Forgiveness, Gratitude and Subjective Well-

Being Among Filipino Adolescents

Jesus Alfonso D. Datu

International Journal for the

Advancement of Counselling

ISSN 0165-0653
Volume 36
Number 3

Int J Adv Counselling (2014) 36:262-273

DOI 10.1007/s10447-013-9205-9

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 Author's personal copy
Int J Adv Counselling (2014) 36:262–273
DOI 10.1007/s10447-013-9205-9

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Forgiveness, Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being

Among Filipino Adolescents

Jesus Alfonso D. Datu

Published online: 18 December 2013

# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

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.

Keywords Forgiveness . Gratitude . Subjective well-being . Filipino adolescents

Introduction

The emergence of Positive Psychology has advocated the promotion of empirical work that
endorses human strengths (Park et al. 2004). Within the context of this paradigm, psycholog-
ical wellness can be conceptualized as a product of nourishing positive and durable personal
strengths, more than the reduction of psychological symptoms (Bono and McCullough 2006).
Instead of studying depression, anxiety, maladjustment and other debilitating psychological
conditions, psychologists within this framework have realized the beneficial impacts of
focusing on well-being outcomes (e.g., subjective well-being, prosocial behaviours, and
psychological well-being).
One of the most recognized positive psychological outcomes that has gained the interest of
researchers over the past few decades is that of subjective well-being (Park et al. 2004; Zhang
2005). Subjective well-being (SWB) refers to people’s internal appraisal of how satisfying and
pleasant their lives are (Diener et al. 2003). Psychologists in Western contexts have asserted
that SWB can be regarded as somewhat identical to happiness (Diener et al. 2003; Diener
2000). SWB is composed of two major components, (a) a cognitive domain (i.e., appraised life
satisfaction), and (b) an affective domain (i.e., positive and negative affects). In other words,

J. A. D. Datu (*)
Counseling and Educational Psychology Department, De La Salle University, Manila, NCR, Philippines
e-mail: jess.datu@yahoo.com
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Int J Adv Counselling (2014) 36:262–273 263

