Thieves of thankfulness: Traits that inhibit gratitude

If gratitude is important to well-being, it is important to understand the factors that might inhibit gratitude. The purpose of this study was to investigate four putative inhibitors of gratitude: narcissism, cynicism, materialism/envy, and indebtedness. We used a prospective design where participants were administered measures related to the putative inhibitors along with trait and state gratitude, 2 months apart. After controlling for initial levels of gratitude, Time 1 narcissism, cynicism, and materialism/envy were negatively associated with Time 2 state gratitude. Evidence also supported the theory that narcissism and cynicism may interact in a vicious cycle over time. We conclude that narcissism, cynicism, and materialism inhibit state gratitude, and narcissism and cynicism may be the foundational ‘thieves of thankfulness.’     

Forgiveness, personality and gratitude

Recent evidence indicates that personality plays a role in the study of forgiveness, but the literature has been limited. This study sought to determine whether gratitude accounted for a significant portion of the variance beyond that of personality in the study of dispositional forgiveness (enduring resentment, sensitivity to circumstances, and overall propensity to forgive). One hundred and fifty-two Portuguese college students (51% females and 49% males, mean = 21.10 years) participated in the study. The results confirmed that personality, particularly agreeableness and neuroticism correlate with enduring resentment and overall tendency to forgive. Additionally, results using multiple regression models indicated that gratitude explained a significant amount of variance of overall propensity to forgive.     

Four experiments on the relational dynamics and prosocial consequences of gratitude

Abstract

Four experiments utilized experimental inductions of gratitude and behavioral measures of prosociality to explore the effects of 4 variables on gratitude and grateful prosocial outcomes: benefactor similarity (Study 1), intention (Study 2), future benefits (Study 3), and anonymity (Study 4). We consistently found that the receipt of a favor increased prosocial behavior, and this effect was mediated by gratitude. Benefactor similarity did not meaningfully influence either prosocial behavior or gratitude. Although benefactor intention did meaningfully affect gratitude, the effect was too small to influence the mediational effect of gratitude on prosocial behavior. Neither anonymity nor the possibility of future procurement decreased the role of gratitude in distribution; instead, both of these variables may have enhanced the role of gratitude. These data support gratitude as an important component of prosocial behavior and suggest that gratitude may contain an altruistic component, consistent with its relational function.     

Parents’ subjective sense of calling in childrearing: Measurement,development and initial findings

The construct of calling has received substantial recent attention in vocational research. This article reports on the development of a scale designed to measure parents’ subjective sense of calling in the childrearing role. Using exploratory, parallel, and confirmatory factor analysis, two studies revealed a three-factor, eleven item scale that measured calling in childrearing. Reliability findings are reported, as are convergent and discriminant validity. Parental subjective sense of calling in childrearing was positively associated with authoritative parenting style, importance of parenting, pleasure of parenting, parenting satisfaction, presence of meaning in life, satisfaction with life, savouring, and positive affect. The construct was negatively related to age, income, and the sense that parenting is a burden. Calling in childrearing is similar to calling in vocation, and appears related to optimal outcomes for those who possess it.     

Meaning in life and work: A developmental perspective

This study examined linear and nonlinear relations between age and the presence and search for meaning in life and examined if these relations were moderated by the presence of meaning in work. Age did not significantly relate to the presence of meaning in life, but age had a significant, negative linear relation with the search for meaning in life. Moreover, work meaning moderated the quadratic relation between age and life meaning. Specifically, people high in work meaning demonstrated negative quadratic curves, with high life meaning during middle adulthood, and people low in work meaning had positive quadratic curves, with low life meaning during middle adulthood. Work meaning also moderated the linear relation between age and the search for meaning in life with people highest in work meaning showing the strongest negative relation between age and the search for meaning in life. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.     

