Examining the Moderating Effect of Agreeableness on the Relationship Between Forgiveness and Self-Esteem

Résumé

Forgiveness is often viewed as a positive interpersonal quality associated with stronger relationships and better psychological well-being. However, the outcomes of forgiveness may vary depending on individual personality traits. This cross-sectional study explored the relationship between forgiveness, self-esteem and how agreeableness moderates this relationship. We hypothesized that when agreeableness is high, forgiveness will also be high, resulting in low self-esteem. Participants (N = 138) completed self-report measures of the traits forgiveness, self-esteem, and agreeableness through an online survey. We used a moderated regression analysis to examine whether agreeableness has an impact on the relationship between forgiveness and self-esteem. Results showed that higher levels of forgiveness were positively associated with higher self-esteem, but agreeableness did not moderate this relationship. In our exploratory analysis, we found that agreeableness was positively related to self-esteem when using the Forgiveness of Others subscale. However, agreeableness did not significantly moderate the relationship between forgiveness of others and self-esteem. Future research may benefit from investigating people-pleasing tendencies more directly to better understand when forgiveness is empowering versus compromising self-esteem. These insights can help guide future research by highlighting which behavioural factors meaningfully influence forgiveness and which do not.