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Is Gratitude a Moral Affect?
Abstract
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.
... Some researchers propose that the gratitude definition would explain this ambiguity since gratitude is not conceptualized as a basic emotion such as anger, sadness, or joy (1). Other authors point out that this attribute has been studied in the social sciences, such as Schwartz, Weiner and Graham, and even Melanie Klein in the psychoanalytic approach, but this interest has not extended to the empirical social disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology (2). This study is based on the conceptualization of gratitude proposed by Emmons and McCullough. ...
... In this approach, gratitude is defined as an attitude of correspondence toward the provider and the object provided (1). Within the cognitive-emotional theory, writers contend that intentionality is essential to produce gratitude, and actions perceived as disingenuous have the opposite effect (2). This quality belongs to empathic emotions that possess a "central relational theme" the person uses to establish whether what happens to them is favorable. ...
... Thus, the central relational theme of gratitude is the recognition of an altruistic action perceived as such when the benefited person empathizes with the benefactor (3,4). These definitions distinguish gratitude as a moral affect, claiming that gratitude stimulates ethical behavior in which people care about others (2). Gratitude is also assumed to be positively related to sympathy, empathy, kindness, trustworthiness, openness, altruism, and modesty; although there are important differences between these concepts, this relationship is explained by the function of promoting prosocial behaviors that are linked to an emotional base that makes the person more predisposed to have a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward a particular response (2). ...
Introduction: Gratitude is widely contemplated in philosophy and theology, although its dissemination in psychology and health sciences is scarce. It is defined as the cognitive and affective state of appreciation in a person favored by a benefactor’s contributions. The Gratitude Questionnaire–Six Item Form is one of the most used scales for measuring this construct in several sociocultural contexts. Objectives: The aims were to determine the factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity and to identify its reliability and invariance according to gender, age, and residence.
... Perceived parental communal strength refers to the positive perception that adolescents believe their parents are willing to make sacrifices to provide care and meet their needs (Mills et al., 2004). Gratitude results from risky decisions, indicating receipt of important favors and encouraging closer ties with the benefactor, which increases potential rejection costs (McCullough et al., 2001). Adolescents decide whether to feel grateful based on how they perceive their parents' care or rejection. ...
... Further, gratitude has the potential to enhance perceived parental communal strength, thereby potentially improving the quality of parent-child attachment. Based on the moral affect theory of gratitude (McCullough et al., 2001), grateful adolescents have a more open and optimistic attitude toward life and are more attentive to their parents' kindness. Adolescent expressions of gratitude can catalyze parental sensitivity and responsiveness toward their children's needs, thereby strengthening perceived parental communal strength. ...
Previous research has found a significant association between parent-child attachment and gratitude, while the directionality of this association and its potential mechanisms remain unclear. This study examined the longitudinal associations between parent-child attachment, gratitude, and perceived parental communal strength, which is adolescents’ perception of their parents’ willingness to make sacrifices to provide care and meet their needs. A total of 1348 adolescents and one of their parents (Mage = 12.96, SD = 0.70 years; 51.3% girls) participated in this three-wave study, with a six-month lag. The results of the cross-lagged panel models showed that attachment anxiety and avoidance negatively predicted adolescents’ gratitude after six months. Perceived parental communal strength mediated the longitudinal effects of attachment anxiety and avoidance on gratitude. However, the impact of gratitude on perceived parental communal strength and parent-child attachment was non-significant. The findings suggest that adolescents with insecure parent-child attachment have negative perceptions of their parents, which could contribute to their lack of gratitude. Adolescents’ negative perceptions of their parents are crucial for understanding the mechanisms underlying the lack of gratitude observed in adolescents with insecure parent-child attachment.
... Griskevicius et al. (2010) investigated the effects of six positive emotions and found that they produce more heuristic processing of persuasive messages than negative emotions or an emotionally neutral state. Since gratitude has been consistently found to encourage behaviours in favour of building novel relationships URN: 6464273 3 (McCullough et al., 2001), it is possible for grateful individuals to be more inclined to heuristically process persuasive information as well. It might be that experiencing gratitude drives individuals to form their evaluative judgements based on their current affective state (Schwarz & Clore, 2007), especially in situations when persuasive information is presented as the opinion of the majority of people in society. ...
