Forgiveness, gratitude and subjective well-being among Filipino adolescents

Abstract

This study examines the influence of forgiveness and gratitude on life satisfaction and subjective well-being among Filipino adolescents. Two hundred and ten (210) Filipino college students were recruited as respondents for the empirical inquiry. Results indicated that gratitude served as the most robust determinant of well-being after controlling demographic characteristics and forgiveness dimensions. Most importantly, gratitude and forgiveness of self, which is a dimension of forgiveness, predicted subjective well-being beyond the influence of the Big Five personality factors. These findings strengthened the empirical evidence that moral traits would have unique contributions on subjective well-being, even after controlling the impact of Big Five personality factors. Implications of the results are discussed in the context of counseling. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York