Forgivingness and action orientation

The present study investigated the relationship between forgivingness and action orientation, and examined the mediating role of action orientation for the neuroticism-forgivingness association. Participants (N = 210) completed the Tendency to Forgive Scale (TTF; Brown, 2003), two subscales from the Action Control Scale (ACS-90; Kuhl, 1994b) and the Neuroticism scale from the short form of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-K; Rammstedt & John, 2005). Results indicate that failure-related action orientation (AOF) was strongly positively related to forgivingness. Moreover, the negative relation between neuroticism and forgivingness was fully mediated by action orientation (AOF). This finding suggests that the ability to down-regulate negative affect is an important mechanism in explaining the association between neuroticism and forgivingness. Forgivingness and Action Orientation 1 Running head: FORGIVINGNESS AND ACTION ORIENTATION In press in Personality and Individual Differences Forgivingness and Action Orientation Mathias Allemand, Veronika Job, Sibylle Christen, & Marianne Keller University of Zurich This research was supported by a research grant (Forschungskredit 2005) from the University of Zurich to the first author. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mathias Allemand, Department of Psychology, Gerontopsychology, University of Zurich, Binzmühlestrasse 14/24, CH-8050 Zurich, Switzerland. Email: [email protected], Fax: +41 44 635 74 19. Forgivingness and Action Orientation 2 Abstract The present study investigated the relationship between forgivingness and action orientation, and examined the mediating role of action orientation for the neuroticism-forgivingness association. Participants (N = 210) completed the Tendency to Forgive Scale (TTF; Brown, 2003), two subscales from the Action Control Scale (ACS-90; Kuhl, 1994b) and the Neuroticism scale from the short form of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-K; Rammstedt & John, 2005). Results indicate that failure-related action orientation (AOF) was strongly positively related to forgivingness. Moreover, the negative relation between neuroticism and forgivingness was fully mediated by action orientation (AOF). This finding suggests that the ability to down-regulate negative affect is an important mechanism in explaining the association between neuroticism and forgivingness.The present study investigated the relationship between forgivingness and action orientation, and examined the mediating role of action orientation for the neuroticism-forgivingness association. Participants (N = 210) completed the Tendency to Forgive Scale (TTF; Brown, 2003), two subscales from the Action Control Scale (ACS-90; Kuhl, 1994b) and the Neuroticism scale from the short form of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-K; Rammstedt & John, 2005). Results indicate that failure-related action orientation (AOF) was strongly positively related to forgivingness. Moreover, the negative relation between neuroticism and forgivingness was fully mediated by action orientation (AOF). This finding suggests that the ability to down-regulate negative affect is an important mechanism in explaining the association between neuroticism and forgivingness.