Positive employment relations: A qualitative meta-synthesis of the evidence

This study utilises a qualitative meta-synthesis approach to scope the evidence on qualities that define positive employment relations. The selection criteria included the identification of emerging themes, concepts and commonalities comprising positive employment relations throughout literature. Findings suggest that 21 core constructs comprised and affected positive employment relations on individual, team and organisational levels. Of the 21 constructs, only six key constructs are positive workplace relations resources: trust, respect, support, communication, equity and equality, and conflict management. Optimal functioning and flourishing of individuals result in an optimally thriving organisation, and, to ensure flourishing individuals and teams, an organisation should attend to and improve the quality of relationships within the work context.     

Measuring gratitude in children

ABSTRACT

Gratitude is a rich socioemotional construct that emerges over development beginning in early childhood. Existing measures of children’s gratitude as a trait or behavior may be limited because they do not capture different aspects of gratitude moments (i.e. awareness, thoughts, feelings, and actions) and the way that these facets appear in children. The current study evaluates a battery of new measures assessing children’s gratitude to address these limitations. Parent-child dyads (N = 101; children aged 6–9) completed a lab-based assessment followed by a 7-day online parental diary and 18-month follow-up survey. In addition to newly developed measures of children’s gratitude, the battery included indicators of convergent, concurrent, divergent, and predictive validity. Results demonstrate the complexity of gratitude as a construct and the relative benefits and limits of various assessment modalities. Implications for the measurement of children’s gratitude and suggestions for future research on the development of gratitude are discussed.     

More gratitude,less materialism: The mediating role of life satisfaction

An empirical relationship has been documented between gratitude and materialism, such that stronger feelings of gratitude are associated with lower materialism. Building on Fredrickson's (1998, 2001) theory that positive emotions ‘broaden’ and ‘build’ we sought to expand upon this finding by (1) examining satisfaction with life as a potential mechanism for this relationship, and (2) exploring the causal direction of this relationship through experimental means. Study 1 (n = 131) demonstrated that satisfaction with life mediated the relationship between gratitude and materialism. Study 2 (n = 171) showed that that experimentally induced gratitude resulted in higher satisfaction with life and lower materialism in a high gratitude condition compared to an envy (low gratitude) condition. Implications and directions for future research were discussed.     

Thanks, but no thanks: The role of personal responsibility in the experience of gratitude

Current theories of gratitude suggest that individuals feel grateful when they perceive someone else to be responsible for a desired outcome. However, it is unclear whether individuals must also feel a lack of personal responsibility in order to feel gratitude. This paper provides evidence that in achievement contexts, without the belief that they are responsible for their success, individuals do not experience gratitude, even when they acknowledge the help they have received. In two studies, the more helpful participants thought an experimenter had been, the more grateful they felt, but only if they also spontaneously felt responsible for (Study 1) or were induced to feel responsible for (Study 2) their outcomes.     

Evidence for a relationship between trait gratitude and prosocial behaviour

Prosocial behaviour towards unrelated others is communally beneficial but can be individually costly. The emotion of gratitude mitigates this cost by encouraging direct as well as “upstream” reciprocity, thereby facilitating cooperation. A widely used method for measuring trait gratitude is the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ6) [McCullough, M., Emmons, R., &; Tsang, J. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 112–127. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.1.112]. Here we undertake an assessment of the external validity of the GQ6 by examining its relationship with two incentivized economic games that serve as face valid indices of generosity and reciprocity. In two studies (total N?=?501) we find that trait gratitude as measured by the GQ6 predicts greater donations in a charity donation task as well as greater transfers and returns in an incentivized trust game. These results support the hypothesis that individuals with higher trait gratitude are more generous and trusting on average, and provide initial evidence as to the predictive validity of the GQ6.     

Having the will and finding the way: A review and meta-analysis of hope at work

Critics of the field of positive organizational psychology have expressed reservations with validity and utility of positive constructs, such as hope. The purpose of this article is to systematically review the existing research on hope at work and to determine the ‘true’ relationship between hope and work outcomes by meta-analyzing 133 effect sizes across 45 primary studies based on 11,139 employees. As predicted, we found that the overall corrected mean effect sizes between hope and work performance and employee well-being were positive and statistically significant. Gender and study location were significant moderators of these relationships, with women and US-based studies having stronger hope to work outcomes effects. Taken together, results demonstrate that positive psychology constructs, such as hope, play an important role in understanding and predicting employee behavior.     

