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Who benefits the most from a gratitude intervention in children and adolescents? Examining positive affect as a moderator
Abstract
To date, nearly half of the work supporting the efficacy of gratitude interventions did so by making contrasts with techniques that induce negative affect (e.g., record your daily hassles). Gratitude interventions have shown limited benefits, if any, over control conditions. Thus, there is a need to better understand whether gratitude interventions are beyond a control condition and if there exists a subset of people who benefit. People high in positive affect (PA) may have reached an 'emotional ceiling' and, thus, are less susceptible to experiencing gains in well-being. People lower in PA, however, may need more positive events (like expressing gratitude to a benefactor) to 'catch up' to the positive experiences of their peers. We examined if PA moderated the effects of a gratitude intervention where youth were instructed to write a letter to someone whom they were grateful and deliver it to them in person. Eighty-nine children and adolescents were randomly assigned to the gratitude intervention or a control condition. Findings indicated that youth low in PA in the gratitude condition, compared with youth writing about daily events, reported greater gratitude and PA at post-treatment and greater PA at the 2-month follow-up.
... Gratitude extends outwards-it is likely to spread across a network of people, transmitting received goodwill via "paying it forward" to others (Chang et al., 2012;Komter, 2004). Additionally, gratitude increases our wellbeing and overall positive affect as shown in psychological research (Froh et al., 2009;Seligman et al., 2005;Southwell & Gould, 2017;Watkins et al., 2003). If and how gratitude interventions can best influence our well-being through technology is a nascent area in HCI. ...
... A benefactor is a person that provided help or support in the past with a contribution (either physical or symbolic), like financial or moral support, e.g. through scholarship funds, guidance, information, affection, or advice. Compared to simply writing about positive events, writing a gratitude letter and delivering it to a benefactor resulted in higher affect and gratitude for participants who started out with a low frequency of experienced positive affect (Froh et al., 2009). ...
... As communicative gestures go, basic emotions are socially constructed more intuitively than most moral emotions like gratitude, If moral emotions "are linked to the interests or welfare either of society as a whole or at least of persons other than the judge or agent" (Haidt, 2003, p. 853), examples like guilt or gratitude require a more complex understanding of how we relate to one another through lived experience. Hence gratitude is often other-directed (Buck, 2004;Chang et al., 2013;Froh et al., 2009;Gordon et al., 2011;Seligman et al., 2005). And when we feel thankful towards someone, that acknowledgment also allows us to spread gratitude towards third parties (Algoe et al., 2010(Algoe et al., , 2008. ...
Gratitude is a moral emotion that demonstrates our appreciation of altruism. In psychology, feeling grateful is linked to an increase in well-being, yet there is a lack of HCI research on if gratitude can be cultivated through and with conversational agents. We quantitatively studied whether a chatbot can increase people’s gratitude (N = 133), as well as its influence on people’s positive and negative emotions. Compared to the control condition, a chatbot that shared gratitude interventions significantly enhanced people’s gratitude and positive emotions, while lowering negative emotions. Interestingly, people’s experience of gratitude differed from other positive emotions: Simple positive emotions, like joy, can go up while reported gratitude decreases. We share qualitative observations on how gratitude can be a complex emotional experience, encompassing positive and negative emotions, such as finding relief in admitting to a chatbot about one’s sadness over friendship during the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
... Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade (2005) debated that instead of collecting more and more material possessions, people should be advised to acknowledge and appreciate what they have in their current lives. By increasing the gratitude interventions, well-being improve (Froh, Kashdan, Ozimkowski, & Miller, 2009;Froh, Sefick, & Emmons, 2008). Chaplin, John, Rindfleisch, and Froh (2019) found that by increasing gratitude interventions, materialism decreases. ...
... Gratitude is defined as the "recognition and acknowledgement and appreciation of an altruistic (Froh et al., 2009;Froh et al., 2008;Kong et al., 2021). Chaplin et al. (2019) found that by increasing gratitude interventions, materialism decreases. ...
The study aims to examine the impact of altruistic advertisements on subjective well-being, materialism, and transpersonal gratitude through downward social comparison. An experimental design testing two conditions i.e., Altruistic advertising vs control was adopted to gather responses from 147 young consumers. Single-stage cluster sampling technique has been used to collect data. The findings of the study show that young consumers after experiencing altruistic advertising are less materialistic, more satisfied with their lives, and score high on transpersonal gratitude. Also, transpersonal gratitude is found to be a positive predictor of subjective well-being and a negative predictor of materialism. Furthermore, materialism negatively but partially mediates the relationship between transpersonal gratitude and life satisfaction. Few studies have experimentally tested the impact of advertising on consumers through downward social comparison but none has studied this impact in terms of different nuances of advertising and their impact on materialism or subjective well-being. Furthermore, the role of transpersonal gratitude has been examined that is merely been studied in the existing literature. Marketers working in the field of advertising can improve the quality of advertising by taking into consideration the negative impact of advertising on consumers/viewers. Gratitude interventions can be utilized to mitigate the negative effects of advertising. Data was cross-sectional which does not account for any longitudinal effects of altruistic advertisement on the above-mentioned relationship. Secondly, our sample consisted of young girls only which may affect the overall generalizability of the results with respect to gender and age. Thirdly, in our experiment, we only examine the effects of altruistic advertisement whereas hedonic and functional advertisement groups have not taken into account.
... Positive indicators of psychological wellbeing include life satisfaction, positive affect, and happiness (Maiolino & Kuiper, 2014). Life satisfaction refers to a global assessment of one's life, while positive affect refers to the frequency of a person's positive emotions at any given time (Diener, 2000;Froh et al., 2009). Happiness, sometimes referred to as hedonic or subjective wellbeing (Adler et al., 2017;, can be defined as an individuals' overall assessment of satisfaction with their life and the frequency of their positive emotional states (Shinde, 2017). ...
... Similarly, studies on the effectiveness of expressed gratitude interventions for improving life satisfaction and positive affect have reported mixed findings. Significant findings were found in some studies Walsh et al., 2022c), while other studies found no significant difference between expressed gratitude and control groups in life satisfaction (Berger et al., 2019;Froh et al., 2009;Gherghel & Hashimoto, 2020;Renshaw & Hindman, 2017). The absence of significant findings in some of these studies may have been due to the frequency of gratitude expression. ...
The effectiveness of expressed gratitude interventions in enhancing psychological wellbeing has been explored in a number of studies. The present meta-analysis synthesized results from 25 randomized controlled trials, including a total of 6,745 participants, to examine the effect of expressed gratitude interventions on positive indicators of psychological wellbeing, including life satisfaction, positive affect, and happiness. The results showed that expressed gratitude interventions had a significant effect on psychological wellbeing relative to neutral comparison groups, Hedges’ g = 0.22, 95% CI [0.11, 0.33], p < .001. The significant effects applied to each of the three elements of positive wellbeing. Intervention length and duration from baseline to final assessment did not significantly moderate effect sizes across studies. The present findings indicate that expressed gratitude interventions have value in improving psychological wellbeing.
... Gratitude represents a target for positive developmental interventions to enhance personal wellbeing and prosocial behavior ; hence, many researchers have attempted to explore and promote its educational value both within and outside school settings Froh et al., 2009a;Bono et al., 2014;Howells, 2014;Morgan et al., 2015). The practice of gratitude in educational settings expects teachers to adequately provide youths with the proper tools to engage with this construct (Howells, 2014(Howells, , 2017Ramsey et al., 2017). ...
... In-school gratitude interventions have shown positive results regarding increased school life satisfaction and the quality of peer relationships (Froh et al., 2008;Furlong et al., 2014). Previous research on this topic argued that gratitude serves as a vehicle to foster positive emotions (Nguyen and Gordon, 2020) and a better sense of control, coping skills, and personal well-being (Froh et al., 2009a;Gordon et al., 2004;Watkins 2014). Paying greater attention to gratitude in research and education has the potential to encourage its promotion (Hussong et al., 2017) so that students can perceive gratitude as providing them with sustained value over time (Howells, 2014(Howells, , 2017, rather than it being the subject of an isolated, one-off intervention. ...
The present study explored the psychometric properties of the Multi-Component Gratitude Measure (MCGM), in Spanish with a sample of Colombian children. The sample was composed of 540 schoolchildren between 8–12 years old (265 females, mean age 10.04 years; 75 males, mean age 10.08 years). The MCGM aims to examine more comprehensively the moral virtue of gratitude as a construct with 3 components (emotional, conative/attitudinal, and behavioral) distributed across 6 subscales. We translated the MCGM into Spanish and validated the factor structure in a principal component analysis, basing the analysis on the 6 subscales. We corroborated that gratitude can be understood as a complex, multi-component construct from children's perspectives. Overall, the MCGM subscales showed good reliability coefficients between 0.7 and 0.9. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a 4-factor model structure (obtained in the PCA) presented the best-adjusted fit indices. Factor 1 represented the feelings subscale, factor 2 represented the attitudinal component, and factors 3 and 4 the behavioral component. Convergent validity was evaluated with other instruments of gratitude, along with additional variables including positive emotion, prosocial behavior and wellbeing, in a subsample of 210 children. Multiple sources of evidence indicate that the translated and validated measure, the MCGM-Spanish Youth (MCGM-SY), is an instrument with good reliability and validity for measuring gratitude in Spanish-speaking children.
... Additionally, charity donation should be especially effective in increasing LBC's gratitude. Previous research found that a gratitude intervention was especially effective in increasing gratitude and positive affect among children with low positive affect (Froh et al., 2009), while LBC had lower levels of happiness than non-LBC (Dai & Chu, 2018). ...
... An experimental study found that increased gratitude was related to increased optimism and life satisfaction among early adolescents (Froh et al., 2008). An intervention study revealed that gratitude intervention (i.e., writing a letter to someone expressing gratitude) was related to increased positive affect among 8-to 19-year-old children and adolescents low in positive affect (Froh et al., 2009). ...
Previous research suggests that receiving a charity donation could induce gratitude but threaten self-esteem. We investigated if peer charity donations from typical children benefit or harm the mental health of their left-behind children (LBC) classmates. We recruited children at a school (i.e., intervened school) that organized peer charity donations every semester and three typical schools (i.e., non-intervened school) without such intervention in China. Participants completed the gratitude, self-esteem, depression, and social anxiety scales. A statistical toolbox, "Matchit", randomly selected 420 children aged 9-13 (220 females, 200 males, 213 LBC, 207 non-LBC); there was no significant difference in left-behind status, age, gender, or family economic status (all p > .10) between the intervened and non-intervened groups (210 per group). Structural equation model analyses revealed that gratitude was associated with higher self-esteem, lower social anxiety, and lower depression. Moreover, the intervention effect on self-esteem was significantly positive among the LBC recipients and non-LBC donors. The interaction between intervention and left-behind status was significant on gratitude and depression. Specifically, the intervention effect was not significant on gratitude or depression among the LBC but was significantly negative on gratitude and depression among the non-LBC. Peer charity donation may increase self-esteem among children (recipients or donors) via increased social connection or satisfaction of basic needs, yet decreased gratitude among the donors due to the "moral licensing effect".
