The Relationship Between Resilience, Forgiveness and Personality Traits Among Young Adults

Abstract

This literature review synthesizes research on the relationship between forgiveness, resilience, and personality traits among young adults. Studies reveal that individuals who are more forgiving tend to exhibit greater resilience by mitigating negative emotions and fostering adaptive coping mechanisms. Forgiveness is positively correlated with psychological resilience across diverse contexts, including religious beliefs and cultural frameworks. Personality traits significantly influence these constructs, with agreeableness, extraversion, openness and conscientiousness positively associated with forgiveness and resilience while neuroticism negatively correlates with both forgiveness and resilience. Conscientiousness emerges as a strong predictor of resilience, agreeableness shows weaker connections to resilience in some studies. These findings underscore the interconnectedness of forgiveness, resilience, and personality traits, suggesting that interventions targeting forgiveness may strengthen resilience in young adults.