The relationship between dispositional forgiveness, empathy, and hope, on the one hand, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), on the other hand, was examined among Iranian veterans of the Iran-Iraq 1980-1988 conflict. Participants were administered the Forgivingness Questionnaire (measuring lasting resentment, sensitivity to the circumstances of the offense, and unconditional forgiveness), the Empathy Quotient Scale (assessing cognitive empathy, social skills, and emotional reactivity), the Hope Scale (assessing personal feelings of agency and ability to find pathways), and the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. It was found that the higher the PTSD score, the higher the lasting resentment score and the lower all of the other scores, particularly agency and sensitivity to circumstances. The association between forgivingness and PTSD was still significant once empathy and hope levels were controlled for.The relationship between direct, personal experience of combat during war and the development of psychiatric disorders or psychological maladjustment has been systematically investigated for many years. Empirical data