... As positive emotions have distinct effects on processing and cognition (Karsh & Eyal, 2015), it is a particularly valuable question whether gratitude facilitates conformity, and if so, whether the URN: 6464273 4 conceptually opposite emotional state of ingratitude impedes it. Precedents in gratitude research have found that gratitude heightens individuals' sensitivity to another person's goal (Jia et al., 2014), possibly due to its characteristics to form common ingroup identities (Dovidio et al., 1998) and prevent disruption of societal integrity (McCullough et al., 2001). ...
... Similarly, gratitude is seen as "a sense of thankfulness and joy in response to receiving a gift, whether the gift is a tangible benefit from a specific other or a moment of peaceful bliss evoked by natural beauty" Peterson and Seligman (2004). McCullough et al. (2001) defined gratitude as the feeling of appreciation is considered a moral emotion and is seen to have a likeliness with emotions like empathy and guilt. Besides, research indicates that gratitude is seen as an emotional expression with three hierarchical levels that are interrelated, namely: affective character, mood, and emotion. ...
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.
... For instance, one participant, Arya, explicitly commented on the motivating effect of seeing her effort and commitment acknowledged by students' parents, highlighting that this kind of recognition and the sense of pride associated with it made her willing to keep improving and progressing. This shows how pride can serve both as a 'barometer' and 'motivator' (see McCullough et al., 2001), as it provides evaluative information regarding one's effort, and it can also motivate an individual to keep pursuing the kind of actions that led to a sense of pride. ...
While the emotion of pride has received increasing attention in general psychology, it has gone largely overlooked in the field of education generally, and language education specifically. This study explores the sources of pride reported by 140 English language teachers from various contexts across the globe. Data were generated through an online survey using a series of open-ended items addressing various dimensions of participants' professional pride. The results revealed two main orientations in terms of the sources of professional pride experienced by participants, namely, self-and other-oriented. Furthermore, data showed that participants in this study reported only on authentic pride as opposed to hubristic pride. The data indicated how these teachers' sense of pride is socially determined and interconnected with key psychological constructs such as motivation, self-esteem, sense of meaning, agency, and well-being. The concluding section of the paper considers how pride can be conceptualized in the domain of language education, how it can potentially be leveraged to boost teacher well-being, and what pathways this study opens up for further research.
... However, this topic is discussed extensively within positive psychology under the issue of materialism. For example, McCullough et al. (2001) and Polak and McCullough (2006) revealed that materialism is negatively related to gratitude. Pilch and Górnik-Durose (2017) investigated the relationships between grandiose and narcissism, materialism, money attitude, and consumption preference. ...
The intertwined relationship between religion and mental health has been accounted for since the earliest recorded history. This study aimed to explore the relationship between the concept of diseases of the spiritual heart (DOTSH) from the Islamic-Sufi perspective and the medical-psychiatric concept of mental disorder. We examined two essential documents as our primary data sources: (1) Al Ghazali's Ihya Ulumuddin (Revivals of Religion Sciences) Volume III entitled the Quarter of the Destructive and (2) The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Version, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR). We employed a document analysis of the qualitative method by applying six steps of data analysis. We reviewed the English version of Al Ghazali's book to identified DOTSH. In this stage, we found six DOTSH categories which comprised of 40 DOTSH. Then, we searched the correspondence of DOTSH's categories to the DSM-5-TR criteria for mental disorders. We found that all DOTSH categories correspond to DSM-5-TR diagnostics criteria, diagnostic features or diagnostic associated features. We concluded that spiritual heart diseases not only present as symptoms but also can be regarded as mental disorder preconditions that require preventive intervention.
... A ciência, a teologia e a filosofia fornecem clareza sobre a definição de algumas virtudes, tais como gratidão, orgulho e paciência, enquanto até hoje a definição de alegria é menos clara. Por exemplo, gratidão envolve a avaliação de que alguém realizou algo importante para mim (McCullough, Kilpatrick, Emmons, & Larson, 2001;Watkins et al., 2017). Orgulho envolve a avaliação de que alcancei algo de valor (Watkins et al., 2017;Van Cappellen & Saroglou, 2011). ...