... Positive interventions are defined as methods of treatment or planned activities aimed at cultivating positive emotions, behaviors, and thoughts (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009). In the past, many types of research have shown the beneficial effects of positive psychological education on well-being, psychological resilience and academic performance (Froh, Kashdan, Ozimkowski, & Miller, 2009;Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Boehm, & Sheldon, 2011;Otake, Shimai, Tanaka-Matsumi, Otsui, & Fredrickson, 2006;Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, & Linkins, 2009;Waters, 2011). ...
... The results of the research showed that teaching children the concepts of positive psychology, such as positive emotions and positive connections, through an eight-week program has significant benefits on well-being and state of mind. Along with the increase in hope, there was a significant increase in the levels of positive emotions, which means that the increase in positive emotions changes the way one evaluates situations and adopts a more hopeful way of thinking, as observed in previous research (Froh, Kashdan, Ozimkowski, & Miller, 2009;Lagacé-Séguin, & d'Entremont, 2010;Layous, Nelson, & Lyubomirsky, 2013;Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Boehm, & Sheldon, 2011). As expected, the results of the present study showed that the PPI increased positive emotions as well as the levels of hope and reduce negative ones (Marques, Lopez, & Pais-Ribeiro, 2011;Mruk, 2013;Otake, Shimai, Tanaka-Matsumi, Otsui, & Fredrickson, 2006;Rand, 2009;Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, & Linkins, 2009;Snyder, Rand, & Sigmon, 2002;Valle, M. Huebner, & Suldo, 2006;Waters, 2011). ...
... It was first developed by Emmons and McCullough (2003), and then successfully applied to a range of populations, such as college students (Işık & Ergüner-Tekinalp, 2017), adolescents (Froh et al., 2008), teachers (Chan, 2010), the elderly (Killen & Macaskill, 2015) and prisoners (Deng et al., 2018). Although the results overall demonstrated an increase in well-being indicators and a decrease in ill-being, independently of the gratitude target (Berger et al., 2019), this was not always the case as outlined by Davis et al. (2016) and Dickens (2017), who suggest the need to consider some moderating factors, such as positive affect (see, e.g., Froh et al., 2009;Wood et al., 2010), and the practices in which the control group is involved. ...
... From a practical point of view, an immediate suggestion is to disseminate as much as possible the practice of recalling, elaborating and writing relevant episodes among students. A close possibility is to extend it to workers, laypersons, younger students, maybe also clinical populations, as suggested by previous research: the gratitude list has been found beneficial also for adolescents (Froh et al., 2008(Froh et al., , 2009, prisoners (Deng et al., 2018), teachers (Chan, 2010) and the elderly (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Self-affirmation was also effective with students and adults (for a review, see Cohen & Sherman, 2014). ...
Increasing well-being is a prominent worldwide goal that can be achieved primarily through social support and environmental factors. However, in times of social distancing or isolation, it is important to also rely on self-managed activities. This study aimed to (a) test the effectiveness of a seven-week well-being intervention, in increasing need satisfaction, self-compassion, emotion regulation, and grateful disposition by curbing need frustration, self-derogation, and emotional suppression, and (b) examine the maintenance and long-term effects of the practices based on recall, elaboration, and writing. One hundred and twenty university students weekly recalled and elaborated for seven consecutive weeks on three recent episodes of gratitude, self-affirmation, goal setting, or meaningful things, according to the group to which they were assigned. Before the intervention, immediately after and one month later, they filled in questionnaires to assess need satisfaction/frustration, self-compassion/derogation, emotion regulation and grateful disposition. The results confirmed an increase in well-being and a decrease in ill-being for all groups (Cohen d for the significant differences ranging from 0.18 to 0.53). The effects were maintained one month later and even increased for self-compassion, self-derogation, need frustration, and emotional reappraisal. A follow-up assessment revealed that a third of the participants continued with the well-being practices. Implications and suggestions for future well-being interventions are discussed.
... Similarly, reports of weaker positive emotions to positive stimuli are more strongly related to anhedonia than depression (Clepce, Gossler, Reich, Kornhuber, & Thuerauf, 2010). Anhedonia is associated with reduced cardiac acceleration while viewing pleasant pictorial stimuli or imagining pleasant emotional scripts (Fiorito & Simons, 1994;Fitzgibbons & Simons, 1992). For reward learning, blunted ventral striatal responses to instrumental conditioning tasks correlate with anhedonic symptoms (Gradin et al., 2011;Whitton, Treadway, & Pizzagalli, 2015). ...
... They were also guided to identify aspects of their own behavior that contributed to positive outcomes (reward learning), and practiced present-tense imagining of details (situations, emotions, physical responses, and thoughts) of future positive events (approach-motivation; Holmes, Mathews, Mackintosh, & Dalgleish, 2008;Holmes, Murray, Perron, & Rail, 2006;Pictet, Coughtrey, Mathews, & Holmes, 2011). The third module, "Compassion Training: Cultivating the Positive," includes loving kindness, generosity, gratitude and appreciative joy exercises designed to savor positive experiences (reward attainment; Froh, Kashdan, Ozimkowski, & Miller, 2009;Hofmann, Grossman, & Hinton, 2011;Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010). Negative Affect Treatment (NAT). ...
... They found that practices centered around counting blessings effectively increased gratitude, optimism, and life satisfaction while decreasing negative affect. Later, Froh et al. [133] found that gratitude exercises were particularly effective for students with a low positive affect (e.g., happy, cheerful, proud, energetic). ...
The representation gap in gifted and talented education poses a persistent challenge in educational systems worldwide. This theoretical manuscript presents the Bull’s Eye Model for Affective Development—Expansion (BEM-e) an innovative framework designed to address this gap. By incorporating elements from positive psychology, the BEM-e aims to identify and nurture traditionally underrepresented students who possess camouflaged gifted and talented abilities. Drawing upon the Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism, Connectedness, and Happiness model (EPOCH), along with measures of hope and metacognition, BEM-e provides a comprehensive approach to talent identification and service. The model emphasizes the holistic development of individuals by considering affective factors, engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, happiness, hope, and metacognition. Additionally, dynamic assessment is integrated during the implementation of BEM-e modules, allowing for personalized and adaptive identification processes.
... An "attitude of gratitude" has been shown to have numerous other benefits: increased positive affect [191,[200][201][202], increased prosocial motivation [199,203], improved ability to cope with natural disasters or violent incidents, better self-regulation [165], more engaged thinking [204], improved resilience and persistence [205,206], increased goal contagion or goal attainment [33,198], higher motivation [207], improved relationships [152,[208][209][210], higher subjective well-being [67,191,198,201,211,212], better rapport among undergraduates [208], more cooperative behavior [213], increased social cohesion [214,215], and improved self-esteem [196,212,[216][217][218]. Gratitude improved satisfaction with the school experience [201], which is related to academic success [219]. ...
This paper proposes a new perspective on implementing neuroeducation in the classroom. The pandemic exacerbated the mental health issues of faculty and students, creating a mental health crisis that impairs learning. It is important to get our students back in “the zone”, both cognitively and emotionally, by creating an ideal learning environment for capturing our students and keeping them—the Synergy Zone. Research that examines the classroom environment often focuses on the foreground—instructors’ organizational and instructional aspects and content. However, the emotional climate of the classroom affects student well-being. This emotional climate would ideally exhibit the brain states of engagement, attention, connection, and enjoyment by addressing the mind, brain, and heart. This ideal learning environment would be achieved by combining proposed practices derived from three areas of research: flow theory, brain synchronization, and positive emotion with heart engagement. Each of these enhances the desired brain states in a way that the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. I call this the Synergy Zone. A limitation of this proposed model is that implementation of some aspects may be challenging, and professional development resources might be needed. This essay presenting this perspective provides the relevant scientific research and the educational implications of implementation.
... When faced with an undesired situation, they show gratitude and don't feel too bad because they are grateful for the things, they have rather than feeling insufficient for things they don't have. They see it on the lighter and more optimistic side, experiencing positive thoughts and feeling satisfied (Froh et al., 2009;. A significant association was also seen between gratitude and happiness Kong et al. (2015). ...
Objective: The present piece of the investigation was undertaken to assess the correlation between gratitude and stress among the youth of Jaipur city. Method: The sample size for the study was 100 youth aged between 15-24 years of Jaipur city. The Purposive sampling method was used to collect the data. The following psychological tools used in the present investigation include McCullough et al. (2002) Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6) and Cohen et al. (1983) Perceived Stress Scale. Non-experimental (Correlational design) was created to conduct the study. The obtained data were analyzed by Pearson's product-moment method. Results: A significantly negative correlation has been reported between gratitude and stress among youth. Conclusion: The study positively achieved the objective of the investigation regarding the correlation between gratitude and stress among the youth of Jaipur city.
... This gratitude may act as a protective factor, buffering against the negative effects of life events on their school adjustment. Studies by Froh et al. [58] have highlighted the lower gratitude levels observed in eighth graders might stem from the challenges of adolescence and transitioning to a higher grade, potentially making them more susceptible to the impact of negative life events on their school adjustment. ...
Adjustment difficulties of school students are common and their school adjustment has gained wide concern in recent years. Negative life events (NLEs) hope, and gratitude have been associated with school adjustment. However, the potential effect of NLEs on hope and gratitude and whether hope and gratitude mediate the association between NLEs and school adjustment among high students have not been studied. Thus, this study aims to investigate the association between NLEs, hope and gratitude, and school adjustment in high school students in China. Additionally, the study aims to examine the mediating role of hope and gratitude in the association between NLEs and school adjustment. A total of 700 junior high school students in Guangxi Province (336 boys, 364 girls, M age = 15 years) completed the questionnaire. The results indicated significant mediating effects of hope and gratitude in the sequential positive association between NLEs and school adjustment. Furthermore, this study unraveled the complexity of the link between NLEs and school adjustment with the combination of hope and gratitude. The findings emphasized the importance of fostering hope and gratitude in left-behind adolescents to combat the negative consequences of NLEs. The study is also one of the first to investigate a serial mediation model to determine which NLEs influence Chinese left-behind adolescents’ school adjustment.
... Case managers observed that gratitude in opportunity youth occurred in the context of healing from past difficulty and trauma and recognized that gratitude was not necessarily expected from this population (given their marginalization) but was something frequently expressed. Prior studies indicate that, among youth, gratitude is associated with higher levels of prosocial behavior, improved academic achievement, and overall positive health and emotional outcomes (Froh et al., 2009(Froh et al., , 2011Hoy et al., 2013). Like our focus groups' members, researchers posit that gratitude contributes to a positive sense of self -a crucial element of resilience and thriving (Crocetti et al., 2014;Schwartz et al., 2009). ...
The hardships faced by youth experiencing or at-risk for experiencing homelessness, or opportunity youth, are well documented. Programs for these youth are often deficit-based, failing to recognize existing strengths to foster resilience. The Good Gifts Program is a positive youth development intervention created collaboratively with opportunity youth, service providers, and researchers to augment existing services with the goal of nurturing gratitude, generosity, and hope. We evaluated this pilot program during a period of wide-spread service disruption (in the summer of 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic). Opportunity youth (n = 38; aged 16–24) completed up to four group sessions as well as pre- and post-test assessments, with daily diaries throughout. Results showed no overall evidence for program efficacy and, indeed, declines in gratitude, generosity, and hope with greater program attendance. The modest sample size and significant heterogeneity in program fidelity, participation, and context presented challenges to data interpretation and highlight considerations for future work.
