ABSTRACT
The relationship between the big five personality traits and forgiveness has been examined in numerous studies. The current study provides a meta-analytic review of the relationship between each of the big five factors of personality and various measures of forgiveness (e.g., trait and state forgiveness of others, self, and situations). Results indicated neuroticism is negatively related to forgiveness (rs ranged from −.42 to −.20) and agreeableness is positively related to forgiveness (rs ranged from .25 to .44). Although the relationships are weaker, extraversion (rs ranged from .10 to .27), conscientiousness (rs ranged from .03 to .19), and openness to experience (rs ranged from .02 to .16) are positively related to some aspects of forgiveness. In addition, we explored the differences in effect sizes for each factor of personality, highlighting the distinction between state and trait measures of forgiveness as well as the differences between self-forgiveness, other-forgiveness, and situational forgiveness. We conclude by discussing implications of the review, limitations, and suggestions for future research.
