The relations of gratitude to religiosity,well-being,and personality

The relations of gratitude toward God and dispositional gratitude with well-being and personality were investigated, in an Iranian sample. As expected, gratitude was associated with higher scores on happiness, life satisfaction, psychological well-being, and the Big Five factors of personality. Dispositional gratitude out-predicted religious gratitude in relation with well-being. A second study confirmed the results in a second sample of Iranian Muslims, and in a sample of Polish Christians, providing cross-cultural evidence that the dispositional gratitude is a unique predictor of well-being. Positive links between gratitude and Honesty–Humility provided additional construct validity for these variables, as personality dimensions representing the bases of reciprocal altruism.     

Psychological strengths and subjective well-being in South African white students

This study investigated the role of individual resources, notably self-efficacy, gratitude, and hope, in subjective well-being of white dormitory students at a historically white institution of higher learning. Using a convenience sample of white students (N?=?227), we tested the role of generalised self-efficacy, gratitude, and hope as indicators of a latent factor, labelled personal resources, in a structural equation model with subjective well-being as the latent output variable, measured by self-esteem and satisfaction with life. Path analyses indicated a reasonable fit between the data and our hypothesised theoretical model which proposed positive relations between levels of generalised self-efficacy, gratitude, dispositional hope, self-esteem and satisfaction with life. White students were psychologically doing well, considering above-midpoint levels obtained for levels of generalised self-efficacy, gratitude, dispositional hope, and satisfaction with life However, scores obtained for self-esteem and adult dispositional hope were below the mid-point and neutral respectively, indicating that White students do not agree that they experience high levels of these two psychological strengths. White female students experienced higher levels of hope, gratitude, and life satisfaction, while no significant gender differences were found for generalised self-efficacy and self-esteem. The results of this study highlight the potential for using psychological strengths to promote well-being in racially diverse students.     

Joy is a distinct positive emotion: Assessment of joy and relationship to gratitude and well-being

In three studies we investigated joy and its relationship to subjective well-being (SWB). We developed measures of joy based on recent conceptualizations of joy in the humanities and social sciences. In Studies 1 and 2 we developed reliable measures of state and trait joy. In Study 3 we used a two-month prospective design to investigate the relationship of joy to gratitude and SWB. We found that dispositional gratitude predicted increases in state joy over time. We also found that trait joy predicted increases in state gratitude, providing evidence for an intriguing upward spiral between joy and gratitude. Finally, we found that trait joy was associated with increases in SWB over time. Factor analyses indicated that joy loaded separately from other positive emotions. We conclude that joy is a discrete positive emotion, it can be measured reliably with self-report instruments, and that it may be an important component of well-being.     

Gratitude,Social Cognition,and Well-Being in Emerging Adolescents

The authors explored Canadian emerging adolescents' social and moral reasoning skills (empathy, theory of mind), and their perceptions of gratitude, self-competencies, and well-being (spiritual, emotional). As part of a larger five-year longitudinal study, the authors describe results of Year 2 (2016–2017) data from 46 ninth-grade students (33 girls; M_age?=?13.5?years, SD?=?5.436 years) from eight schools (Ontario, Canada). Students’ perceptions of gratitude, spirituality, self-compassion, competencies, and well-being were measured by self-report questionnaires. Significant positive correlations were found among adolescents’ perceptions of gratitude, self-competencies, and emotional and spiritual well-being. Differently valenced patterns of associations were found among students’ perceptions of gratitude (appreciation for others and sense of abundance), self-compassion, and existential well-being, and spiritual comfort, and omnipresence. Simple appreciation was the only aspect of gratitude to show significant positive relations with religious well-being. Significant positive correlations were found between gratitude (sense of abundance) and self-compassion, whereas significant negative correlations were found between self-compassion and empathy, theory of mind, existential well-being, and religious well-being. Implications for theory and educational applications are discussed.     

Gratitude,Psychopathology and Subjective Well-Being: Results from a 7.5-Month Prospective General Population Study