... Hasil dari uraian diatas dapat ditarik kesimpulan, apabila hubungan positif variable Pola Asuh Orang Tua Demokratis (X) dan Gratitude terhadap siswa SMK "X" dapat dinyatakan sesuai untuk berbagai macam populasi. Factor-faktor yang dapat mempengaruhi tingginya Gratitude siswa SMK "X" yaitu positive affect, persepsi teman sebaya, Familial social support, Optimis [23]. Hal ini menjelaskan bahwa peran keluarga sangat mempengaruhi gratitude pada remaja dalam menghadapi berbagai masalah. ...
... Thus, universities should help students develop purpose in life through purpose discussion, the purpose-centered system of education, and purpose toolkit. On the other hand, previous studies indicated that listing weekly or daily up to five things for which to be grateful can increase the gratitude of college students (Emmons & McCullough, 2003), writing a gratitude letter and deliver it in person can increase the gratitude of children and adolescents in a school setting (Froh et al., 2009), and prayer or meditation can provide individuals with a potent and readily available opportunity to cultivate and express gratitude (Davis et al., 2016). Thus, universities should cultivate gratitude of students with simple exercises such as gratitude list, gratitude letter, and grateful contemplation. ...
... According to the positive activity model, attributes of the person engaging in the activity impact how people benefit from positive practices. For example, people's motivation to continue [56], personalities [57], and their initial affective state [58] may affect how and when they gain from positive activities. ATOA starts to gain importance in the midlife phase because the experience of a new framing of lifetime emerges, and large interindividual differences in physical changes and age perception might cause large variations in ATOA [4]. ...
Background:
By examining the effect of Chinese square dance duration through a positive activity model and discussing the impact of aging stereotype internalization, this study examined the relationships between dance duration, attitudes toward own aging (ATOA), aging stereotypes, and quality of life.
Methods:
403 Chinese square dance participants were recruited to complete a 7-day diary survey in a cross-sectional design. Participants reported on their ATOA, aging stereotypes, perceived quality of life, and everyday dance participation during the week. Data were analyzed using latent variable structural equation modeling.
Results:
Increased dance participation improved quality of life, and the mediation by ATOA was determined. Positive and negative aging stereotypes separately moderated the mediating process. In general, people who had relatively stronger negative stereotypes benefited more from dancing duration, while people with stronger positive stereotypes felt no such dose effect.
Conclusions:
The results suggest that an attitudinal pathway explains the positive activity dose effect, and people with more negative aging stereotypes are encouraged to practice Chinese square dance to benefit from certain effects.
... These strategies within the social relationships category are outlined in Table 2. Literature reviews and metanalyses find that gratitude is strongly associated with social relationships, pro-social emotions, and well-being across the life course (Wood et al., 2010;Ma et al., 2017). Gratitude interventions can be particularly beneficial for children and adolescents with lower levels of positive affect (Froh et al., 2009) and have been associated with improved school satisfaction . Gratitude as a simple strategy might look like having children create a special drawing to give to an adult or peer for whom they are grateful. ...
In recent years, the school curricula in many European countries have introduced social and emotional learning (SEL). This calls for the teachers to have SEL competencies. The present study evaluates teachers’ and their students’ readiness for SEL during an intervention in five European countries. The participants were teachers (n = 402) in five European countries; Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Spain. The pre-and post-measuring points for both the intervention and the comparison group were at approximately the same time before and after the intervention. Comparison data consisted of 159 teachers in the same countries. The training for the intervention group lasted 16 h for the teachers and a maximum of 16 h for the principles and headmasters. An additional 9 h of further monitoring took place. There were two student groups participating in the study: the age group of 8–11 years (pre-puberty) and the age group of 12–15 years (adolescents). Students, whose teachers had participated in the intervention, formed the intervention group (n = 2,552). Those students, whose teachers did not participate in the intervention, formed the comparison group (n = 1,730). The questionnaire data were collected at the beginning and at the end of the school year for both age groups. The results indicated that there was a favourable development in the intervention group in some of the measured skills among students, but the effects were different for the two age groups. This study adds to both theoretical and practical development of continuing teacher training about SEL and its possible role in reducing problem behaviour among the students.
... Thus, a key gap in our current knowledge is understanding who benefits from which positive interventions (e.g., Froh et al., 2009;Seppälä et al., 2018)? In a randomised controlled study by Dreer (2020), teachers received six emails over a two-week period with instructions on exercises from the areas of positive thinking, enjoyment and gratitude described here. ...
... Subjective well-being is usually defined as having an affective component that taps positive and negative transient emotions (e.g., happiness, sadness) and a cognitive component (life satisfaction) that assesses overall quality of life (Diener et al., 1999). Hundreds of studies have now shown that gratitude interventions can improve several aspects of subjective well-being Boehm et al., 2011;Emmons & McCullough, 2003;Froh et al., 2009;Lyubomirsky et al., 2011;Seligman et al., 2005). Metaanalytic work also demonstrates that gratitude interventions can effectively boost state gratitude (ds = .20 to .46) and well-being (ds = .14 ...
Numerous investigations to date have established the benefits of expressing gratitude for improved psychological well-being and interpersonal relationships. Nevertheless, the social dynamics of gratitude remain understudied. Do the effects of gratitude differ when it is expressed privately, communicated directly to the benefactor one-to-one, or shared publicly? We tested this question in a preregistered intervention study. An ethnically and economically diverse sample of undergraduate students (N = 916) was randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (1) write gratitude letters and do not share them (private gratitude), (2) share gratitude one-to-one with benefactors via text (1-to-1 gratitude), (3) share gratitude publicly on social media (public gratitude), or (4) track daily activities (control). Participants were asked to complete their assigned activity four times with different people (as applicable) over the course of about a week. Overall, participants assigned to any digital gratitude intervention experienced improvements in state gratitude, positive emotions, negative emotions, elevation, connectedness, support, and loneliness, relative to controls. Relative to all other conditions, participants assigned to text their benefactors showed the biggest boosts in social connectedness and support. Our findings show that easily scalable digital gratitude interventions can advance the well-being of young college students.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-022-00150-5.
... Thus, a key gap in our current knowledge is understanding who benefits from which positive interventions (e.g., Froh et al., 2009;Seppälä et al., 2018)? In a randomised controlled study by Dreer (2020), teachers received six emails over a two-week period with instructions on exercises from the areas of positive thinking, enjoyment and gratitude described here. ...
... Gratitude interventions have been widely applied to improve the well-being of varied populations, such as children and adolescents (Froh et al., 2009), school teachers (Chan, 2010), psychotherapy clients (Wong et al., 2018), student athletes (e.g., Gabana et al., 2022), women with breast cancer (Sztachańska et al., 2019), suicidal inpatients (Huffman et al., 2014), and health care practitioners (Cheng et al., 2015) in diverse countries (e.g., Heckendorf et al., 2019;Sztachańska et al., 2019;Valdez et al., 2022). Despite their popularity, evidence for the efficacy of gratitude interventions has been mixed. ...
How can gratitude interventions be designed to produce meaningful and enduring effects on people’s well-being? To address this question, the author proposes the Catalyst Model of Change—this novel, practical, and empirically testable model posits five socially oriented behavioral pathways that channel the long-term effects of gratitude interventions as well as how to augment gratitude experiences in interventions to boost treatment effects and catalyze these behavioral pathways. Specifically, interventions that enhance the frequency, skills, intensity, temporal span, and variety of gratitude experiences are likely to catalyze the following post-intervention socially oriented behaviors: (a) social support–seeking behaviors, (b) prosocial behaviors, (c) relationship initiation and enhancement behaviors, (d) participation in mastery-oriented social activities, and (e) reduced maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, which, in turn, produce long-term psychological well-being. A unique feature of the Catalyst Model of Change is that gratitude experiences are broadly conceptualized to include not just gratitude emotions, cognitions, and disclosures, but also expressing, receiving, witnessing, and responding to interpersonal gratitude. To this end, gratitude interventions that provide multiple opportunities for social experiences of gratitude (e.g., members expressing gratitude to each other in a group) might offer the greatest promise for fostering durable, positive effects on people’s psychological well-being.
... Research focusing on emerging adult populations have also shown that higher levels of gratitude significantly predicted increases in social support, positive affect and adaptive coping abilities (Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006;Lin, 2015;Lin & Yeh 2013;Booker & Dunsmore, 2015;Leontopoulou, 2015). Studies have shown a strong positive connection between gratitude and life satisfaction, (Froh et al., 2009;Wood et al., 2010;Mongrain & Anselmo-Matthews, 2012;Alkozei et al., 2018;Cunha et al., 2019) and a positive impact on relationships with romantic partners and peers due to gratitude expression (Lambert et al., 2010;Wood et al., 2010;Algoe & Zhaoyang, 2015;O'Connell et al., 2017). In their review paper, Wood et al., (2010) discuss how gratitude impacts relationships. ...
The use of Positive Psychology Interventions is rapidly increasing in the world of psychology, as it focuses on a more wholesome and holistic approach to wellbeing and mental health. The current intervention study tries to understand the impact of Expressing Gratitude over social media on the participant’s Psychological Wellbeing, Peer Relationship Satisfaction, Life Satisfaction, and Positive and Negative affect. The intervention was conducted for two weeks on social media platforms and the control group had to just note the conversations they had. With a total of 32 participants in the experimental group and 38 participants in the control group, the study used paired t-tests to see the impact of intervention through pre-test and post-test scores. The results show that Peer Relationship Satisfaction, Life Satisfaction, and Positive and Negative affect did improve after the intervention, while there was no significant impact on psychological well-being. The currently ongoing pandemic must be kept in mind while understanding the implication of the results. The discussion section elaborates on that topic. Keywords: Gratitude, Intervention, Positive Psychology, Pandemic, Resilience
... Two early studies showed that, even using different questionnaires as measurements, trait gratitude was significantly and positively correlated with global happiness, positive affect, and life satisfaction (McCullough et al., 2002;Watkins et al., 2003). Subsequent studies replicated such findings in different populations and cultures (Chen & Kee, 2008;Froh, Kashdan, Ozimkowski, & Miller, 2009;Toussaint & Friedman, 2009). ...
Backgrounds:
Gratitude and pride are both benefit-related emotions, whereby the pride attributes
success to oneself and gratitude to another. Gratitude and pride are vital to the
function of a society, allowing one to create interpersonal relationships and build
self-confidence. Despite growing interest in the neural underpinnings of positive
emotions and subjective feelings, we know very little about how these emotions are
represented in the brain and computationally updated over time by new experience.
Aims of the study:
We aimed to fill the gap by finding the specific neural representations of the
dynamic emotional experience of gratitude and pride, and the functional neural
substrates for updating positive emotions in general. Furthermore, we also aimed to
find the best computational models to give the best explanations how these two
emotions are updated as the environmental factors change.
Methods:
We developed a novel behavioral task based on the gameshow “Who Wants to be a
Millionaire”, which we used together with functional MRI, and computational
modeling. We investigated which brain regions are involved in representing
gratitude and pride, how the human brain keeps track of these emotions over time
and how it updates them when new information is available.
