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Examining the Pathways between Gratitude and Self-Rated Physical Health across Adulthood
Abstract
The current study examined whether dispositional gratitude predicts physical health among adults, and if so, whether this relationship occurs because grateful individuals lead healthier lives, either psychologically or physically. Specifically, we examined whether psychological health, healthy activities, and willingness to seek help for health concerns mediated the link between gratitude and self-reported physical health, as well as if these mediational pathways are moderated by age, in a broad sample of Swiss adults (N = 962, M(age) = 52 years, age range: 19 to 84). Dispositional gratitude correlated positively with self-reported physical health, and this link was mediated by psychological health, healthy activities, and willingness to seek help for health concerns. However, the indirect effects for psychological health and healthy activities were stronger for older than younger adults. In other words, the mechanisms explaining why gratitude predicts health appear to differ across adulthood.
... Although the social and psychological benefits of gratitude are well documented [44], emerging studies are now evidencing that gratitude may serve a protective and predictive role in physical health [17]. For example, heart failure patients who participated in a gratitude intervention had reduced inflammation and increased parasympathetic heart rate variability scores compared to those in a control group [37]. ...
... Moreover, given that cardiovascular stress reactivity is one established pathway underling CHD and with gratitude buffering against the negative effects of stress on health [29], this study is clearly warranted. In fact, a call by researchers to examine the pathways underlying the gratitude-health link have been made [17,32,44]. ...
... For example, from a theoretical perspective. A call by researchers to help clarify the pathways that underlie the gratitude/ positive emotion-physical health link has been made several times [17,32]. One pathway already identified was the moderation of vagal tone by positive emotions, whereby an increase in positive emotions lead to an increase in vagal tone, which is cardio-protective [22]. ...
Recent research suggests that gratitude is associated with better cardiovascular health. Here, we investigated whether trait and/or state gratitude was associated with cardiovascular responses to acute stress. Eighty-six young adults completed measures of gratitude and had their cardiovascular responses monitored throughout a standardised stress testing protocol. Trait gratitude was not associated with cardiovascular reactivity, i.e systolic or diastolic (SBP, DBP) or heart rate (HR). However, while state gratitude was not associated with HR or DBP reactivity, it was negatively associated with SBP reactivity, such that those who reported higher state gratitude during the past week displayed lower SBP to the stressor. Moreover, this association was robust to withstand adjustment for several potential founds, such as sex, depression and body mass index. These findings are novel and highlight that gratitude, in particular state gratitude, is one potential mechanism underlying the protective benefits of gratitude on cardiovascular health.
... Alternatively, the feeling of appreciation and delightful feelings developed at the moment the person acquire support is defined as state gratitude. Previous research has also found that trait gratitude positively affects biological and psychological well-being (Cheng et al., 2015;Hill et al., 2013;O'Connell et al., 2016). ...
... Furthermore, studies across multiple approaches have supported the notion that women tend to convey and express gratitude, and subsequently acquire benefit from gratitude (Froh et al., 2008;Kashdan et al., 2009). Accordingly, Hill et al. (2013) also tested the moderating effect of gender and marital status on the effect of gratitude and well-being and discovered that the results are insignificant. Such contradictory results may imply cultural differences whereby social influence is a more significant predictor in Asian samples than in North American samples. ...
... However, this result is contradicting with the results of Hill et al., (2013) that found out that marital status and gender do not play an important moderating role in the effect of gratitude on well-being. Similar to Hill et al. (2013) findings, gender is not a significant moderator for the effect of gratitude on well-being on Malaysian adults. ...