Examining the pathways between gratitude and self-rated physical health across adulthood

The current study examined whether dispositional gratitude predicts physical health among adults, and if so, whether this relationship occurs because grateful individuals lead healthier lives, either psychologically or physically. Specifically, we examined whether psychological health, healthy activities, and willingness to seek help for health concerns mediated the link between gratitude and self-reported physical health, as well as if these mediational pathways are moderated by age, in a broad sample of Swiss adults (N = 962, M_age = 52 years, age range: 19–84). Dispositional gratitude correlated positively with self-reported physical health, and this link was mediated by psychological health, healthy activities, and willingness to seek help for health concerns. However, the indirect effects for psychological health and healthy activities were stronger for older than younger adults. In other words, the mechanisms explaining why gratitude predicts health appear to differ across adulthood.     

Managing stress or enhancing wellbeing? Positive psychology's contributions to clinical supervision

One of the key functions of clinical supervision as practised by health professionals such as psychologists includes the restoration of wellbeing, but there are few guidelines in the supervision literature on how to go about this. Research into concepts from the field of positive psychology such as work engagement, sense of coherence, self‐efficacy, flow and resilience has begun to provide detailed understanding of workers' happiness, health and betterment. These findings provide possible directions for supervision interventions that go beyond traditional review of self‐care and stress‐management strategies and seek to extend the wellbeing of the supervisee. This article explores the application of positive psychology to enhance the wellbeing of practitioners such as psychologists, who often work in inherently difficult work environments such as the mental health field. Specifically, a narrative approach is proposed as one possible method and practical examples are offered to demonstrate how positive psychology may be applied in the practice of clinical supervision.     

Gratitude reception and physical health: Examining the mediating role of satisfaction with patient care in a sample of acute care nurses

ABSTRACT

Literature examining well-being benefits of gratitude experiences is currently thriving in psychological science. However, evidence of the physical health benefits of gratitude remains limited. Research and theory in affective science suggests an indirect relationship between gratitude and physical health. This study examines how receiving expressions of gratitude predicts physical health outcomes in a sample of acute care nurses over time. Registered nurses (N = 146) practicing in Oregon completed weekly surveys over 12 consecutive weeks describing their positive and negative events, health, and work-related experiences. Multilevel mediation models revealed that being thanked more often at work was positively related to a nurse’s satisfaction with the care they provided within that week, which subsequently predicted sleep quality, sleep adequacy, headaches, and attempts to eat healthy. These findings contribute to literature demonstrating the health benefits of gratitude by indicating that benefactors may experience improvements in subjective physical health through positive domain-relative satisfaction.     

Who self-initiates gratitude interventions in daily life? An examination of intentions,curiosity, depressive symptoms,and life satisfaction

Despite a variety of interventions to increase well-being, little is known about who is interested in and initiates exercises on their own. We explored individual differences that predict who is most likely to participate in a voluntary gratitude intervention. College students (n = 226) completed measures of curiosity, depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and intentions to change their lifestyle. Afterwards, participants received a personalized invitation to take part in a web-based intervention to enhance their well-being (anonymous and strictly voluntary). Results suggested that 11.5% of participants started the gratitude intervention. Individuals endorsing strong intentions to change their lifestyle (+1 SD above mean) were 2.2 times more likely than their peers to start the gratitude intervention. People with greater trait curiosity endorsed greater intentions to start this intervention; people with greater depressive symptoms endorsed weaker intentions. Both curiosity and depressive symptoms indirectly influenced initiation of the gratitude intervention via intentions. These findings provide support for particular paths that lead to the initial behavioral effort towards healthy change. We discuss the implications for attempting to increase and sustain people’s well-being.     