Gratitude is considered an important source of human strength in achieving and maintaining good mental health. Although complete mental health encompasses the absence of psychopathology and the presence of subjective well-being, no studies to date have examined relations between gratitude and both mental health dimensions together. Moreover, most studies focused on specific samples with a restricted demographic range. Our study, therefore, examined (a) demographic variability in the grateful trait, and (b) prospective associations between gratitude and both dimensions of mental health: psychopathology and subjective well-being. Using a four wave prospective survey design in a large (N = 706) sample of Dutch adults (M age = 44, SD age = 14, Range = 18–80), we measured gratitude with the SGRAT, symptoms of psychopathology with the SCL-90, and subjective well-being with the PANAS and SWLS. Gratitude was significantly associated with age, gender, education level, and employment status. Multilevel time-lagged regression analyses showed that the grateful trait did not predict symptoms of psychopathology, but was a significant albeit weak predictor of subjective well-being, when adjusting for the effects of demographic factors, and prior levels of subjective well-being and psychopathology. Our findings indicate that the grateful trait is associated with demographic factors, and shows complex connections with the presence of well-being and absence of psychopathology. These dynamics should be taken into consideration when studying the role of gratitude in mental health, and developing, applying, and evaluating gratitude interventions with the aim of enhancing subjective well-being and/or reducing psychopathology.     

Implicit theories of intellectual virtues and vices: A focus on intellectual humility

Psychological science has consistently highlighted links between gratitude and religion, however mediating pathways by which religion relates to gratitude remain ambiguous. Further, it is unclear whether religious gratitude (e.g., gratitude to God) is more related to well-being than general gratitude. To address these gaps, we assessed for both religious and general dimensions of gratitude alongside measures of religious commitment and mental/physical well-being in a diverse sample of n?=?405 adult individuals. Consistent with previous research, gratitude was positively correlated with religious commitment (r?=?0.45, p?<?0.001). This relationship, however, was fully mediated by gratitude towards God. Using hierarchical linear regression, results further found that the interaction of religious commitment and religious gratitude added unique variance in predicting mental well-being, over and above general gratitude. This suggests that being grateful to God enhances the psychological benefits of gratitude in accordance with one's level of religious commitment.     

Self-esteem mediates the relationship between dispositional gratitude and well-being

Gratitude is a positive disposition that is connected to well-being. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of self-esteem in the association between gratitude and well-being among undergraduate students. Two hundred and thirty-five participants completed measures of dispositional gratitude, self-esteem, and several indices of well-being. The results indicated that higher levels of dispositional gratitude were associated with greater self-esteem and indices of well-being. Moreover, higher levels of self-esteem were also associated with indices of well-being. Path analyses showed that self-esteem acted as a partial mediator of the association between gratitude and well-being. These results provide information regarding a possible process through which dispositional gratitude has beneficial effects.     

中学生感恩与主观幸福感的关系:抗挫折能力与社会支持的中介作用

采用感恩问卷、正性情感负性情感量表、生活满意度问卷、抗挫折能力问卷和社会支持评定量表对865名中学生进行调查, 以考察中学生感恩和主观幸福感的关系, 以及社会支持与抗挫折能力在两者之间的中介作用。结果:(1)中学生正性情绪显著高于负性情绪;(2)中学生感恩与主观幸福感、社会支持、抗挫折能力相关显著;(3)结构方程分析结果显示, 中学生感恩直接负向预测负性情绪;社会支持和抗挫折能力在感恩与生活满意度、正性情绪间起到完全中介作用, 抗挫折能力在感恩和负性情绪间起部分中介作用。 结论:感恩能通过作用于社会支持和抗挫折能力来影响主观幸福感。     

Assessing psychological health: the contribution of psychological strengths

Balanced assessment of mental health involves assessing well-being and strengths as well as psychopathology. The character strengths of curiosity, gratitude, hope, optimism and forgiveness are assessed in 214 new undergraduates and their relationships to mental health, subjective well-being and self-esteem explored. Scoring the mental health scale for psychiatric caseness, case and non-case students did not differ in character strengths, positive affect or life satisfaction, supporting a dual-factor model. Hope pathways and gratitude predicted mental health. Gratitude, hope agency and exploratory curiosity predicted positive affect. Gratitude and hope agency predicted life satisfaction. Hope agency, hope pathways, exploratory curiosity and gratitude predicted self-esteem, with absorption curiosity as a negative predictor. The benefits of assessing strengths are discussed and interventions designed to develop them.     

感恩与大学生创伤后成长的关系：社会支持和希望的中介作用

采用病毒暴露风险问卷、感恩问卷、领悟社会支持量表、希望量表和创伤后成长问卷,以2168名大学生为被试,考察新冠病毒肺炎疫情期间居家学习大学生的感恩对创伤后成长(PTG)的预测作用及社会支持和希望的中介作用。结果发现,有41.61%的大学生出现明显的PTG;在控制了性别、年级、居住地和病毒暴露风险后,感恩可以直接正向预测PTG,也可以分别通过社会支持和希望的中介正向预测PTG,还可以通过社会支持和希望的链式中介正向预测PTG。本研究提示心理干预工作者,要关注疫情期间大学生的心理成长,可以通过提高大学生的感恩、社会支持和希望从而促进PTG。     