this perspective posits that happy people experience greater satisfaction with their lives, more
positive emotions, and less negative emotions (Diener 2000).
Past studies have looked at the significant influence of positive and durable psychological
dispositions on SWB domains. Determinants of life satisfaction include: humor (Lounsbury
et al. 2009), optimism (Bailey et al. 2007; Szczesniak and Soares 2011; Yalcin 2011), meaning
in life (Ho et al. 2008; Samman 2007; Steger and Dik 2009), and curiosity (Kashdan and
Steger 2007; Vitterso 2003). Likewise, predictors of positive affect comprise meaning in life
(Debats et al. 1993; McMahan and Renken 2011), and gratitude (Froh et al. 2008). These
findings present strong evidence for the significant contributions of character strengths (e.g.,
gratitude, meaning in life, forgiveness, optimism) on facilitating greater levels of SWB (Park
et al. 2004; Peterson et al. 2007).
More recently, positive dispositional factors of direct relevance, such as gratitude and
forgiveness, have been linked to well-being outcomes (Bono et al. 2008). The beneficial and
enduring effects of these moral traits on life satisfaction have also been explored in previous
empirical inquiries (Bono et al. 2008; Breen et al. 2010; Emmons and McCullough 2003;
McCullough and Hoyt 2002). With their apparent substantial impact on subjective well-being,
it is important to consider the similarities and distinctions of these moral dispositions,
especially as they operate in the context of interpersonal relationships.
Gratitude has been conceptualized as a prosocial and moral affect and disposition
(McCullough et al. 2001). Bono and McCullough (2006) have asserted that gratitude is a
positive psychological reaction to an interpersonal benefit. Since it allows individuals to
appreciate positive things and events in their lives, gratitude enables them to experience
greater levels of subjective well-being (Emmons and McCullough 2003; McCullough et al.
2004; Park et al. 2004; Wood et al. 2008b). Specifically, gratitude has been positively linked to
satisfaction with life (Froh et al. 2008; Lambert et al. 2009; Wood et al. 2009), and positive
affect (Froh et al. 2009a, b).
Forgiveness, on the other hand, operates as a positive psychological response towards an
interpersonal harm (Bono and McCullough 2006). Forgiveness takes place when people
refrain from thinking of taking revenge on transgressors and adopt a positive outlook towards
themselves and other people (Friedman 2000; Worthington and Scherer 2004). Given that
forgiveness aims largely to repair interpersonal relationships, people who show it typically
experience higher levels of life satisfaction (Brown and Phillips 2005; Chan 2009; Gradisek
2012; Maltby et al. 2005; Sastre 2003) and lesser intensity of negative emotions (Chan 2009).
Yet, forgiveness has been further classified in terms of the context wherein it functions (i.e.,
forgiveness of self, forgiveness of situation, and forgiveness of others). Self-forgiveness is a
psychological process of replacing self-directed negative cognitions, emotions (e.g., guilt,
shame, sadness) and behaviors with healthy cognitions, emotions and behaviors (Exline
et al. 2011; Hall and Fincham 2008; Wohl et al. 2008). This is critical to happiness, as failure
to forgive oneself usually leads to greater vulnerability to life dissatisfaction and undesirable
mental health (Macaskill 2012; Toussaint and Friedman 2009). Conversely, McCullough and
Worthington (1999) defined ‘other-forgiveness’ as the process of acquiring constructive change
in one’s thinking, feelings, and behavior towards a transgressor. Forgiveness of others constrains
the experiencing of negative emotions like anger (Thompson et al. 2005) and allows greater
experiencing of positive emotions like happiness (Krause and Ellison 2003). Interestingly, self-
forgiveness is considered to be “more difficult to achieve than other-forgiveness and its absence
may be potentially more distressing and damaging to health” (Macaskill 2012, p. 30).
However, a more recent conceptualization points to other-oriented forgiveness, which refers
to an inclination to forgive that is primarily driven by intentions to maintain social harmony
(Hook et al. 2009). Individuals in collectivist cultures (e.g., Philippines, Japan, Korea, Mexico)
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264 Int J Adv Counselling (2014) 36:262–273