An integrative intervention for cultivating gratitude among adolescents and young adults

ABSTRACT

Emerging evidence indicates that practicing gratitude contributes to well-being. The goal of this investigation was to develop a comprehensive, effective intervention for promoting gratitude among adolescents and young adults (ages 16–30). Findings from experimental data indicate that three existing gratitude activities (three good things, benefit appraisals, and a gratitude letter) fostered unique facets of gratitude (Study 1). A combined intervention enhanced gratitude, hope, and prosocial intentions among young adults (Study 2) and adolescents (Study 3). This work extends the literature by providing empirical evidence on how benefit appraisal influence adults, revealing the unique effects of existing gratitude activities, and showing that an integrative intervention is effective for both adolescents and young adults. Furthermore, the resulting intervention is relatively brief and can be implemented online or in-person, which could facilitate widespread dissemination. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

The role of gratitude in the development of social support, stress, and depression: Two longitudinal studies

In two longitudinal studies, the authors examined the direction of the relationships between trait gratitude, perceived social support, stress, and depression during a life transition. Both studies used a full cross-lagged panel design, with participants completing all measures at the start and end of their first semester at college. Structural equation modeling was used to compare models of direct, reverse, and reciprocal models of directionality. Both studies supported a direct model whereby gratitude led to higher levels of perceived social support, and lower levels of stress and depression. In contrast, no variable led to gratitude, and most models of mediation were discounted. Study 2 additionally showed that gratitude leads to the other variables independently of the Big Five factors of personality. Overall gratitude seems to directly foster social support, and to protect people from stress and depression, which has implications for clinical interventions.     

Gratitude’s role in adolescent antisocial and prosocial behavior: A 4-year longitudinal investigation

ABSTRACT

Is gratitude developmentally related to improvements in social behavior? This study examined 566 adolescents (51.6% female, M age = 11.95 years at baseline, 68.0% White, 11.0% African-American, 9.9% Asian-American, 1.9% Hispanic, 8.8% ‘Other’) from middle school to high school for 4 years. Controlling for social desirability, age, SES, and gender, gratitude growth predicted decreases in antisocial behavior over 4 years, and life satisfaction growth marginally mediated this relation. Further, gratitude growth predicted increases in prosocial behavior over 4 years, but life satisfaction did not mediate this relation. Reverse models were also examined. Antisocial behavior growth predicted gratitude change, which was mediated by life satisfaction growth. Prosocial behavior growth predicted gratitude change, but was not mediated by life satisfaction growth. Finally, gratitude growth predicted family support, trust, and intentional self-regulation at the 4 year timepoint, and it predicted empathy with marginal significance. Implications for theory and educational applications are discussed.     

Counting blessings and sharing gratitude in a Chinese prisoner sample: Effects of gratitude-based interventions on subjective well-being and aggression

Abstract

Gratitude-based interventions are effective for increasing individuals’ subjective well-being (SWB); however, they have not been validated among prisoners, especially for negative states (i.e. aggression). Furthermore, as a social emotion, gratitude might be nurtured via practice within a social group. Therefore, we developed a weekly group-based sharing gratitude exercise, and examined its effect along with that of daily blessing-counting among prisoners in China. Ninety-six male violent prisoners were assigned randomly to three conditions (gratitude-sharing, blessing-counting, and control). Interventions took place over five weeks. Both interventions improved SWB and decreased aggression compared to controls. Additionally, the improvement in gratitude mediated the relationship between the two forms of intervention and SWB. These findings indicate that gratitude-based interventions can be implemented among male prisoners to help further the psychological corrective function of prisons in China.     

Framing gratitude journaling as prayer amplifies its hedonic and eudaimonic well-being,but not health,benefits

Abstract

Gratitude is commonly practiced as prayer, but experimental studies testing the ability of gratitude journaling interventions to increase well-being have only examined secular forms of thanksgiving. We hypothesized that framing gratitude journaling as prayer would amplify its well-being effects. Undergraduate participants (N = 196) were instructed to write 10 things for which they were grateful once a week for five weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to read their thanks aloud to themselves, read their thanks to another person, or pray their thanks aloud to God. Participants in the prayer condition experienced a decrease in negative affect, and participants in the prayer condition who also exerted high effort demonstrated gains in gratitude, positive affect, and hope. Results indicate that the prayer condition may have led to increased health symptoms. Non-significant effects for the social condition suggest that the mechanisms explaining the effects of prayer are related to the theistic and sacred elements of prayer rather than its social features.