13
Results:
We found that gratitude was more associated with neural activities in the bilateral
temporoparietal junction (TPJ), which has previously been implicated in Theory of
Mind. In contrast, pride was more associated with neural activities in the caudate
nucleus, which is part of the reward system, and hippocampus. Importantly, when
we look for neural activity parametrically modulated with the reported magnitude
of gratitude feelings we found correlations mainly in the motor cortex (precentral
gyrus), reward system (ventral striatum, putamen) and Theory of Mind network
(temporal pole). In contrast, neural activity pertaining to the strength of the feeling
of pride was found in the bilateral putamen. Moreover, activity in ventromedial
prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was related to an emotional prediction error signal,
suggesting that this region might be involved in the process of updating our level of
gratitude and pride feelings. Computational modeling revealed different models for
gratitude and pride. Gratitude model uniquely involved the prediction of others’
behavior, while pride model involved mainly the reward.
Implications:
Our findings delineate the computational mechanisms and neural circuitry for
positive emotions that accompany the attribution of getting reward whether it is due
to one's own effort or help of others. Besides, our studies contribute to theories of
emotions in several different aspects, especially to the newest theory of constructed
emotion. Our findings have clinical implications for developing new
psychotherapies for patients with emotional disorders.
... Although such findings are encouraging, they are inconsistent (Davis et al., 2016;Wood et al., 2010). For example, some studies indicate these interventions are effective for depressive symptoms (e.g., Cheng et al., 2015), positive and negative affect (e.g., Emmons & McCullough 2003), whereas others fail to find similar effects (e.g., for positive and negative affect Froh et al., 2009, for depressive symptoms Kerr et al., 2015). These data suggest additional research in several important areas is justified. ...
Outcomes of gratitude interventions are encouraging, but inconsistent across studies. In addition, both mechanisms of change and effect modifiers for these interventions are largely unknown. Recent data point toward potential candidates and suggest reward processing may be a promising mechanism underlying these interventions, while childhood adversity (CA) and trait gratitude may impact on them. However, existing research aimed at investigating these hypotheses is scarce. Building on these, we examined the effectiveness of a gratitude intervention for decreasing depressive symptoms and negative affect and increasing positive affect. We also investigated changes in reward processing following intervention and explored differences in adherence and drop-out between groups. Finally, we investigated the moderating role of CA and trait gratitude.
Participants (N=237, ages between 18–56) were randomly allocated to a gratitude or active control condition (14 days). Following intervention, findings indicated a significant decrease in depressive symptoms and negative affect in both conditions. While positive affect remained stable, a significant time effect emerged for reward processing. CA severity, but not multiplicity, moderated the effectiveness of the intervention, adherence and drop-out. Trait gratitude moderated the effectiveness of the gratitude intervention only on depressive symptoms.
Gratitude interventions may not be the best fit for everyone. Thus, we recommend tailoring interventions, especially in individuals reporting a history of severe CA.
... Previous research has identified effective mechanisms for enhancing gratitude (Berger et al., 2019). For example, Emmons and McCullough (2003) found that writing down or contemplating grateful things aided in felt gratitude and Froh et al. (2009) found that writing gratitude letters also enhanced gratitude. Practitioners, thus, can employ these simple interventions in their attempts to improve sojourners' thriving. ...
While the ensuing COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered individuals’ lives worldwide, it has been perhaps especially disruptive to the lives of sojourners as many have been unable to return home and are absent from their families, a familiar culture, and normal social support systems. While it is important to ask how such individuals can successfully survive in such a crisis, we were interested in extending our knowledge and understanding by asking “how can such individuals move beyond mere surviving to a state of thriving?” In answering this question, we utilized a positive psychology framework to develop a theoretical model wherein we expected higher/lower levels of perceived social support from host country people (i.e., host country support) to result in higher/lower levels of perceived gratitude, which would then result in higher/lower levels of thriving, and ethnocentrism moderated this indirect effect. To test our model, we utilized a sample of sojourners who responded to a survey measuring ethnocentrism (February 2020). We then administered daily surveys measuring perceived host country support, gratitude, and thriving over a nine-day period during the COVID-19 crisis (March 26–April 3, 2020). Results supported the indirect effect of host country support on thriving via gratitude. Further, we found that sojourners with lower levels of ethnocentrism exhibited stronger host country support- gratitude link, hence stronger indirect effect of host country support on thriving via gratitude. We close by offering implications for the existing literature, future research, and organizational practices.
Objective:
This study examines the relationship between trait gratitude and acute myocardial infarction. A burgeoning body of literature suggests that gratitude can play a role in regulating individual's cardiovascular responses to stress which in turn, may reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease such as acute myocardial infarction. However, to date no research has examined these effects.
Method:
This study used the Mid-Life in the United States dataset (MIDUS; N= 1,031) to assess these relationships. Participants completed a standardised cardiovascular stress-testing laboratory protocol and were assessed at a second time-point; on average 6.7 years later.
Results:
Results from logistic parallel mediation models suggest that trait gratitude was found to be significantly associated with reduced risk of acute myocardial infarction through the mechanism of increased heart rate reactivity, β = -0.098, 95%CI [-0.331, -0.010]. However, neither systolic nor diastolic blood pressure reactivity mediated this relationship.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that gratitude may be associated with certain aspects of physical health. Specifically, our study reveals a potential link between gratitude and cardiovascular reactivity, which could be a mechanism through which trait gratitude contributes to reductions in the risk of myocardial infarction. As such, this study highlights the potential utility of positive psychological factors, such as gratitude, in promoting cardiovascular health.
Kilis 7 Aralık Üniversitesi, Kilis, Türkiye Başka insanlardan ya da varlıklardan bir fayda görüldüğünde bunu fark edip olumlu duygularla karşılık verme eğilimi olarak tanımlanan (Emmons, McCullough ve Tsang, 2007) minnettarlık; şükran duygusu olarak da bilinmektedir (Froh, Kashdan, Ozimkowski ve Miller, 2009). Araştırmalar, 24 karakter gücünden biri olan minnettarlığın, yaşam doyumu ile en yüksek düzeyde ilişkili bulunan 5 karakter gücü (minnettarlık, sevgi, umut, merak, hayattan zevk alma) arasında yer aldığını göstermiştir (Park ve Peterson, 2006). Psikolojik iyi oluş ise 6 alt boyuttan oluşan (diğerleriyle olumlu ilişkiler, özerklik, çevre hâkimiyeti, kişisel gelişim, yaşam amacı, kendini kabul) olumlu psikolojik işlevsellik olarak tanımlanmıştır (Ryff ve Singer, 2008). Çalışmamız, minnettarlık ile psikolojik iyi oluş arasında anlamlı yönde ilişki olabileceği hipotezinden yola çıkılarak yapılmıştır. Yerli alan yazında bu konunun ilk defa ele alınıyor olması çalışmamızı önemli kılmaktadır. Amaç Araştırmanın amacı üniversite öğrencilerinin minnettarlık düzeyleri ve psikolojik iyi oluş düzeyleri arasındaki ilişkileri incelemektir. Yöntem Araştırma ilişkisel tarama modelinde gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışma grubu; Kilis 7 Aralık Üniversitesi, Muallim Rıfat Eğitim Fakültesinde öğrenimlerine devam eden 222'si kadın (% 76) ve 70'i erkek (% 24) toplam 292 öğrenciden oluşmaktadır. Öğrencilerin yaş ortalaması 21,3'tür (Ss=1,59). Minnettarlık düzeyi; McCullough ve arkadaşları (2002) tarafından geliştirilen ve Türkçe'ye Yüksel ve Oguz-Duran (2012) tarafından uyarlanan Minnettarlık Ölçeğiyle; psikolojik iyi oluş düzeyi Diener ve arkadaşlarının geliştirdiği (2010) ve Telef'in (2013) Türkçe'ye uyarladığı Psikolojik İyi Oluş Ölçeğiyle elde edilmiştir. Bulgular Araştırma sonuçları minnettarlık ile pozitif iyi oluş arasında orta düzeyde pozitif ilişki olduğunu göstermiştir. Aynı zamanda minnettarlığın pozitif iyi oluşu anlamlı şekilde yordadığı tespit edilmiştir.
Introduction:
Gratitude has several implications. Over time, a logical relationship has been established between gratitude and well-being. In addition, researchers aimed to establish associations between gratitude and other factors of positive feelings using scientific methods. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of interventions to develop gratitude and its benefits to human beings.
Objective:
This study aimed to evaluate and quantify the available scientific evidence on interventions to acquire knowledge on gratitude as a quantifiable causal factor of benefit to human beings.
Methods:
A systematic literature search was conducted to identify studies that investigated the effects of gratitude interventions. MEDLINE, Embase, and Central Cochrane databases were searched in addition to gray (Google Scholar) and manual search. Two authors independently evaluated the titles and abstracts, and selected the studies that met the inclusion criteria. The searches were conducted between January and July 2022.
Results:
Sixty-four randomized clinical trials were included. The meta-analysis demonstrated that patients who underwent gratitude interventions experienced greater feelings of gratitude, better mental health, and fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression. Moreover, they experienced other benefits such as a more positive mood and emotions.
Conclusion:
The results demonstrate that acts of gratitude can be used as a therapeutic complement for treating anxiety and depression and can increase positive feelings and emotions in the general population. Prospero database registration: (www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero) under the number CRD42021250799.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui seberapa kuat pengaruh rasa bersyukur terhadap Flourishing pada dewasa muda di Universitas x di Bekasi dengan responden mahasiswa semester akhir. Jumlah sampel ditentukan dengan gpower berdasarkan convenience sampling,sebanyak 101 responden. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode kuantitatif dengan pengolahan data melalui Teknik analisis regresi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan terdapat pengaruh positif dengan kekuatan sedang pada rasa bersyukur terhadap Flourishing. Dari hasil kategorisasi yang dilakukan, sebagian besar responden memiliki rasa bersyukur dan flourishing yang tinggi. Dari hasil tersebut dapat dikatakan bahwa mahasiswa memiliki karegori sedang baik pada rasa bersyukur dan flourishing, yang menunjukkan bahwa pengaruh dari variabel rasa bersyukur sedang-sedang saja untuk dapat memunculkn kondisi flourishing pada dewasa awal. Dengan terbuktinya bahwa rasa bersyukur dapat memunculkan kondisi florishing, maka sebaiknya pihak manajemem sekolah mengusahakan untuk dapat meningkatkan rasa nbersyukur pada anak didiknya dengan berbagai cara, antara lain dengan seminar, bimbingan, training, maupun seminar spiritual yang akan dapat meningkatkan flourusi PENDAHULUAN Flourishing merupakan konsep yang terdapat pada ilmu psikologi positif yang menggambarkan sebuah kehidupan yang lengkap, di tunjukan pada pencapaian kebaikan dan memiliki manfaat, melalui aktivitas yang bermakna dalam kehidupannya yang memiliki kualitas tinggi. Selain itu, flourishing juga merupakan kombinasi dari perasaan baik yang berfungsi secara efektif. Dalam hal ini, Keyes (2002) mengatakan bahwa flourishing memiliki persamaan dari level kesejahteraan mental yang tinggi dan melambangkan adanya kesehatan mental. Lebih lanjut, menurut Fowers dan Owenz (2010), kesejahteraan dalam
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui penerimaan diri (self-acceptance) dan kebersyukuran (gratitude) siswa. subyek penelitian ini adalah salah satu siswa baru di MA Ma’arif 17 Tarbiyatus Shibyan. Penelitian ini merupakan studi kasus dengan menggunakan teknik pengumpulan data berupa wawancara dan dibantu alat perekam. Wawancara dilakukan secara tidak terstruktur dan semi terstruktur. Kegiatan observasi dilakukan dengan mengamati fenomena yang muncul secara akurat, dan menganalisis berbagai aspek yang muncul sehingga menghasilkan data sesuai dengan fakta dan fenomena yang terjadi di lapangan. Hasil penelitian dari studi kasus tersebut yaitu rasa syukur atas apa yang dimiliki setiap siswa berdampak juga dengan penerimaan diri siswa
Traditional psychological interventions have long focused on identification and treatment of psychopathological states. Positive psychology, however, aims at enhancing the well-being states by adopting a strengths-based approach. Identifying the factors that
foster the enhancement of life satisfaction can promote healthy development among military children, who are exposed to unique stressors and challenges. The present study explored trait-state gratitude, positive-negative affect and resilience as predictors of life satisfaction among 741 Indian military school children, aged 11-14 years old. Results revealed a significant positive correlation between state-trait gratitude, positive affect, resilience and life satisfaction. A significant negative correlation was found between
negative affect and life satisfaction. All the variables were significant predictors of life satisfaction, with positive affect being the strongest predictor. The results suggest that interventions to enhance positive affect, trait-state gratitude, and resilience can
significantly contribute to life satisfaction of the military school children in India.