would seem more likely to endorse forgiveness within the context of reconciliation and
relationship repair. As this type of forgiveness aims at repairing relationships (Hook et al.
2009), it is likely that individuals from interdependent cultures would display greater tenden-
cies to forgive in this sense. To a large extent, the distinct view that people hold about
themselves in collectivist societies through their inclinations to interdependent self construal
(Markus and Kitayama 1991) would explain why Asians would be motivated to forgive others,
given that the primary cultural task of individuals in collectivist cultures seems to be to
maintain interpersonal harmony and connectedness. In fact, the major propositions of the
self-construal theory (Markus and Kitayama 1991) emphasize the importance of interdepen-
dence in achieving happiness among individuals in collectivist contexts (Markus et al. 1997;
Suh 2007, 2002; Uchida and Ogihara 2012). From this theoretical assertion, the present study
hypothesized that forgiveness would have a stronger contribution to the subjective well-being
of Filipino adolescents since they live in a collectivist culture where interpersonal harmony is
considered to be a core cultural task (Markus and Kitayama 1991).
Since gratitude and forgiveness can be considered as human character strengths (Peterson
and Seligman 2004) and moral personality constructs (Hill and Roberts 2010), it is more likely
that the combination of these dispositions is likely to lead to well-being outcomes, such as life
satisfaction, optimism, and positive affect (Hill and Allemand 2011). Despite the significant
relationship of forgiveness and gratitude to SWB (Brown and Phillips 2005; Chan 2009;
Emmons and McCullough 2003; Froh et al. 2008, 2009a; Gradisek 2012; Maltby et al. 2005;
McCullough et al. 2004), past research has also revealed forgiveness and gratitude to be
significantly associated with the Big Five personality factors (Hill and Allemand 2011;
Toussaint and Firedman 2009). For instance, extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness,
and openness have been positively correlated with gratitude, while neuroticism has served as
its negative correlate (Wood et al. 2008a, 2009). In the same way, forgiveness has been
positively associated with agreeableness, and negatively linked to neuroticism (McCullough
and Hoyt 2002; Breen et al. 2010; Berry et al. 2005; Neto 2007). These findings clearly
suggest that forgiveness and gratitude seem to share significant relationships with broader
measures of personality traits (i.e., as in the Big Five personality factors).
McCullough et al. (2002) contend that for moral affect and traits (e.g., gratitude and
forgiveness) to predict psychological outcomes, it is imperative to examine their effects
whilst controlling the impact of popular dispositional variables like the Big Five person-
ality traits. Wood et al. (2008b) emphasized the benefits of examining the unique effects
of moral traits (e.g., forgiveness and gratitude) on positive psychological outcomes like
subjective well-being to clearly see the distinct contributions of moral dispositions on
various indices of psychological health.
Even with the conceptual and theoretical relevance of investigating the effects of moral
traits on psychological functioning, there is still a dearth of research that examines the unique
influence of moral dispositions on well-being outcomes. Pursuing this empirical thrust in
regard to adolescent respondents, Wood et al. (2008b) found that, after controlling for the
effects of the Big Five personality factors and their 30 facets, gratitude significantly predicted
SWB. In a more recent inquiry using a large number of Swiss adult samples, Hill and
Allemand (2011) found that gratitude and forgiveness predicted SWB beyond the contribu-
tions of the Big Five personality factors.
However, little is known about the possible contributions of forgiveness and gratitude on
SWB when controlling for the Big Five personality factors, especially in collectivist cultures
(e.g., Japan, Philippines, South Korea) where such moral traits may potentially assist in
achieving interpersonal harmony and connectedness. As people in Western and Asian contexts
differ on the view that they hold about themselves (Markus and Kitayama 1991), it may not be
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Int J Adv Counselling (2014) 36:262–273 265

safe to contend that both forgiveness and gratitude would be linked significantly to greater
levels of subjective well-being. Given that people in interdependent cultures are expected to
build and maintain relationships as their primary cultural tasks (Markus and Kitayama 1991), it
is hypothesized that forgiveness (as it aims at repairing social relationships; Chan 2009) would
positively predict SWB beyond the effects of the Big Five personality traits.
Recognizing the importance of studies that differentially examine the distinctive
contributions of moral personality constructs in determining robust and distinct predic-
tors of subjective well-being, the current study intends to extend the work of Hill and
Allemand (2011) by looking at the predictive impact of gratitude and forgiveness on
SWB among Filipino adolescents. As personality development seems to be an important
feature of adolescence (Soto et al. 2011), it is logical to assert that moral personality
constructs (e.g., gratitude and forgiveness) can be further enhanced at this developmental
phase. Positive changes on these dispositional characteristics could potentially lead to
greater life satisfaction and happiness, especially as these traits might enhance Filipino
adolescents’ experience of social harmony, which is highly rewarded in collectivist
cultures (Markus and Kitayama 1991).
More importantly, determining the unique contributions of gratitude and forgive-
ness to well-being may assist counselors in the conceptualization and formulation of
psychological interventions that aim to make adolescents happier and more satisfied
with their lives. Development of counseling interventions that nurture these positive
psychological traits could have an impact not only on the process of leading indi-
viduals towards healthy interpersonal relationships, but also in the pursuit of optimum
psychological well-being.
From the empirical justifications articulated to this point, the current study aimed to look at
the associations of gratitude and forgiveness to well-being outcomes (i.e., life satisfaction and
happiness). Parallel to the contention of Hill and Allemand (2011), it was hypothesized that
gratitude and forgiveness would significantly predict life satisfaction and subjective happiness,
separate from the effects of the Big Five personality factors. However, it is argued that
forgiveness is likely to have a stronger impact on SWB, as individuals in collectivist cultures
like the Philippines have greater tendencies to prioritize relationship harmony more than
asserting personal autonomy (Markus and Kitayama 1991).

