Too proud to let go: narcissistic entitlement as a barrier to forgiveness.
Narcissistic entitlement impedes forgiveness in ways not captured by other robust predictors (e.g., offense severity, apology, relationship closeness, religiosity, Big Five personality factors), as demonstrated in 6 studies. Narcissistic entitlement involves expectations of special treatment and preoccupation with defending one's rights. In Study 1, entitlement predicted less forgiveness and greater insistence on repayment for a past offense. Complementary results emerged from Study 2, which used hypothetical transgressions, and Study 3, which assessed broad forgiveness dispositions. Study 4 examined associations with the Big Five, and Study 5 extended the findings to a laboratory context. Study 6 demonstrated that entitlement predicted diminished increases in forgiveness over time. Taken together, these results suggest that narcissistic entitlement is a robust, distinct predictor of unforgiveness.
Exline
Julie Juola
JJ
Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7123, USA. julie.exline@case.edu
Baumeister
Roy F
RF
Bushman
Brad J
BJ
Campbell
W Keith
WK
Finkel
Eli J
EJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009289:Narcissism; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires