title: Do agreeableness and neuroticism explain age differences in the tendency to forgive others?
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Allemand
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: McCullough
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D061347:Forgiveness; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017008:Negotiating; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012919:Social Behavior; D013557:Switzerland; D055815:Young Adult