Many studies have reported evidence suggesting that dispositional forgivingness has positive implications for different domains of well-being. However, relatively few methodologically rigorous studies have been conducted in the Global South, particularly in post-conflict settings where forgiveness could play an important role in supporting individual well-being. In this three-wave cohort study of predominantly young adult Colombians (n = 1575), we examined the associations of dispositional forgivingness with 20 well-being outcomes across several domains of well-being: psychological distress, psychological well-being, physical health, social well-being, and character strengths/virtues. Using an outcome-wide analytic design that included extensive control for potential confounding and reverse causation by adjusting for a range of covariates assessed in Wave 1 (2017), we found that dispositional forgivingness assessed in Wave 2 (2018) was at least modestly associated with improvements in one or more facet of each well-being domain assessed approximately 1 year later in Wave 3 (2019). Associations tended to be stronger for outcomes in the domains of psychological distress, psychological well-being, social well-being, and character strengths/virtues compared to the physical health domain. These longitudinal findings suggest that dispositional forgivingness might promote individual well-being in societies with a long history of ongoing civil unrest, conflict, and war.
Keywords: Forgiveness; Health; Longitudinal; Outcome-wide design; Well-being.
© 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Union of Psychological Science.