Method

Participants

The study recruited 210 undergraduate college students (78 male and 132 female) from a
private and sectarian university in Manila City in the Philipines. Respondents’ ages ranged
from 15 to 21 (M=17.76, SD=1.44). Most of the respondents were freshmen (67.6 %)
followed by seniors (11 %) and junior college students (11 %). The respondents were from
the College of Education and the College of Business Administration, and all were recruited
with the assistance of faculty members in one specific minor subject. Prior to participating,
students were apprised of the procedures that they would have to undertake and the voluntary
nature of their participation based on informed consent protocols. After signing informed
consent forms, the respondents were asked to answer the various questionnaires presented,
which took them around 35 min in total. The participants answered all the instruments at the
one time in their various classrooms. In recognition of their participation, the participants
received incentives in regard to the said subject.
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Instruments

There were five questionnaires used to measure personality traits, gratitude, forgiveness, life
satisfaction, and general happiness of the respondents. These included the following:
Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS; Thompson et al. 2005). This instrument was utilized
to measure inclinations of individuals to forgive the self, others, and situations (i.e.,
circumstances that might weaken the positive expectations of people). It has 18 items with
a 7-point scale that represents three domains of dispositional forgiveness: forgiveness of
self, forgiveness of others, and forgiveness of situations. The reliability coefficient of the
questionnaire was α=0.70 in the current study.
Six-Item Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6; McCullough et al. 2002). This is a six-item 7-
point scale, measuring individuals’ propensity to be thankful and appreciative. In the
present study, the reliability coefficient of the GQ6 was α=0.77.
Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al. 1985). This is a five-item 7-point scale
that gauges global life satisfaction. It is a unidimensional construct of the cognitive
domain of SWB. In the current study, the reliability of SWLS was α=0.86.
Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS; Lyubomirsky and Lepper 1999). This is a four-item 7-
point scale that measures individuals’ global subjective happiness. The reliability of SHS
was α=0.77 in the present research.
Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI; Gosling et al. 2003). This Inventory was utilized to
gauge student levels of the Big Five personality factors. It consists of two items per facet (5×2)
with a 7-point scale. Its dimensions include: extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, open-
ness, and conscientiousness. The reliability of TIPI in the current research was α=0.82.

Data Analysis

The data were encoded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences 17th
edition (SPSS). Firstly, means, standard deviations, and reliability coefficients of the instru-
ments were computed. Secondly, correlational coefficients of forgiveness, gratitude, and the
Big Five personality dimensions in regard to life satisfaction and subjective happiness were
calculated. Thirdly, after satisfactorily meeting the assumptions for regression (i.e., linearity,
principle of homoscedasticity, independence of errors), multiple linear regressions were
performed to determine the impact of the predictor variables (i.e., the Big Five personality
factors, forgiveness, and gratitude) on the subjective happiness and life satisfaction of the
respondents.

Results

The descriptive statistical measures (i.e., means and standard deviations) and Pearson-r
correlational coefficients are shown in Table 1. Results indicate that forgiveness of self,
forgiveness of situation, and gratitude were significantly linked to life satisfaction and
subjective happiness of the respondents. In addition, all of the Big Five personality factors
except one were associated with well-being outcomes (i.e., life satisfaction and subjective
happiness); neuroticism did not significantly relate to life satisfaction.
Table 2 presents the results of the multiple linear regression when age, gender, gratitude,
forgiveness of self, forgiveness of other, and forgiveness of situation were entered as predictor
variables. The combination of these predictor variables significantly explained 31 % of the
Table 1 Correlational coefficients, means, standard deviations of the variables