Para abarcar o florescimento e a prosperidade humana, devemos entender a alegria. Entretanto, nenhum modelo teórico explica a complexidade da alegria como fruto do Espírito, nem explica plenamente seu impacto na vida humana. Sugerimos que a alegria é melhor conceituada como uma virtude, um hábito psicológico, composto de adaptações características e que oferece sentido por uma identidade narrativa transcendente. Assim, a alegria envolve conhecer, sentir e adotar o que é mais importante. A ciência do desenvolvimento e as abordagens teológicas cristãs da teleologia informam os fins últimos aos quais a alegria é dirigida. Elas sugerem que telos, o propósito ou objetivo do desenvolvimento, pode ser entendido como um processo dinâmico que perpetua a prosperidade humana e social e envolve (1) o self crescente, (2) relações mutuamente benéficas, e (3) diretrizes morais em evolução que garantam um contínuo ajuste e florescimento de si mesmo e da sociedade. Nós unimos a psicologia do desenvolvimento, a ciência da virtude e a teologia para propor uma definição e um paradigma para entender o desenvolvimento da alegria através do florescimento. A fim de promover a investigação sobre a alegria e para elucidar sua natureza transformadora, discutimos a alegria à luz do discipulado, vocação, sofrimento, justiça e escatologia e identificamos questões para pesquisa.
The function of gratitude as a factor in forming reciprocal relationships has not yet been examined in preschool-aged children. This study examines how cultural differences may influence children’s expression and understanding of gratitude. Two vignettes involving a high- and low-cost situation of expressing gratitude were told to Japanese preschool-aged children, and their responses to the scenarios were recorded. Compared to American children, a certain number of Japanese children associated positive feelings with the benefactor when they helped, would help the benefactor if they were in need, and cited reciprocity as a reason for doing so. The findings confirmed that the sprouting of gratitude as a moral virtue is also observed in preschool children from non-Western countries, and commonalities in moral development across cultures were found. At the same time, depending on the cost incurred by the benefactor on offering help, we found cultural differences in various aspects of gratitude. The findings suggested that gratitude, which encompasses the norm of reciprocity, is triggered in Japanese children in response to the cost to the benefactor.
College student college is someone who begins to enter early adulthood. At that age, they are solving problems related to work abilities that are relevant to their interests and skills. Because of The pressures that often come to him, disturb his psychological well-being. Circumstances that disturb this well-being can be overcome with gratitude. This study aims to determine the effect of gratitude (gratitude) in Islam on psychological well-being (psychological well-being) in final-year students at UIN Malang and to determine the magnitude of the significance of gratitude (gratitude) in Islam on psychological well-being (psychological well-being) in final-year students in UIN Malang. “This research is quantitative with a descriptive analysis approach. The population in this study were final-year students who were attending lectures at the State Islamic University of Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang. The sample used in this study consisted of 12 respondents. The method used in selecting the sample is purposive sampling. Of the 12 research samples, it shows that the higher the gratitude one has, the higher the significance of psychological well-being.”
Abstrak
Mahasiswa adalah seseorang yang mulai memasuki usia dewasa awal. Pada usia tersebut, mereka sedang menyelesaikan permasalahan terkait dengan kemampuan bekerja yang relevan dengan minat dan keterampilannya. Oleh karena tekanan-tekanan yang seringkali datang kepadanya sehingga membuat kesejahteraan psikologisnya terganggu. Keadaan yang membuat kesejahteraan ini terganggu dapat diatasi dengan rasya syukur. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk untuk mengetahui pengaruh antara gratitude (kebersyukuran) dalam islam terhadap psychological well-being (kesejahteraan psikologis) pada mahasiswa tingkat akhir di UIN Malang dan untuk mengetahui besaran signifikasi gratitude (kebersyukuran) dalam islam terhadap “psychological well-being (kesejahteraan psikologis) pada mahasiswa tingkat akhir di UIN Malang. Penelitian ini merupakan kuantitatif dengan dengan pendekatan analisis deskriptif. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah mahasiswa tingkat akhir yang sedang mengikuti perkuliahan di Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang. Sampel yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini terdiri dari 12 responden. Metode yang digunakan dalam pemilihan sampel adalah purposive sampling. Dari 12 sampel penelitian menunjukan semakin tinggi rasa kebersyukuran yang dimiliki maka signifikasi dari kesejahteraan psikologisnya semakin tinggi.”
Attribution theory has proved to be a useful conceptual framework for the study of emotional development. In this paper, we review a program of research on children's developing understanding of emotion from an attributional perspective. A number of prevalent human emotions are examined in this conception, including happiness, sadness, anger, pity, guilt, pride, and gratitude. The implications of a developmental perspective for an “adult” theory of emotion are discussed.