Keywords: Military children, trait-state gratitude, positive-negative affect, resilience, life satisfaction
Burnout is one of the most insidious challenges for healthcare professionals, and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Gratitude is emerging as an intervention to reduce burnout. However, to the authors' best knowledge, no systematic review has previously been carried out to explore the impact of gratitude on burnout among healthcare professionals. The present study aimed to address this gap. A total of 95 publications were identified, of which 13 were included in the review. These studies provide preliminary evidence for the inverse association between gratitude and burnout, and the effectiveness of gratitude interventions in reducing burnout among healthcare professionals. Limitations of the current research and future directions are discussed, along with the implications for practice.
Purpose
This investigation purports to study if gratitude interventions lead to an increase in overall wellbeing among Indian youth during the coronavirus lockdown. Second, to examine if a cumulative effect of two gratitude interventions on wellbeing is greater than a single gratitude intervention.
Method
Participants (N = 80) were randomly allocated to the experimental and control groups (n = 40 each).
Result
It was found that after administering a single gratitude intervention there was a significant increase in mental health, happiness, and gratitude and a decrease in depression, anxiety, and stress in the experimental group. Moreover, after administering two gratitude interventions together, a greater increase was seen in these variables as compared to the administration of a single gratitude intervention. There was no significant change in the control group in both cases.
Conclusion
In summary, online gratitude interventions lead to increase in happiness and mental health and decrease in depression, anxiety, and stress even during crises such as the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, the cumulative effect of two gratitude interventions is more than a single gratitude intervention. It is suggested that these gratitude interventions should be included in providing mental health care even when clients are not able to meet counselors in physical settings.
In the coronavirus pandemic crisis, the mental well-being of adolescents was significantly burdened and, in this context, an innovative school intervention program was applied and its effect was investigated. The program involved a structured 11-weeks-long psycho-educational intervention on a sample of 11 Greek high school students (aged 16-17 years), combining principles of Epicurean and Stoic Philosophy with Positive Psychology techniques, aiming at promoting their mental well-being and the effective management of the psychological effects of the pandemic crisis. A qualitative methodology was used for data collection, including triangulation and data enrichment, self-referential demographic questionnaires, focus group and group interviews, semi-structured individual oral interviews and written descriptions and narratives. Before the intervention, the students’ needs and expectations were investigated through written narratives and, after the intervention, semi-structured individual oral interviews and group interviews recorded their personal experiences and evaluative judgments. The application of positive techniques of meaning in life, optimism, gratitude and the development of positive relationships, combined with a cognitive reconstruction based on the principles of Epicureanism and Stoicism, had beneficial effects on the participating students, including emotional state improvement, mental well-being enhancement, and improved aspects of quality of life, such as subjective health, cognitive and school performance, family and interpersonal relationships. The highlight of the study was the emergence of the supporting role of Philosophy in the effectiveness of the applied techniques of Positive Psychology in the management of the psychological and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previous research has indicated that gratitude and affect-balance play key stress-buffering roles. However, to date there is limited research on the impact of gratitude and affect balance on cardiovascular recovery from acute psychological stress, and whether affect balance moderates the relationship between gratitude and cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress. In this study, 68 adults completed measures of state gratitude, positive and negative affect, and completed a laboratory-based cardiovascular stress-testing protocol. This incorporated a 20-minute acclimatization period, a 10-minute baseline, a 6-minute arithmetic stress task, and an 8-minute recovery period. Mixed-effects growth curve models were fit and the results indicated that state gratitude predicted lower systolic blood pressure responses throughout the stress-testing period. Affect balance was found to moderate the association between state gratitude and diastolic blood pressure responses to stress, amplifying the effects of state gratitude. These findings suggest that state gratitude has a unique stress-buffering effect on both reactions to and recovery from acute psychological stress.
Gratitude is important for social and emotional health. Research suggests that there is a relation between experiencing and expressing gratitude and happiness. The aim of this chapter is to review current research regarding gratitude development and happiness, adolescent gratitude development, and to discuss future recommendations. This chapter also discusses a study examining adolescent perspectives on the meaning of being thankful. To obtain adolescent perspectives on the meaning of being thankful, adolescents (N = 1,098) wrote essays describing what being thankful meant to them. Thematic analysis was used to identify and analyze themes within the essays. Percentiles were calculated for the most recurrent themes across essays (Appreciation = 54.07%, Family = 31.42%, Positive Emotions = 28.81%, Assistance/Support from Others = 25.99%, Friendship = 21.18%, and Downward Comparison = 16.60%). Understanding gratitude development in adolescents can aid in creating effective interventions, potentially increasing adolescent well-being and happiness.
Kindness and gratitude are important when teaching children about positive interpersonal relationships. Every day in the United States bullying occurs because of negative influences children contend with in their lives. Parents, teachers, and peers can promote healthy interactions within groups of children through positive reciprocity of emotions and behaviors. This chapter explains how kindness is described as the motivational act of doing a positive behavior for another person; gratitude is described as the highly needed emotion for social and emotional functioning in humans that drive the kind behaviors. Children who practice kindness based on gratitude have better overall happiness outcomes and healthier interpersonal relationships.
This study aimed to validate the English version of the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES) in a group of N = 324 black South African students. Validation studies are important in Global South contexts, because they facilitate the broadening in understanding of psychological and psychometric phenomena, in general, and more specifically, validating psychometric instruments allows for a better understanding of psychosocial and existential phenomena in specific groups of people. Validation of the DSES was done by investigating its internal consistency, reliability, factorial validity, and convergent and divergent validity. The DSES had reliability of 0.85, a unidimensional factor structure, and showed convergent validity by significantly correlating with the Mental Health Continuum (MHC), and divergent validity by significantly correlating with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). The unidimensional, 16-item DSES is valid for use in a South African black student context as a domain general measure of spiritual experience.
This study aims to determine students' self-acceptance and gratitude. The subject of this research is one of the new students at MA Ma'arif 17 Tarbiyatus Shibyan. This research is a case study using data collection techniques in the form of interviews and assisted by a recording device. Interviews were conducted in an unstructured and semi-structured manner. Observation activities are carried out by observing the phenomena that arise accurately, and analyzing various aspects that arise so as to produce data in accordance with the facts and phenomena that occur in the field. The results of the research from the case study are that gratitude for what each student has has an impact on student self-acceptance.
The present research measures the effectiveness of gratitude interventions in dealing with academic stress and daily hassles among Pakistani high school students. A total of 162 students randomly assigned in experimental (82) and control groups (80) took part in a four week interventions program. The gratitude interventions included Count Your Blessings, writing Gratitude Letters, and Loving Kindness Meditations which were modified & adapted into Urdu. The pretest and posttest assessment was done. The results of paired sample t-test showed significant decrease in academic expectation scores (t = 5.76**, M1 + SD1 = 31.44 + 6.56, M2 + SD2 = 27.30 + 6.75) with medium effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.65), and also for daily hassles decrease. Further results showed high level of stress about personal future, academic concerns and excessive social demands which were decreased after interventions. This study supports the use of gratitude interventions in school setting especially in developing country like Pakistan where structured counseling services are limited.
Background:
There is an increasingly alarming worsening of mental health among the youth. There remain significant unmet needs for developing innovative, evidence-based technology-enhanced positive psychology-based interventions (PPIs) all-inclusive in targeting psychological distress and risk factors related to high-risk behavior commonly encountered in adolescents.
Objective:
We aim to check the effectiveness of a hybrid (incorporating both synchronous and asynchronous learning) and holistic (targeting social and emotional learning and tackling risk factors unique for this age group) PPI, 'success4life youth empowerment' in improving wellbeing in the youth.
Methods:
Students' well-being will be assessed by the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and hope will be assessed by the 6-item Children's Hope Scale (CHS) at week 0, week 8, and week 10, month 6, and month 12. Any improvement in 'wellbeing' and 'hope' will be measured, estimating the difference in post-intervention (week 8 and week 10) and pre-intervention (week 0) scores by determining the p-value and effect size using appropriate statistical tests.
Results:
The current study includes two phases, pilot phase 1, delivered by the creators of the succcess4life youth empowerment modules and platform, and phase 2, which will consist of estimation of scalability through recruitment of trainers. We hope to start student recruitment by 2022 and aim to complete the results for phase 1 pilot testing by 2023.
Conclusions:
We anticipate that a primarily web-based, 10-week holistic PPI can support improvement in the mental wellness of the youth and has the potential for effective scalability.
Clinicaltrial:
The purpose of the study was to quantify the impact of gratitude on subjective well-being and moderating role of materialism among Pakistani youth. For this purpose, the sample of 550 participants (aged 15-29) were selected through a multistage random sampling technique from five metropolitan cities of Pakistan. The measurement tools employed for the data collection were the Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper 1999), Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1998) Gratitude Questionnaire GQ-6 (McCullough et al., 2002), and Material Values Scale (Richines & Dawson., 1992). The collected data were analyzed through Smart PLS (3.0). The results showed a significant positive relationship between gratitude and subjective well-being (happiness and satisfaction with life) and a negative relationship with materialism. Whereas, materialism played a significant moderating role between gratitude and subjective well-being. Significant gender differences were also exhibited in this study. This study also provides guidelines and strategies for youth and parents, to educational professionals, new researchers, society, and government agencies.