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the well-being and mental health of people around the world. Positive emotions like resilience and gratitude have been proven to be able to improve one’s well-being. The theory of Broaden-and-build was used to explore resilience’s mediating role in the relationship between gratitude and well-being among Malaysian adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data of 530 participants aged 18 to 35 years was analyzed using SmartPLS. The results showed that grateful and more resilient participants showed a better well-being, and the effects were further moderated by financial income and marital status. The results also supported the hypothetical statistical mediation model in which resilience is the statistical mediator for the association between gratitude and well-being. The results highlighted the significant influence of gratitude and resilience on Malaysian adults’ well-being and explained the role of gratitude in boosting their well-being. It is suggested that policymakers and mental health professionals should consider promoting gratitude and resilience to increase positive emotions and well-being in young adults and help society to be prepared for challenging times of adversity in the future.
... Higher levels of gratitude are associated with enhanced wellbeing and prosocial behavior. Cross-sectional studies have found that gratitude is positively associated with self-reported physical health (26), psychological health (26)(27)(28), hope (29,30), sleep quality and quantity (31,32), and engagement in health behaviors (26). A few studies have assessed gratitude and related outcomes in healthcare education stakeholders. ...
... Higher levels of gratitude are associated with enhanced wellbeing and prosocial behavior. Cross-sectional studies have found that gratitude is positively associated with self-reported physical health (26), psychological health (26)(27)(28), hope (29,30), sleep quality and quantity (31,32), and engagement in health behaviors (26). A few studies have assessed gratitude and related outcomes in healthcare education stakeholders. ...
... Higher levels of gratitude are associated with enhanced wellbeing and prosocial behavior. Cross-sectional studies have found that gratitude is positively associated with self-reported physical health (26), psychological health (26)(27)(28), hope (29,30), sleep quality and quantity (31,32), and engagement in health behaviors (26). A few studies have assessed gratitude and related outcomes in healthcare education stakeholders. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to diminished sleep and increased stress, anxiety, and burnout for many health professionals and health professions students. One simple approach that may be effective for bolstering personal well-being is consciously cultivating gratitude. Gratitude is positively associated with physical health, psychological health, hope, sleep, and health behavior engagement; and randomized studies indicate that gratitude interventions can improve psychological well-being and sleep. The primary aim of this study was to assess the impact of practicing Tiny Habits® on self-reported gratitude, as measured by the 6-Item Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6). In January 2021, 154 adult participants with GQ-6 <35/42 were randomized to one of 3 groups: Tiny Habits for Gratitude (n = 50), Tiny Habits Control (n = 52), and Inactive Control (n = 52). Both Tiny Habits groups chose 3 Tiny Habits Recipes to practice daily and participated in the free, email-based 5-Day Program with automated daily check-in emails and personalized feedback from a Certified Tiny Habits Coach. The Recipes for the Tiny Habits for Gratitude group focused on cultivating gratitude, while those for the Tiny Habits Control group did not. Post-intervention, the mean change in GQ-6 scores in the Tiny Habits for Gratitude (Δ = ↑6.9 ± 5.6; n = 37/50, 74%; p< 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.85) and Tiny Habits Control (Δ = ↑5.6 ± 4.1; n = 31/52, 60%; p = 0.009, Cohen's d = 0.71) groups were greater than that of the Inactive Control group (Δ = ↑2.5 ± 4.4; N = 42/52, 81%). At 1 month, the mean change in GQ-6 scores in the Tiny Habits for Gratitude group (Δ = ↑7.0 ± 5.3; N = 28/50, 56%) was greater than that of the Inactive Control group (Δ = ↑2.9 ± 5.4; N = 39/52, 72%; p = 0.002, Cohen's d = 0.78). These findings suggest that practicing Tiny Habits Recipes and participating in the 5-Day Program can significantly increase gratitude in the short term and focusing specifically on gratitude during this process can sustain the increase in gratitude for up to 1 month. Implementation is quick, simple, and free. This has significant implications for healthcare education stakeholders.
