ego-defensiveness and forgiveness in an attempt to understand why some individuals are more forgiving than others, both in general and in specific situations involving transgressions. Specifically, a positive association between forgiveness and self-esteem and negative associations between forgiveness and need for structure and narcissism were predicted. Participants completed the Self-Esteem scale, the Personal Need for Structure scale, the Narcissism scale, and the Tendency to Forgive scale. They then competed in a game with two other players, during which one player committed a transgression. State forgiveness was measured with the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations scale. Hypotheses were generally supported, suggesting that certain traits associated with ego-defensiveness can inhibit the ability to be forgiving (dispositional forgiveness) and to actually forgive (state forgiveness). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The present study examined the validity of three putative measures of dispositional forgiveness, as well as a measure of trait rumination, with respect to measures of mental health and forgiveness for a specific offense. Two hundred undergraduates completed the Tendency to Forgive scale, the Attitudes Toward Forgiveness scale, the Transgression Narrative Test of Forgivingness, and a multi-dimensional measure of trait rumination, along with measures of depression, life satisfaction, self-esteem, agreeableness, neuroticism, attachment, and aggression. Participants also recounted a specific offense they had experienced and reported the extent to which they had forgiven their offender. Results strongly supported the discriminant validity of the Tendency to Forgive scale with regard to both mental health (depression and life satisfaction) and state forgiveness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]