The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between gratitude, mental well-being and self-compassion levels of the elderly residents in nursing home. In accordance with this aim what extent gratitude and self-compassion levels of the elderly that predicted the mental well-being was answer the question. Also, this study analyzed the relationship between the gratitude, mental well-being and self-compassion levels and gender, age and length residence in nursing home. This study used to quantitative method based relational scanning model. The research was contucted with 120 elderly residing at Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Nursing Home. The sample consisted of 22 women elderly and 98 men elderly. As a data collection tools, Gratitude Scale, WEMWB Scale, Self-Compassion Scale and Basic Personal Information Form were used in the study. As result, it was found that there are relationships between gratitude, mental well-being and self-compassion levels. In addition, it was found that gratitude and self-compassion levels predicted mental well-being and explained %33.5 of it. It was found that gratitude, mental well-being and self-compassion levels did not differ in terms of gender, age and duration of stay in nursing home.
Bu çalışmada öğretmen adaylarının minnettarlık eğilimlerinin cinsiyet ve vefakarlık düzeyi bakımından incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaçla, 205 Eğitim Fakültesi öğrencisinden, Minnettarlık Ölçeği (MÖ) ve Vefakarlık Ölçeği (VÖ) kullanılarak veri toplanmıştır. Veriler normal dağılım göstermediğinden, MÖ ve VÖ puanlarının cinsiyete göre incelenmesi için Mann Whitney U testi kullanılmış; MÖ ve VÖ puanları arasındaki ilişkilerin incelenmesi için ise Spearman Sıra Farkları Korelasyon analizi uygulanmıştır. MÖ puanları ile VÖ toplam puanları ve VÖ'nün inanma, yakınlara vefa, yurttaşlık değerlerine vefa, dostlara-arkadaşlara vefa alt-ölçek puanları arasında düşük ancak anlamlı düzeyde ilişkiler bulunmuştur. Sözünde durma, milli değerlere vefa ve sadakat puanları ise MÖ puanları ile ilişkili bulunmamıştır. Ayrıca bulgular hem MÖ hem de VÖ toplam puanı bakımından kızların erkeklerden anlamlı düzeyde daha yüksek puanlar aldıklarını göstermiştir. VÖ alt-ölçeklerinden inanma, sözünde durma, yakınlara vefa, yurttaşlık değerlerine vefa, dostlara-arkadaşlara vefa bakımından da kızların puanları erkeklerden anlamlı düzeyde yüksek bulunmuştur. Milli değerlere vefa bakımından erkeklerin puanlarının daha yüksek olmasına karşın bu farkın anlamlı bir düzeye ulaşmadığı; ayrıca sadakat alt-ölçek puanlarında da cinsiyete göre anlamlı bir farklılık bulunmadığı görülmüştür. Sonuçlar, öğretmen eğitimi açısından tartışılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Minnettarlık, vefakarlık, öğretmen adayları
Ist unser Bildungssystem ausreichend auf Krisen vorbereitet? Die COVID-19-Pandemie hat offengelegt, dass dies nur sehr bedingt der Fall ist. Komplexe Veränderungen der äußeren Bedingungen stellen Individuen und beziehungsreiche Systeme wie Bildungseinrichtungen vor die Herausforderung, sich schnell und effizient anzupassen. Die Fähigkeit, sich angesichts disruptiver oder kontinuierlicher Stressoren nicht nur zu erholen und in den ursprünglichen Zustand zurückzukehren, sondern daran zu wachsen oder sich weiterzuentwickeln, wird als Resilienz bezeichnet. Doch was genau zeichnet resiliente Individuen und ein resilientes Bildungssystem aus? Wie lässt sich die Resilienz des Bildungspersonals steigern und wie kann die Resilienz der Lernenden gestärkt werden?
Der Aktionsrat Bildung beantwortet diese und weitere Fragen auf der Grundlage einer empirisch abgesicherten Bestandsaufnahme. Für die einzelnen Bildungsphasen wird aufgezeigt, welche Reformen wirksam dazu beitragen können, auch in Krisenzeiten gute Bildungsergebnisse zu erzielen. Der Aktionsrat Bildung leitet konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen ab und richtet diese an die politischen Entscheidungsträger.
Most people want to be happy and many look out for opportunities to achieve a more satisfying life. Following a happiness training is an option, but the effectiveness of such training is being questioned. In this research synthesis we assessed: 1) whether happiness training techniques add to the happiness of their users, 2) how much happiness training techniques add to happiness, 3) how long the effect of happiness training lasts, 4) what kinds of training techniques work best, and 5) what types of groups of people profit from taking happiness training. We took stock of the available research and found 106 reports of effect studies on training techniques, which together yielded 314 findings. These findings are available in an online ‘findings archive’, the World Database of Happiness. Using links to this source allows us to condense information in tabular overviews, while providing the reader with access to much detail. Happiness training techniques seem to do what they are designed to do: 96% of the studies showed a gain in happiness post intervention and at follow-up, about half of the positive results were statistically significant. Studies with cross-sectional designs and studies that used control groups showed more mixed results. The average effect of happiness training was approximately 5% of the scale range. We conclude that taking a form of happiness training is advisable for individuals looking for a more satisfying life. Since happier workers tend to be more productive, organizations would be wise to provide such training techniques for their workforce.
Most people want to be happy and many look out for opportunities to achieve a more satisfying life. Following a happiness training is an option, but the effectiveness of such training is being questioned. In this research synthesis we assessed: 1) whether happiness training techniques add to the happiness of their users, 2) how much happiness training techniques add to happiness, 3) how long the effect of happiness training lasts, 4) what kinds of training techniques work best, and 5) what types of groups of people profit from taking happiness training. We took stock of the available research and found 106 reports of effect studies on training techniques, which together yielded 314 findings. These findings are available in an online 'findings archive', the World Database of Happiness. Using links to this source allows us to condense information in tabular overviews, while providing the reader with access to much detail. Happiness training techniques seem to do what they are designed to do: 96% of the studies showed a gain in happiness post intervention and at follow-up, about half of the positive results were statistically significant. Studies with cross-sectional designs and studies that used control groups showed more mixed results. The average effect of happiness training was Prime Archives in Psychology: 2 nd Edition 3 www.videleaf.com approximately 5% of the scale range. We conclude that taking a form of happiness training is advisable for individuals looking for a more satisfying life. Since happier workers tend to be more productive, organizations would be wise to provide such training techniques for their workforce.
Why it may be Impossible to Increase a Person's Happiness LevelWhy it may be Possible to Increase a Person's happiness level after allA New Conceptual Model of HappinessTesting the ModelHappiness-inducing InterventionsFuture Research and Recommendations for InterventionsFactors Influencing Participants' Acceptance of InterventionsRecommendations for HappinessConclusion
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two studies are reported on the question of whether children acquire concepts for more complex emotions, such as jealousy and pride, in an all-or-nothing manner rather than feature by feature. In the first study, 96 children between 4 and 7 years of age were asked to describe situations that would evoke happiness, pride, gratitude, shame, worry, and jealousy. Children were also asked whether each emotion felt good or bad. In the second study, 4 and 5-year-olds rated the same emotions for feelings of pleasure and arousal. Together, the results suggested that before a complete concept, children attain a partial conceptualisation of each complex emotion: They understand the pleasure and arousal associated with the emotion, but have no knowledge of the kind of situation that evokes it. Even 4-year-olds knew the pleasure and arousal associated with pride, gratitude, shame, worry, and jealousy-thus demonstrating that children's understanding quickly moves beyond the simpler emotions.
The purpose of these studies was to develop a valid measure of trait gratitude, and to evaluate the relationship of gratitude to subjective well-being (SWB). Four studies were conducted evaluating the reliability and validity of the Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test (GRAT),
a measure of dispositional gratitude. This measure was shown to have good internal consistency and temporal stability. The GRAT was shown to relate positively to various measures of SWB. In two experiments, it was shown that grateful thinking improved mood, and results also supported the predictive
validity of the GRAT. These studies support the theory that gratitude is an affective trait important to SWB.
W. Wilson's (1967) review of the area of subjective well-being (SWB) advanced several conclusions regarding those who report high levels of "happiness." A number of his conclusions have been overturned: youth and modest aspirations no longer are seen as prerequisites of SWB. E. Diener's (1984) review placed greater emphasis on theories that stressed psychological factors. In the current article, the authors review current evidence for Wilson's conclusions and discuss modern theories of SWB that stress dispositional influences, adaptation, goals, and coping strategies. The next steps in the evolution of the field are to comprehend the interaction of psychological factors with life circumstances in producing SWB, to understand the causal pathways leading to happiness, understand the processes underlying adaptation to events, and develop theories that explain why certain variables differentially influence the different components of SWB (life satisfaction, pleasant affect, and unpleasant affect). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study investigated the psychometric properties of the revised Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C; T. E. Joiner et al) in 228 nonclinical children and adolescents aged between 8 and 15 years. The results revealed that the PANAS-C possesses high internal consistency and encouraging convergent validity, as demonstrated by correlations with the theoretically related constructs of Neuroticism and Extraversion. Construct validity was supported through confirmatory factor analysis, which revealed a two dimensional structure comprising Negative and Positive Affect. Divergent validity was confirmed by the nonsignificant correlation between positive and negative affect. Thus, the PANAS-C was demonstrated to have good reliability and validity, subject to minor changes in item content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study examines children's acquisition of three politeness routines: hi, thanks, and goodbye. Twenty-two children, eleven boys and eleven girls, and their parents participated. At the end of a parent-child play session, an assistant entered the playroom with a gift to elicit routines from the children. Spontaneous production of the three routines was low, with thank you the most infrequent. Parents actively prompted their children to produce routines, however, and children usually complied. Further, parents themselves used the routines, with more mothers than fathers saying thank you and goodbye to the assistant. Results were discussed in relation to the role of parents in linguistic socialization and to the importance of routines in social interaction. (Routines; politeness formulas; linguistic socialization; parental teaching; mother-father differences; sex role socialization)
Gratitude is conceptualized as a moral affect that is analogous to other moral emotions such as empathy and guilt. Gratitude has 3 functions that can be conceptualized as morally relevant: (a) a moral barometer function (i.e., it is a response to the perception that one has been the beneficiary of another person's moral actions); (b) a moral motive function (i.e., it motivates the grateful person to behave prosocially toward the benefactor and other people); and (c) a moral reinforcer function (i.e., when expressed, it encourages benefactors to behave morally in the future). The personality and social factors that are associated with gratitude are also consistent with a conceptualization of gratitude as an affect that is relevant to people's cognitions and behaviors in the moral domain.
This study investigated the relationships among different forms of peer victimization and prosocial experiences and early adolescent emotional well-being. A total of 571 students in grades 6–8 were administered the Positive and Negative Affect Scale–Children, Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale, and the Children's Self Experience Questionnaire–Self Report. Females reported more prosocial experiences; males reported more overt and relational victimization. Differential predictors were observed for the emotional well-being variables of life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect in a series of hierarchical multiple regression equations. Overt victimization experiences added significant variance to all three well-being equations. Relational victimization experiences added significant variance to the negative affect equation. After accounting for overt and relational experiences, prosocial experiences added significant variance to the life satisfaction and positive affect equations. The experience of prosocial peer interactions thus appears to serve as a protective factor with respect to the relationship between victimization and life satisfaction and positive affect for early adolescents. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 199–208, 2007.