Gratitude and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in Vietnam war veterans

Little information exists on the contribution of psychological strengths to well-being in persons with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Data from other populations suggest that gratitude, defined as the positive experience of thankfulness for being the recipient of personal benefits, may have salutary effects on everyday functioning. We investigated whether dispositional gratitude predicted daily hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in combat veterans with and without PTSD. We also examined associations between daily gratitude and daily well-being across time. Veterans with PTSD, compared to those without PTSD, exhibited significantly lower dispositional gratitude; no differences were found on daily gratitude. Dispositional gratitude predicted greater daily positive affect, percentage of pleasant days over the assessment period, daily intrinsically motivating activity, and daily self-esteem over and above effects attributable to PTSD severity and dispositional negative and positive affect in the PTSD group but not the non-PTSD group. Daily gratitude was uniquely associated with each dimension of daily well-being in both groups. Although preliminary, these results provide support for the further investigation of gratitude in trauma survivors.     

Grateful recounting enhances subjective well-being: The importance of grateful processing

This study examined the interaction of the Thanksgiving holiday with gratitude in relation to well-being using a three-week long, daily diary design with a sample of 172 undergraduate students. Multilevel modeling revealed that without controlling for gratitude, people reported higher levels of positive affect on Thanksgiving holiday than during other days of the study. Reports of life satisfaction, meaning in life, and negative affect did not differ during the holiday. When within-person and between-person levels of gratitude were included, negative relationships were revealed between Thanksgiving and life satisfaction and positive affect. The results from this study sustain the argument that holidays impact people’s well-being depending on certain individual psychological characteristics. In the case of Thanksgiving, gratitude was critical for understanding whether the holiday appeared to positively or negatively influence life satisfaction and positive affect. The present study also supported an important role for gratitude in achieving and maintaining well-being.     

How positive processes function in negative relationships: Dispositional gratitude moderates the association between affective need and frequency of dating violence victimization

Evidence indicates that dispositional gratitude may improve romantic relationships by reinforcing positive emotions between partners and by increasing awareness of affective needs, such as receiving emotional support, nurturance, and reassurance. However, little research has investigated the influence of gratitude on relationships characterized by violence. In the present study, participants (N = 421) completed a cross-sectional survey of experiences with dating violence, dispositional gratitude, and affective need. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Among individuals with lower rates of dispositional gratitude, higher levels of affective need were associated with lower frequency of dating violence victimization. However, among individuals with higher rates of dispositional gratitude, there was no evidence to suggest an association between affective need and frequency of victimization. These preliminary findings compel further investigation of how positive processes impact the perceived qualities of negative romantic relationships.     

Gratitude,forgivingness, and well-being in adulthood: Tests of moderation and incremental prediction

Following recent guidelines for moral personality research, this study sought to provide insights into how moral personality traits influence well-being in adulthood. Using a large sample of Swiss adults (N?=?962), we examined the roles of gratitude and forgivingness on well-being in adulthood (assessed as positive affect, negative affect, optimism, pessimism, and satisfaction with life). Our results point to three primary findings. First, grateful and forgiving adults report greater well-being in adulthood and these effects are not moderated by age, gender, or marital status. Second, both traits uniquely predict well-being when controlling for each other, suggesting the importance of studying multiple moral personality variables. Third, these two traits largely remained significant predictors of well-being when controlling for the Big Five traits. Results are discussed with respect to their place within current directions in moral personality research as well as how they provide a foundation for future work.     

The Effect of Higher-Order Gratitude on Mental Well-Being: Beyond Personality and Unifactoral Gratitude

The purpose of this study was to examine whether higher-order gratitude consisting of multiple components (i.e., thanking others, thanking God, cherishing blessings, appreciating hardship, and cherishing the moment) explains variances in integrated mental well-being, including depression, self-esteem, and psychological well-being after controlling for gender, age, religion, the Big Five personality traits (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism), and unifactorial gratitude (GQ). A total of 231 participants were recruited to complete questionnaires measuring the variables of interest. The results indicated that higher-order gratitude made a significant unique contribution to psychological well-being, self-esteem, and depression (3 % to 5 % of the variance, p?<?.05) above the effects of demographic variables, personality traits, and unifactorial gratitude. These findings suggested that higher-order gratitude is more than just personality traits or unifactorial gratitude, and it is important in its own right for integrated mental well-being.     