Variable R M SD

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

1. Forgiveness of self – 4.62 0.88

2. Forgiveness of others 0.10 – 4.52 0.67
3. Forgiveness of situations 0.53** 0.20** – 4.69 0.08
4. Gratitude 0.34** 0.27** 0.44** – 5.86 0.80
5. Life satisfaction 0.31** 0.05 0.26** 0.47** – 4.73 ,80
6. Subjective happiness 0.46** 0.03 0.42** 0.42** 0.55** – 5.00 0.90
Int J Adv Counselling (2014) 36:262–273

7. Openness 0.26** 0.20** 0.26** 0.23** 0.29** 0.23** – 5.84 0.76

8. Conscientiousness 0.27** 0.11 0.28** 0.13 0.24** 0.17* 0.20** – 4.84 0.04
9. Extraversion 0.21** 0.21** 0.17* 0.20** 0.18** 0.31** 0.09 0.09 – 4.85 0.57
10. Agreeableness 0.18** 0.18** 0.30** 0.36** 0.25** 0.23** 0.37** 0.05 – 5.49 0.92
11. Neuroticism 0.39** 0.01 0.39** 0.22* −0.38 0.51** 0.26** 0.26** 0.21** 0.20** – 4.58 0.57

**p<0.01
*p<0.05
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268 Int J Adv Counselling (2014) 36:262–273

Table 2 Results of multiple regression tests predicting SWB domains from age, gender, gratitude and forgiveness

Variable β Std. err. β Std. β t p

a. Subjective happiness
Age −0.02 0.04 −0.02 −3.89 0.70
Gender −0.25 0.12 −0.12 −2.08 0.04
Gratitude 0.34 0.08 0.30 4.46** 0.00
Forgiveness of self 0.33 0.09 0.29 4.26** 0.00
Forgiveness of others −0.17 0.09 −0.12 −1.93 0.06
Forgiveness of situation 0.19 0.09 0.16 2.22* 0.03
b. Life satisfaction
Age −0.10 0.05 −0.11 −1.82 0.07
Gender −0.19 0.16 −0.08 −1.21 0.23
Gratitude 0.64 0.10 0.45 6.38** 0.00
Forgiveness of self 0.24 0.10 0.18 2.43** 0.02
Forgiveness of others −0.18 0.12 −0.10 −1.58 0.12
Forgiveness of situation −0.02 0.11 −0.01 −0.14 0.89

**p<0.01
*p<0.05

variance in regard to subjective happiness [F (6, 203) = 16.57, ΔR2 =0.31, p<0.001], with
gratitude (β=0.30, t=4.46, p<. 001) and forgiveness of self (β=0.29, t=4.26, p<. 001) serving
as its most robust determinants.
Similarly, these predictor variables (i.e., age, gender, forgiveness of self, forgiveness of
other, forgiveness of situation, and gratitude) substantially accounted for 24 % of the variance
in the life satisfaction ratings of Filipino adolescents [F (6, 203) = 12.23, ΔR2 =0.24, p<0.001].
Unsurprisingly, gratitude (β=0.45, t=6.38, p<. 001), and forgiveness of self (β=0.18, t=2.43,
p<. 001) significantly predicted global life satisfaction of the respondents.
To show the distinct impact of gratitude and forgiveness on well-being outcomes, multiple
linear regression tests were undertaken, controlling for the influence of the Big Five personality
factors (see Table 3). When age, gender, gratitude, forgiveness of self, forgiveness of other,
forgiveness of situation, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism
were entered as predictor variables, the model explained 40 % of the variation in subjective
happiness [F (6, 203) = 13.89, ΔR2 =0.40, p<0.001]. Specifically, extraversion (β=0.15, t=2.73,
p<. 001), gratitude (β=0.27, t=3.85, p<. 001) and forgiveness of self (β=0.20, t=3.00, p<. 001)
uniquely contributed to the variance in the assessed global subjective happiness of the respondents.
The combination of age, gender, gratitude, forgiveness of self, forgiveness of other, forgiveness
of situation, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism as predic-
tors accounted for 30 % of the variation in the life satisfaction of Filipino adolescents [F (11, 198) =
8.97, ΔR2 =0.30, p<0.001]. Similarly, gratitude (β=0.41, t=5.39, p<. 001) and forgiveness of self
(β=0.09, t=1.23, p<. 001) served as distinct determinants of life satisfaction (See Table 3).

