Forgiving Behavior among Emerging Adults: The Influence of Religiosity and Spirituality and Personality Traits

Abstract

The present study aims to examine the three important aspects of emerging adulthood, religiosity and spirituality, personality traits, and forgiveness which bring well-being benefits. It is hypothesized that religiosity and spirituality along with personality traits predict forgiveness among emerging adults. The Neo Five-Factor Inventory (NEO FFI), the Religiosity and Spirituality Scale for Youth (RaSSY), and the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS) were administered to 364 female and 390 male emerging adults (n = 754; mean age = 21 years, SD = 14.88) selected through purposive sampling technique from colleges in Bangalore. Data were analyzed using correlational and hierarchical regression analysis. This study found that religiosity and spirituality and the Big Five personality traits positively correlated with forgiveness whereas all personality traits, except neuroticism, strongly predicted forgiveness more than religiosity and spirituality. These findings suggest that faith-based coping and religious social support in combination with personality traits help emerging adults practice forgiveness in their daily life, leading to further insight into the theories of forgiveness and well-being.

Keywords:

• Forgiveness
• personality traits
• religiosity
• spirituality
• emerging adults

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to college students from five colleges in Bengaluru for their active participation. They also thank the management of these institutions for making the sample available for the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).