Forgivingness and the paranoid personality style

The relationship between forgivingness (enduring resentment, sensitivity to circumstances and overall propensity to forgive or to avenge) and the paranoid personality style was examined. Eight hundred and ten French adolescent and adults (469 females and 341 males, mean = 35.50 years) participated in the study. The hypothesis of (a) a positive correlation between enduring resentment, overall propensity to avenge, and paranoid personality style, and (b) a negative correlation between overall propensity to forgive, and paranoid personality style was supported. This result was consistent with previous studies showing that forgivingness is related with both intra-individual personality traits subsumed under the Neuroticism construct and inter-individual personality traits subsumed under the Agreeableness construct. The strength of the relationships varied as a function of the gender of the participants. It was weaker among women than among men. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.