Discussion

The present study aimed to examine the unique impact of gratitude and forgiveness dimen-
sions on the well-being of Filipino adolescents. It also looked at the predictive influence of
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Table 3 Results of multiple regression tests predicting SWB domains from age, gender, gratitude and forgiveness,
controlling for the effects of Big five personality factors

Variable β Std. err. β Std. β t p

a. Subjective happiness
Age 0.01 0.04 0.01 −3.89 0.80
Gender −0.14 0.12 −0.07 −2.08 0.25
Gratitude 0.31 0.08 0.27 3.85** 0.00
Forgiveness of self 0.22 0.07 0.20 3.00** 0.00
Forgiveness of others −0.14 0.08 −0.09 −1.60 0.11
Forgiveness of situation 0.09 0.08 0.08 1.12 0.26
Openness −0.07 0.06 .−0.08 .−1.21 0.23
Conscientiousness −0.02 0.04 −0.03 −0.48 0.63
Extraversion 0.10 0.04 0.15 2.73** 0.00
Agreeableness 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.90 0.37
Neuroticism 0.22 0.04 0.32 5.08 0.00
b. Life satisfaction
Age −0.07 0.05 −0.08 −1.28 0.20
Gender −0.07 0.16 −0.26 −0.43 0.67
Gratitude 0.58 0.11 0.41 5.39** 0.00
Forgiveness of self 0.12 0.10 0.09 1.23** 0.00
Forgiveness of others −0.17 0.11 −0.09 −1.50 0.14
Forgiveness of situation −0.14 0.11 −0.09 −1.25 0.21
Openness 0.02 0.08 0.01 0.19 0.85
Conscientiousness 0.09 0.06 0.10 1.57 0.12
Extraversion 0.03 0.05 0.04 0.60 0.55
Agreeableness 0.05 0.08 0.05 0.69 0.49
Neuroticism 0.20 0.08 0.23 3.45 0.00

**p<0.01
*p<0.05

these moral personality constructs on life satisfaction and subjective happiness, beyond the
effects of the Big Five personality factors. Results indicated that gratitude, forgiveness of self,
and forgiveness of situation were significantly related to both well-being outcomes (i.e., life
satisfaction and subjective happiness). These findings were consistent with previous studies
concerning how well-being can be affected by gratitude (cf., Lambert et al. 2009; Froh et al.
2008; Wood et al. 2008b; Park et al. 2004) and forgiveness dimensions (Hill and Allemand
2011; Toussaint and Friedman 2009; Krause and Ellison 2003).
Gratitude and forgiveness of self substantially influenced life satisfaction and subjective
happiness beyond the effects of age, gender, and the Big Five personality factors. Enhance-
ment of inherent tendencies to be grateful and to be self-forgiving seem to lead to a more
satisfying and happy life. This confirms results from previous studies that highlight the
unique contributions of gratitude (Hill and Allemand 2011; Wood et al. 2008b) and
forgiveness (Hill and Allemand 2011) on the well-being of adolescents.
Consistent with past empirical evidence (Hill and Allemand 2011; Chan 2009; Emmons
and McCullough 2003), gratitude seemed to exert a greater impact on global life satisfaction
and subjective happiness. In fact, experimental studies have seemingly established a causal
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270 Int J Adv Counselling (2014) 36:262–273