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 sociology of emotions is applied to the settings of a food pantry and soup kitchen. On the basis of a series of incidents experienced by the author and other members of the volunteer and professional staff, the relationship among status, reciprocity, and emotions is considered. The place of gratitude as an expected response from clients in this context is examined. The expression of an "attitude" (ingratitude), and the anger that such expression provokes in volunteers is likewise explored. Issues such as status differences and powerlessness are considered as possible sources for the expression of "attitude."
Positive reinforcement of customers, through a simple, but sincere, expression of thanks for their business, did increase sales for a small retail store, and also payment of delinquent accounts. Carey et al include suggestions for effective use of this technique.
Parent coping behaviors were investigated in a sample of 100 mothers and 100 fathers of two- to three-month-old infants using the Family Coping Inventory, originally developed for families experiencing membership loss or separation. The relationship between coping behaviors, gender of parent and infant, and number of children also was examined. Factor analyses yielded three coping patterns: seeking social support and self-development; maintaining family integrity; and being religious, thankful, and content. T-testing between mother and father groups revealed that mothers found 17 of the 28 coping behaviors to be more useful than did fathers. Confirmatory factor analysis procedures were repeated on two equal subgroups of 100 randomly selected parents. Items relating to maintaining family integrity were usually replicated. These findings are consistent with past studies of family separation and loss that also used the Family Coping Inventory. Some commonalities were identified in both loss and acquisitions of family membership. It also was found that coping patterns were affected by the gender of the respondent.
In order to determine the interactive effects of social response and individual differences in need for approval on subsequent helping behavior, 46 female subjects were either socially rewarded or punished for helping the experimenter. As predicted, subjects who were high in need for approval were subsequently more likely to help a confederate who had dropped books if they had been socially rewarded than if they had been punished. Subjects low in need for approval were unaffected by the previous social reinforcement. Several explanations for these results are offered. The importance of examining interactions between personality and situational variables in research on prosocial behavior is discussed.
In two studies I addressed attributions made to possible success or failure in the attainment of goals set for different future time ranges. In the first study, 331 subjects answered questions concerning causal ascriptions for succeeding and failing in meeting goals set for 1 week to life span. They ascribed future success more to internal than to external factors, and this relative internality increased with increasing time range of a goal. They believed effort to be a primary cause of both success and failure. In a follow-up study, I tested the hypothesis that younger students would ascribe getting a BA to internal causes more than older students would. Data collected from 400 students did not support the assumption. A second question concerned the relation between attributions and emotions. The expected positive correlations between internal attributions of success and pride, external attributions of success and gratitude/surprise, internal attributions of failure and guilt/shame, and external attributions of failure and anger/frustration were confirmed. However, correlations between pride and internal attributions of success decreased from freshman year to senior year, whereas correlations between shame/guilt and internal attributions of failure increased. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examines the mechanism of the alternation and co-ocurrence of
arigatoo ("Thank you") and
sumimasen ("I'm sorry") in Japanese thanks. It is argued that (1) thanks and apologies are not as distinctly different as widely believed; (2) in Japanese, the alternation between the gratitude and the apology expression results from the empathy operation in which the focus shifts from the speaker to the hearer; (3) the alternation is subject to two constraints, the affectiveness constraint and the role-relationship constraint; and (4) both the gratitude expression and the apology expression can be used consecutively for a single event. This co- ocurrence phenomenon is due to the different discoursal functions the two expressions assume:
sumimasen for local management and
arigatoo for closing the gratitude exchange. The motivations behind the alternation and the co-occurrence can be characterized as the interpersonal motivation and the discourse-organizational motivation respectively. The former primarily concerns the determination of an event either as pleasing-to-speaker or offensive-to-hearer, as well as determining the necessity of the application of the empathy operation; the latter primarily concerns the problem of how an exchange can be started or ended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
20 male college students were divided into 2 groups. One group received reinforcement when they helped a female confederate following a request for aid, the other group did not. The helping gesture involved having S volunteer to take an electrical shock which he believed would otherwise go to the confederate. The reinforcement was a "thank you" from the confederate. Ss who received the reinforcement continued to volunteer for shock, while those who did not discontinued volunteering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)