The acquisition of routines is one aspect of language development. Routines such as Bye-bye, in contrast to more referential language, appear to be among the earliest acquisitions and are congruent with the sensori-motor child's capacities. This study investigates performance of the highly constrained Hallowe'en Trick or treat routine in 115 children from 2 to 16 years of age. Changes in competence and the role of parental input are examined in relation to cognitive and social factors. (First routines; the Hallowe'en interaction; children's production; adult participation; adult metalanguage; implications for ethnographic research.)
Using a ''subjectivist'' approach to the assessment of happiness, a new 4-item measure of global subjective happiness was developed and validated in 14 studies with a total of 2 732 participants. Data was collected in the United States from students on two college campuses and one high school campus, from community adults in two California cities, and from older adults. Students and community adults in Moscow, Russia also participated in this research. Results indicated that the Subjective Happiness Scale has high internal consistency, which was found to be stable across samples. Test-retest and self-peer correlations suggested good to excellent reliability, and construct validation studies of convergent and discriminant validity confirmed the use of this scale to measure the construct of subjective happiness. The rationale for developing a new measure of happiness, as well as advantages of this scale, are discussed.
One possible reason for the continued neglect of statistical power analysis in research in the behavioral sciences is the inaccessibility of or difficulty with the standard material. A convenient, although not comprehensive, presentation of required sample sizes is provided. Effect-size indexes and conventional values for these are given for operationally defined small, medium, and large effects. The sample sizes necessary for .80 power to detect effects at these levels are tabled for 8 standard statistical tests: (1) the difference between independent means, (2) the significance of a product-moment correlation, (3) the difference between independent rs, (4) the sign test, (5) the difference between independent proportions, (6) chi-square tests for goodness of fit and contingency tables, (7) 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and (8) the significance of a multiple or multiple partial correlation.
This article reviews current theory and research on adolescent friendship and offers a framework in which friendship is developmentally characterized by reciprocity, co-construction and consensual validation. Three areas of research are reviewed: (1) the relative influence of parents and peers, (2) popularity among peers, and (3) gender differences in friendship. These conclusions are drawn: (1) although peer influence increases during adolescence, parents remain strong socializing agents throughout adolescence; (2) popularity status is associated with social behavior. These behaviors are related to differential developmental outcomes for adolescents; (3) studies on the socialization of gender need to take into account the cultural context and historical changes in male-female distinctions. After years of neglect, social scientists have found friendship to be an important vehicle for psychological and psychiatric development. For example, a promising new development is the use of peer interaction as a therapeutic tool for troubled adolescents.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators.
This book was originally published in 2004 and concerns developmental neurobiology. In the decade preceding publication, developmental neurobiology made important strides towards elucidating the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. Nowhere has this link between basic science and clinical insights become clearer than in the field of schizophrenia research. Each contributor to this volume provides a fresh overview of the relevant research, including directions for further investigation. The book begins with a section on advances in developmental neurobiology. This is followed by sections on etiological and pathophysiological developments, and models that integrate this knowledge. The final section addresses the clinical insights that emerge from the developmental models. This book will be valuable to researchers in psychiatry and neurobiology, students in psychology, and all mental health practitioners.
The effect of a grateful outlook on psychological and physical well-being was examined. In Studies 1 and 2, participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental conditions (hassles, gratitude listing, and either neutral life events or social comparison); they then kept weekly (Study 1) or daily (Study 2) records of their moods, coping behaviors, health behaviors, physical symptoms, and overall life appraisals. In a 3rd study, persons with neuromuscular disease were randomly assigned to either the gratitude condition or to a control condition. The gratitude-outlook groups exhibited heightened well-being across several, though not all, of the outcome measures across the 3 studies, relative to the comparison groups. The effect on positive affect appeared to be the most robust finding. Results suggest that a conscious focus on blessings may have emotional and interpersonal benefits.
In four studies, the authors examined the correlates of the disposition toward gratitude. Study 1 revealed that self-ratings and observer ratings of the grateful disposition are associated with positive affect and well-being prosocial behaviors and traits, and religiousness/spirituality. Study 2 replicated these findings in a large nonstudent sample. Study 3 yielded similar results to Studies 1 and 2 and provided evidence that gratitude is negatively associated with envy and materialistic attitudes. Study 4 yielded evidence that these associations persist after controlling for Extraversion/positive affectivity, Neuroticism/negative affectivity, and Agreeableness. The development of the Gratitude Questionnaire, a unidimensional measure with good psychometric properties, is also described.
This chapter examines how the conscious practice of gratitude can help transform individuals' emotional lives. It evaluates previous research that indicates that gratitude has a causal influence on mood, especially positive mood. It stresses the need for a critical examination of research on gratitude and well-being and argues that the cultivation of grateful emotions might be efficacious in the treatment and prevention of depressed affect.
Positive emotions are essential for human behaviour and adaption. They help to envision goals and challenges, open the mind to thoughts and problem-solving, protect health by fostering resiliency, create attachments to significant others, lay the groundwork for individual self-regulation, and guide the behaviour of groups, social systems, and nations. In spite of their many functions, however, positive emotions have been neglected by psychology. Until recently, psychology has focused on the dark side of human life. Psycho-pathological behaviour, negative emotions emanating from stress, and coping with stress and negative emotions have been studied extensively, whereas adaptive behaviour, positive emotions, and proactive coping did not receive that much attention (cf. Frydenberg 1997; Fredrickson 2001). Furthermore, traditional theories addressing the functions of positive emotions for cognition and behaviour have focused on negative effects of positive emotions, instead of their regulatory benefits (cf. Aspinwall 1998). Educational settings are of specific importance for shaping human self-regulation and development, and students' and teachers' positive emotions can be assumed to be central to attaining these educational goals. However, educational psychology and educational research in general were no exception in neglecting positive emotions. Specifically, whereas students' test anxiety has been studied extensively, positive emotions related to learning and achievement have rarely been analysed. This seems to be true, in spite of the fact that anti-cipatory hope and pride relating to success and failure were deemed key determinants of achievement motivation and task behaviour by traditional theories of achievement moti-vation, along with anticipatory fear and shame (cf. Atkinson 1964; Heckhausen 1980). Studies on achievement motivation included items pertaining to these emotions in global measures of achievement motives, but rarely studied emotions in their own right. Specifically, this pertains to the positive emotions of hope and pride which were only regarded as components of the motive to achieve success. The motive to avoid failure, on' the other hand, has <;:>ften been equated with test anxiety on an operationallevel, having been assessed by test anxiety questionnaires in many studies (Atkinson 1964). Concerning positive emotions relating to learning, instruction, and achievement, the only major tradi-tion of research addressing such emotions directly was attributional theory originating from Bernard Weiner's programme of research on achievement emotions (cf. Weiner 1985). This research produced a sizable number of studies analysing links between causal attributions of success andJailure, and a variety of positive achievement-related emotions.
Self-determination theory states that satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness promotes well-being, with each need making an independent contribution to well-being. Although this prediction has been supported in studies with college students and adults, no study has examined the contribution of each need to concurrent and future levels of well-being in children and adolescents. The current study examined the relation of need satisfaction to concurrent and future levels of well-being in a sample of 331 third and seventh graders. Satisfaction of the need for autonomy was associated with concurrent positive and negative affect. Satisfaction of the need for competence was associated with concurrent positive and negative affect and depressive symptoms, as well as future levels of negative affect and depressive symptoms. Satisfaction of the need for relatedness was associated with concurrent and future levels of positive affect. These results suggest that during middle childhood and early adolescence, as at other developmental stages, satisfaction of all three needs is associated with well-being.
Proponents of positive psychology have argued for more comprehensive assessments incorporating positive measures (e.g., student strengths) as well as negative measures (e.g., psychological symptoms). However, few variable-centered studies have addressed the incremental validity of positive assessment data. The authors investigated the incremental validity of positive emotions relative to negative emotions in predicting adolescents' adaptive school functioning. Positive emotions demonstrated significant incremental validity in predicting school satisfaction, adaptive coping, and student engagement, but not self-reported GPA. The findings offer some support for the utility of positive measures in psychoeducational assessments.
The importance in studying Quality of School Life (QSL) lies predominantly on research findings concerning its relationship with educational outcome. Although some studies have focused on factors affecting QSL, no study so far has assessed various factors of QSL simultaneously, with regard to secondary education, in order to construct a QSL model and establish its best predictors. The present research has attempted to study correlates of QSL including demographic, personality variables and school stress, and construct a consistent model of QSL, using data derived from pupils in two Scottish secondary pupils (n = 425). The model constructed was found able to account for 56% of the QSL variance. Overall results indicated that QSL is predominantly associated with personality factors, in particular school self-esteem. Results are discussed in relation to the 'trait' character of QSL and the educational implications of the model.
In this paper we present a prototype approach to awe. We suggest that two appraisals are central and are present in all clear cases of awe: perceived vastness, and a need for accommodation, defined as an inability to assimilate an experience into current mental structures. Five additional appraisals account for variation in the hedonic tone of awe experiences: threat, beauty, exceptional ability, virtue, and the supernatural. We derive this perspective from a review of what has been written about awe in religion, philosophy, sociology, and psychology, and then we apply this perspective to an analysis of awe and related states such as admiration, elevation, and the epiphanic experience.
In this paper we report a study examining Weiner's (1986) predictions concerning the relationships between attributional dimensions, emotions, and behaviour, using a causal modelling procedure (LISREL). In two studies, freshmen (N = 585 and 621) who had taken their midterm exams, reported the cause of their outcome, its dimensional properties, and their emotional reactions. These data were then related to subsequent performance at the final exams. In support of Weiner's predictions, results indicated distinct relationships between midterm outcome and the primary emotions of happiness and sadness; between internal attributions and the self-esteem emotions of pride and shame; between stable attributions and expectations and the anticipatory emotions of hope, despair, and anxiety; between attributions of personal control and the moral emotions of guilt; and between external control and the social emotions of gratitude and anger. Contrary to predictions, happiness and sadness were further intensified by internal attributions. No other significant linkages between attributions and emotions were found. As predicted, performance at the final exams was influenced by freshmen's expectations, but contrary to the predictions, performance remained generally unrelated to freshmen's emotions.
In two studies, the development of children's knowledge of the situations that provoke emotion was examined. In the first study, English and Dutch children aged 5, 7, 10 and 14 years were presented with 20 common emotion terms and asked to describe situations likely to provoke each emotion. For children of both nationalities, knowledge of the determinants of emotion was not restricted to emotions that can be easily linked with a discrete facial expression. It rapidly extended to more complex emotions such as pride, worry, or jealousy. A second study undertaken with children living in an isolated Himalayan village confirmed and extended these basic findings. Additional analysis of both the accuracy with which children suggested determinants, and inter-relationships among those determinants suggested that children acquire such knowledge quite abruptly for any given emotion term.
Over the past decade, promoting the psychological wellbeing of adolescents has been the subject of increasing interest. To this end, a number of scales have been constructed that specifically assess life satisfaction among adolescents. Using specific selection criteria, the present study reviewed the psychometric properties of five life satisfaction measures available for use with adolescent populations. These scales were the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Perceived Life Satisfaction Scale, the Comprehensive Quality of Life Scale – School Version, and the Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale. Suggestions for future research are also discussed.