Dispositional gratitude mediates the relationship between a past-positive temporal frame and well-being

Both past-positive temporal frame, which involves dwelling on positive memories of the past, and dispositional gratitude are associated with positive life outcomes, including greater life satisfaction. A past-positive temporal frame may provide a foundation for the development of dispositional gratitude. The present study examined a model positing that gratitude mediates the relationship between past-positive temporal frame and well-being. Two hundred and thirty-three participants (mean age = 34.10 years; SD = 14.21) completed measures of characteristic past-positive temporal frame, dispositional gratitude, and several indices of well-being. Higher levels of a past positive temporal frame were associated with greater gratitude and indices of well-being. Higher levels of gratitude were associated with indices of well-being. Gratitude mediated the relationship between past-positive temporal frame and well-being. These results provide information regarding a possible process through which past-positive temporal frames have beneficial effects.     

感恩与生活满意度的关系:多重中介探究

目的:基于感恩对生活满意度的独特预测作用,在应对方式、自尊、情绪、一般自我效能感中探讨哪些中介变量可能是感恩能够独特预测生活满意度的原因。方法:采用Rosenberg自尊量表、一般自我效能感量表(GSES)、积极情绪和消极情绪量表(PANAS)、简易应对方式问卷(SCSQ)、大五人格简版问卷(NE0-FFI)测量338名大学生。结果:(1)控制性别、人格后一般自我效能感、应对方式、消极情绪的回归效应不显著;自尊和积极情绪的回归效应显著。(2)控制性别、人格后自尊的中介效应显著,积极情绪的中介效应不显著,自尊和情绪的对比中介效应显著。结论:(1)应对方式、消极情绪、一般自我效能感等中介变量在感恩与生活满意度间的中介作用可能受人格的影响。(2)自尊可能是感恩能够独特预测生活满意度的原因,自尊与生活满意度可能存在因果关系。     

Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations between Leisure Time Physical Activity,Mental Well-Being and Subjective Health in Middle Adulthood

Previous studies have shown that participation in leisure time physical activity is related to better mental well-being and subjective health. However, the associations between different types of leisure time physical activities and different dimensions of mental well-being have rarely been studied. In addition, longitudinal research, analyzing possible causal relations between these variables, is lacking. To investigate these research questions, data gathered at ages 42 and 50 (present N = 303) for the Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development were used. Physical activity was assessed as frequency of participation at ages 42 and 50, and at age 50 also as frequency of participation in different types of physical activities. Mental well-being was captured by emotional, psychological and social well-being and subjective health by self-rated health and symptoms. Cross-sectionally, different types of physical activities were related to different dimensions of well-being. Walking had positive associations with psychological and social well-being, rambling in nature with emotional and social well-being, and endurance training with subjective health. Rambling in nature was also positively related to subjective health but only among men. Longitudinally, mental well-being predicted later participation in leisure-time physical activity, whereas no longitudinal associations between subjective health and physical activity were found. The results suggest that leisure time physical activities are related to current mental well-being and subjective health in midlife. Across time, good mental well-being seems to be a resource promoting engagement in physical activity.

     

Development and evaluation of the positive psychology intervention for older adults

Although research suggests that positive psychology intervention can enhance subjective well-being and reduce depression, its effectiveness on older adults remains largely unknown. Therefore the present study aimed to develop and evaluate a custom-tailored positive psychology intervention program for older adults. The program offered nine-week group sessions to 74 older people recruited from district community centers and nursing homes in Hong Kong. The intervention program covers eight themes, including optimism, gratitude, savoring, happiness, curiosity, courage, altruism, and meaning of life. The participants consisted mostly of females aged between 63 and 105?years. One-group pre-test/post-test design was adopted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on depression, life satisfaction, gratitude, and happiness. Results revealed that the intervention reduced the number of depressive symptoms and increased the levels of life satisfaction, gratitude, and happiness. Effectiveness of the intervention is discussed in relation to self-awareness, education, self-reinforcement, and sensitivity to age and culture.     

Are normal narcissists psychologically healthy?: self-esteem matters

Five studies established that normal narcissism is correlated with good psychological health. Specifically, narcissism is (a) inversely related to daily sadness and dispositional depression, (b) inversely related to daily and dispositional loneliness, (c) positively related to daily and dispositional subjective well-being as well as couple well-being, (d) inversely related to daily anxiety, and (e) inversely related to dispositional neuroticism. More important, self-esteem fully accounted for the relation between narcissism and psychological health. Thus, narcissism is beneficial for psychological health only insofar as it is associated with high self-esteem. Explanations of the main and mediational findings in terms of response or social desirability biases (e.g., defensiveness, repression, impression management) were ruled out. Supplementary analysis showed that the links among narcissism, self-esteem, and psychological health were preponderantly linear.