Do agreeableness and neuroticism explain age differences in the tendency to forgive others?

Previous research has shown that age is positively related to a dispositional tendency to forgive others. The present investigation tested the hypothesis that agreeableness and neuroticism partially mediate the association between age and forgivingness. Data from two representative cross-sectional samples of adults were used to test this hypothesis. Results from Study 1 (N = 962, age range: 19-84 years) support the hypothesis, indicating that agreeableness and neuroticism explained, in part, age differences in tendencies to forgive. Study 2 (N = 451, age range: 20-83 years) replicated and extended the results by including transgression occurrences as a third mediator. The results showed that agreeableness and neuroticism explain the association between age and the tendency to forgive others over and above the effect of transgression occurrences.