Implicit and Explicit Self-Concepts of Forgiveness in Women with Borderline Personality Disorder

Background The tendency to forgive is associated with traits such as agreeableness and neuroticism, mental well-being, and interpersonal functioning. Given the high levels of aggression and interpersonal dysfunction in borderline personality disorder (BPD), forgiveness (or, lack thereof) may be particularly relevant for BPD symptomology but remains understudied. This study examines forgiveness in BPD compared to a heterogeneous clinical control group without personality disorder (CC), exploring its associations with aggression and interpersonal dysfunction using both direct (self-reported) and indirect (implicit) measures. Methods Fifty-one female BPD patients and fifty-one CC participants completed self-report measures of forgiveness (Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory, Tendency to Forgive Scale) and a Forgiveness Implicit Association Test (F-IAT), alongside assessments of borderline symptoms, aggression, and interpersonal problems. Independent-samples t -tests compared the two samples, while Pearson correlations explored associations between clinical characteristics within the BPD sample. Results Both groups revealed largely comparable scores in both explicit and implicit forgiveness, with no significant differences across measures. Within the BPD group, higher TRIM–Revenge scores were associated with greater aggression, particularly anger, while TTF scores showed negative associations with overall aggression, physical aggression, and hostility. Circumplex analysis indicated that the F-IAT aligned with nonassertive, TRIM–Revenge with cold and competitive, and TTF with warm and non-dominant interpersonal styles, whereas TRIM–Avoidance and TRIM–Benevolence exhibited limited interpersonal relevance. Conclusions Despite limited prior research suggesting reduced forgiveness in BPD, the present findings indicate that women with BPD exhibit forgiveness tendencies comparable to those of the CC. Notably, explicit forgiveness was systematically associated with aggression and interpersonal difficulties, whereas implicit and explicit measures showed limited convergence. These findings underscore the utility of a multidimensional approach to assessing forgiveness in BPD, revealing distinct clinical and interpersonal correlates across forgiveness dimensions.