link between gratitude and happiness - for example, Emmons and McCullough (2003)
determined such a link in their research. To the extent that individuals adopt a grateful
orientation and disposition, they experience greater levels of subjective happiness and satis-
faction with life.
Interestingly, forgiveness of self had a distinctive impact on well-being after controlling for
the demographic variables and the Big Five personality factors. Tendencies to replace self-
directed negative emotions (e.g., guilt, shame) with positive emotions seem to play an
important role in the pursuit of happiness (cf., Exline et al. 2011; Hall and Fincham 2008;
Wohl et al. 2008). Given that Filipino adolescents live in a collectivistic society where social
harmony typically is more prioritized than personal autonomy (Markus and Kitayama 1991), it
is somewhat surprising that forgiveness of others and forgiveness of situation, with their
potential greater effects on repairing relationships, did not contribute significantly to life
satisfaction and subjective happiness. In other words, the assertion that Filipino college
students would more likely endorse collectivistic forgiveness (i.e., forgiveness of others and
forgiveness of situations), given their interdependent cultural context, was not confirmed in the
current study.
Yet, the substantial influence of self-forgiveness on the well-being of adolescents could be
accounted for in regard to distinct developmental tasks. Erikson (1982) contended that
adolescence is a period where individuals are expected to establish a healthy sense of identity.
Since adolescents are expected to develop their self and identity, the positive impact of self-
forgiveness on subjective happiness and life satisfaction would imply that changing negative
self-directed feelings to positive self-directed ones would be highly beneficial to subjective
well-being. Though Macaskill (2012) asserted that it seems easier to forgive others than to
forgive oneself, results of the present study suggest that self-forgiveness would be a promising
disposition as it would potentially assist adolescents in establishing their sense of identity. In
other words, when adolescents show higher propensity to forgive themselves, it is likely that
they would feel greater levels of happiness and life satisfaction.
Findings of the current study point to the beneficial effects of moral personality traits on
well-being outcomes. The study extends previous work on moral personality research (e.g.,
Hill and Allemand 2011; Wood et al. 2008b) by looking at the distinct impact of gratitude and
forgiveness on SWB dimensions (i.e., life satisfaction and subjective happiness) among
adolescents who, by virtue of their developmental stage, are more prone to experience
significant changes in personality (Soto et al. 2011). It also provides evidence on the predictive
impact of gratitude and forgiveness on subjective happiness and life satisfaction even in
collectivist cultures like the Philippines.
Of immense importance is to delineate the practical utility of these results in promoting
well-being among adolescents. The contributions of gratitude and forgiveness of self on SWB
present promising possibilities for counselors to enhance the psychological well-being of
individuals in this developmental phase. Counseling services and programs that integrate
appreciation and forgiveness of oneself are encouraged so that adolescents may experience
greater levels of well-being. Standardized group intervention manuals that highlight gratitude
and self-forgiveness can be formulated. In addition, counselors may incorporate gratitude and
self-forgiveness not only in understanding and defining the psychological concerns of clients
but also in devising appropriate interventions for normally functioning adolescents who
experience mild to severe emotional distress, as it has the potential to allow them to experience
greater levels of happiness and life satisfaction.
However, several limitations should be considered when interpreting the results of the
study. Firstly, given that undergraduate college students were recruited as participants in the
study, this may pose restrictions on the generalizability of the findings. Secondly, the cross-
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Int J Adv Counselling (2014) 36:262–273 271

sectional nature of the study does not permit establishment of causal inference regarding the
relationships of moral traits to well-being outcomes. Future empirical studies should address
the methodological issues by undertaking experimental research that differentially examines
the effects of gratitude and self-forgiveness on subjective well-being to establish causality in
terms of the impact of forgiveness and gratitude on SWB. It is also recommended for future
research to examine the differential effects of other moral personality traits (e.g., honesty,
justice) not only on domains of subjective well-being but also on other desirable outcomes,
such as psychological well-being (the extent to which individuals are effectively functioning in
their lives), prosocial behaviours, and social justice.

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