Gratitude, forgivingness, and well-being in adulthood: Tests of moderation and incremental prediction

Abstract

Following recent guidelines for moral personality research, this study sought to provide insights into how moral personality traits influence well-being in adulthood. Using a large sample of Swiss adults (N = 962), we examined the roles of gratitude and forgivingness on well-being in adulthood (assessed as positive affect, negative affect, optimism, pessimism, and satisfaction with life). Our results point to three primary findings. First, grateful and forgiving adults report greater well-being in adulthood and these effects are not moderated by age, gender, or marital status. Second, both traits uniquely predict well-being when controlling for each other, suggesting the importance of studying multiple moral personality variables. Third, these two traits largely remained significant predictors of well-being when controlling for the Big Five traits. Results are discussed with respect to their place within current directions in moral personality research as well as how they provide a foundation for future work.

Keywords:

• gratitude
• forgivingness
• well-being
• adulthood
• moral personality

Acknowledgments

This study is based on data from a research project funded by a grant (NFP 58; no. 4058-115787) from the Swiss National Science Foundation. The preparation of this manuscript was supported by a visiting scholar short visit grant awarded to the authors from the Swiss National Science Foundation (IZKOZ1-133449).