This study investigated 3 broad classes of individual-differences variables (job-search motives, competencies, and constraints) as predictors of job-search intensity among 292 unemployed job seekers. Also assessed was the relationship between job-search intensity and reemployment success in a longitudinal context. Results show significant relationships between the predictors employment commitment, financial hardship, job-search self-efficacy, and motivation control and the outcome job-search intensity. Support was not found for a relationship between perceived job-search constraints and job-search intensity. Motivation control was highlighted as the only lagged predictor of job-search intensity over time for those who were continuously unemployed. Job-search intensity predicted Time 2 reemployment status for the sample as a whole, but not reemployment quality for those who found jobs over the study's duration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A child version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; D. Watson et al, see record
1988-31508-001), the PANAS-C, was developed using students in Grades 4–8 (
N = 707). Item selection was based on psychometric and theoretical grounds. The resulting Negative Affect (NA) and Positive Affect (PA) scales demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity with existing self-report measures of childhood anxiety and depression; the PANAS-C performed much like its adult namesake. Overall, the PANAS-C, like the adult PANAS, is a brief, useful measure that can be used to differentiate anxiety from depression in youngsters. As such, this instrument addresses the shortcomings of existing measures of childhood anxiety and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The pursuit of happiness is an important goal for many people. However, surprisingly little scientific research has focused on the question of how happiness can be increased and then sustained, probably because of pessimism engendered by the concepts of genetic determinism and hedonic adaptation. Nevertheless, emerging sources of optimism exist regarding the possibility of permanent increases in happiness. Drawing on the past well-being literature, the authors propose that a person's chronic happiness level is governed by 3 major factors: a genetically determined set point for happiness, happiness-relevant circumstantial factors, and happiness-relevant activities and practices. The authors then consider adaptation and dynamic processes to show why the activity category offers the best opportunities for sustainably increasing happiness. Finally, existing research is discussed in support of the model, including 2 preliminary happiness-increasing interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study investigated whether preschoolers would spontaneously say thank you in a familiar context without their parents' presence. Two hundred and fifty 3 1/2- to 4 1/2-year-olds played a game with their teachers and received a reward from either an unfamiliar peer or adult. Across conditions, 37 percent of the children said thank you spontaneously, more than in previous studies. The frequency of the spontaneous use of thank you was assessed as a function of sex, socioeconomic status, and listener status. Preschool-aged girls said thank you spontaneously more than boys, χ2(1) = 7.95, p < .01. Also, children from families of low economic status said thank you spontaneously more than children from middle income families, χ2(1) = 7.17, p < .01. This finding does not appear to be due to racial differences. Finally, the preschoolers said thank you spontaneously more to the adult than to the peer, χ2(1) = 4.27, p < .05. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for pragmatic socialization and the acquisition of politeness formulas such as thank you. (Routines, politeness formulas, pragmatic socialization, sex differences, socioeconomic differences, language and status)
This study investigated the interrelationships among global self-concept, life events, and positive subjective well-being (positive affect [PA], negative affect [NA], and life satisfaction [LS]) in a sample of 92 high school students. The results demonstrated that life events contributed significant variance to predictions of PA, NA, and LS, over and above that of global self-concept. Also, daily events contributed variance over and above that of major life events. Looking at the specific event types that related uniquely to the positive well-being measures, only negative daily events related significantly to PA and NA, and only positive daily events related significantly to LS. The results also indicated that the positive well-being constructs each contained unique variance and had different correlates, thus providing strong support for the multidimensionality of adolescent positive well-being reports. Implications for further research and intervention programs are discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A 4-week experimental study (N = 67) examined the motivational predictors and positive emotion outcomes of regularly practicing two mental exercises: counting one's blessings (“gratitude”) and visualizing best possible selves (“BPS”). In a control exercise, participants attended to the details of their day. Undergraduates performed one of the three exercises during Session I and were asked to continue performing it at home until Session II (in 2 weeks) and again until Session III (in a further 2 weeks). Following previous theory and research, the practices of gratitude and BPS were expected to boost immediate positive affect, relative to the control condition. In addition, we hypothesized that continuing effortful performance of these exercises would be necessary to maintain the boosts (Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005a22.
Lyubomirsky , S ,
Sheldon , KM and
Schkade , D . 2005a. Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9: 111–131. [CrossRef], [Web of Science ®]View all references). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111–131). Finally, initial self-concordant motivation to perform the exercise was expected to predict actual performance and to moderate the effects of performance on increased mood. Results generally supported these hypotheses, and suggested that the BPS exercise may be most beneficial for raising and maintaining positive mood. Implications of the results for understanding the critical factors involved in increasing and sustaining positive affect are discussed.
It is argued that insufficient attention has been paid to the nature and processes underlying positive experiences. An analogy is drawn between coping with negative events and the processes of taking advantage of, or capitalizing on, positive events. It was hypothesized that expressive displays (e.g., communicating the event to others, celebrating, etc.) and perceived control would be effective capitalizing responses after positive events. These responses were predicted to augment the benefits of the events on temporary moods and longer-term well-being. Two daily-diary studies of college undergraduates showed that expressive responses and perceived control were associated with positive affect above and beyond the benefits due to the valence of the positive events themselves.
Although developmental psychology and developmental neuroscience share interests in common problems (e.g., the nature of thought, emotion, consciousness), there has been little cross-fertilization between these disciplines. To facilitate such communication, we discuss 2 major advances in the developmental brain sciences that have potentially profound implications for under standing behavioral development. The first concerns neuroimaging, and the second concerns the molecular and cellular events that give rise to the developing brain and the myriad ways in which the brain is modified by both positive and negative life experiences. Recurring themes are that (1) critical, new knowledge of behavioral development can be achieved by considering the neurobiological mechanisms that guide and influence child development, and (2) these neurobiological mechanisms are in turn influenced by behavior.
Subjective well-being (SWB) comprises people's longer-term levels of pleasant affect, lack of unpleasant affect, and life satisfaction. It displays moderately high levels of cross-situational consistency and temporal stability. Self-report measures of SWB show adequate validity, reliability, factor invariance, and sensitivity to change. Despite the success of the measures to date, more sophisticated approaches to defining and measuring SWB are now possible. Affect includes facial, physiological, motivational, behavioral, and cognitive components. Self-reports assess primarily the cognitive component of affect, and thus are unlikely to yield a complete picture of respondents' emotional lives. For example, denial may influence self-reports of SWB more than other components. Additionally, emotions are responses which vary on a number of dimensions such as intensity, suggesting that mean levels of affect as captured by existing measures do not give a complete account of SWB. Advances in cognitive psychology indicate that differences in memory retrieval, mood as information, and scaling processes can influence self-reports of SWB. Finally, theories of communication alert us to the types of information that are likely to be given in self-reports of SWB. These advances from psychology suggest that a multimethod approach to assessing SWB will create a more comprehensive depiction of the phenomenon. Not only will a multifaceted test battery yield more credible data, but inconsistencies between various measurement methods and between the various components of well-being will both help us better understand SWB indictors and group differences in well-being. Knowledge of cognition, personality, and emotion will also aid in the development of sophisticated theoretical definitions of subjective well-being. For example, life satisfaction is theorized to be a judgment that respondents construct based on currently salient information. Finally, it is concluded that measuring negative reactions such as depression or anxiety give an incomplete picture of people's well-being, and that it is imperative to measure life satisfaction and positive emotions as well.
Subjective well-being (SWB) comprises people’s longer-term levels of pleasant affect, lack of unpleasant affect, and life
satisfaction. It displays moderately high levels of cross-situational consistency and temporal stability. Self-report measures
of SWB show adequate validity, reliability, factor invariance, and sensitivity to change. Despite the success of the measures
to date, more sophisticated approaches to defining and measuring SWB are now possible. Affect includes facial, physiological,
motivational, behavioral, and cognitive components. Self-reports assess primarily the cognitive component of affect, and thus
are unlikely to yield a complete picture of respondents’ emotional lives. For example, denial may influence self-reports of
SWB more than other components. Additionally, emotions are responses which vary on a number of dimensions such as intensity,
suggesting that mean levels of affect as captured by existing measures do not give a complete account of SWB. Advances in
cognitive psychology indicate that differences in memory retrieval, mood as information, and scaling processes can influence
self-reports of SWB. Finally, theories of communication alert us to the types of information that are likely to be given in
self-reports of SWB. These advances from psychology suggest that a multimethod approach to assessing SWB will create a more
comprehensive depiction of the phenomenon. Not only will a multifaceted test battery yield more credible data, but inconsistencies
between various measurement methods and between the various components of well-being. Knowledge of cognition, personality,
and emotion will also aid in the development of sophisticated theoretical definitions of subjective well-being. For example,
life satisfaction is theorized to be a judgment that respondents construct based on currently salient information. Finally,
it is concluded that measuring negative reactions such as depression or anxiety give an incomplete picture of people’s well-being,
and that it is imperative to measure life satisfaction and positive emotions as well.
In this study, we used data collected from early adolescents (ages 12 to 14 years) in the San Francisco Bay area of the United States and Amsterdam, The Netherlands to examine two questions concerning their social-emotional and school functioning. First, we compared adolescents' self-reported emotional-behavioral problems, general self-esteem, and their sense that negative moods interfered with their ability to learn in school across the two samples. Consistent with previous research, we found that American youth reported more internalizing and externalizing problems than did their Dutch peers, and said that negative moods interfered more with their ability to learn in school. Second, we examined the relative predictive relations between adolescents' social-emotional functioning and motivation to learn and their reported investment in or disaffection from school. Both sets of indices predicted investment in both samples, although the pattern of significant relations differed by country. Findings are discussed in relation to a broader model of the social, demographic, and psychological processes that shape patterns of academic investment or disaffection, achievement, and choice during the adolescent years.
This research examined children's developing understanding of relations between attributions, affects, and intended social behavior. Three scenarios involving exam success, making a baseball team, and a bicycle collision were constructed to elicit, respectively, either pride, gratitude, or guilt in a target child. In Experiment 1, two story conditions varied the locus (internal or external) of the cause of the outcome in the pride scenario and the controllability of the cause in the gratitude and guilt scenarios. For each condition, children aged 5 to 11 made judgments about the locus or controllability of the cause; they indicated how proud, grateful, or guilty the target child would feel; and they made inferences about an intended action (self-reward, reciprocation, or reparation) that might follow the outcome. In Experiment 2, the causal information and affective information were manipulated in a factorial design, and children made judgments about the intended action. There were age-related increases in the linkages between attributions and affects and between affects and intended behavior. This was particularly true in the case of guilt. These findings were interpreted as evidence for the growing influence of affect as a mediator between causal thought and action.
We analyzed the content of school-aged children's responses to a countywide in-class essay assignment in which they described what they are thankful for. Accounts were written in November of 2000 (n = 152) and 2001 (n = 196). We identified the most prominent themes of children's gratitude as well as differences in the themes that emerged before and after the September 11 terrorist attacks. We also examined sex and developmental differences in the gratitude themes. The most common themes were family, basic needs, friends, and teachers/school. Rescue workers, the United States and its values (e.g., freedom) appeared more frequently in 2001 than 2000. Girls expressed more gratitude than boys for a variety of interpersonal relationships; boys were more grateful for material objects. Older children mentioned several themes more frequently than younger children. Implications are discussed in the context of positive psychology.