... Trait gratitude has been related to indicators of mental well-being (Green et al., 2019) and mental ill-being (Valikhani et al., 2019). Trait gratitude is correlated with general indicators of mental health including mind wellness (Green et al., 2019), psychological health (Hill et al., 2013), psychological well-being (Washizu & Naito 2015;Wood et al., 2009b), and psychological flexibility (i.e., the ability to flexibly cope with adversity; Frinking et al., 2019). Several crosssectional survey studies identified the association between trait gratitude and self-esteem (e.g., Aghababaei et al., 2018;Corona et al., 2020;Kong et al., 2015), whereas only one study employed a time-lagged study design (i.e., Chen & Wu, 2014). ...
... Trait gratitude is associated with physical well-being including health symptoms, health behaviors and intentions, and sleep-related outcomes. Health symptoms related to trait gratitude include perceived body wellness (Green et al., 2019), subjective health (e.g., Hill et al., 2013) and health symptoms (Deichert et al., 2019b). Trait gratitude is associated with various health behaviors and intentions such as healthy activities (Hill et al., 2013), reduced substance use (Wood et al., 2007), reduced substance misuse (Kaniuka et al., 2020), and an increased willingness to seek medical help (Hill et al., 2013). ...
... Health symptoms related to trait gratitude include perceived body wellness (Green et al., 2019), subjective health (e.g., Hill et al., 2013) and health symptoms (Deichert et al., 2019b). Trait gratitude is associated with various health behaviors and intentions such as healthy activities (Hill et al., 2013), reduced substance use (Wood et al., 2007), reduced substance misuse (Kaniuka et al., 2020), and an increased willingness to seek medical help (Hill et al., 2013). One study has also examined the sleep-related outcomes of trait gratitude. ...
Though gratitude research in organizational behavior (OB) is nascent, this emotion has a rich history in the social sciences. Research has shown gratitude to promote prosocial behaviors, encourage personal well-being, and foster interpersonal relationships. However, gratitude research has been siloed among these three outcomes of gratitude (moral, wellness, and relational). Similarly, past reviews of gratitude have focused on only one group of outcomes, one of its forms (trait, state, or expressed), or empirical findings without emphasis on the theoretical underpinnings. In contrast, this review recognizes that each type of gratitude, its functions, and outcomes are part of a single process model of gratitude. As such, in the current review we provide a comprehensive assessment of gratitude in the social sciences by distilling and organizing the literature per our process model of episodic gratitude. Then, we translate the insights for management scholars, highlighting possible differences and synergies between extant research and workplace gratitude thereby helping advance “gratitude science” in the workplace. In all, this review (a) examines definitions and operationalizations of gratitude and provides recommendations for organizational research; (b) proposes a process model of episodic workplace gratitude as a conceptual map to guide future OB research on gratitude; (c) reviews empirical gratitude research through the lens of our process model; and (d) discusses the current state of the literature, important differences for workplace gratitude, and future directions for organizational scholars.
... Gratitude is defined as a trait focusing on and appreciating the positive aspects of life (Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010). Over the past two decades, prior research has shown the theoretical link between gratitude and physical health (Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013;Lavelock et al., 2016). Incorporating gratitude into cardiovascular health practices may contribute to improving CVD outcomes. ...
... Similarly, cardiac health behaviors, when measured, demonstrated mixed findings, particularly for health behavior completion. On the other hand, compared to a larger body of evidence in non-CVD populations suggests that gratitude is mediated by mental health and healthy behaviors (Hill et al., 2013;O'Connell & Killeen-Byrt, 2018;O'Connell, O'Shea, & Gallagher, 2016). Several gratitude interventions have been conducted in nonclinical populations or those without chronic diseases. ...
... When individuals experience better physical health due to better mental health, they have more propensity for healthy behaviors such as, physical activity, avoiding unhealthy practices (i.e. dysfunctional eating) and healthier sleeping patterns (Hill et al., 2013;Wolfe & Patterson, 2017). ...
Positive psychological attributes, such as gratitude, play a critical role in improving cardiovascular health outcomes. Gratitude not only enhances psychological, and physical well-being but may also alter biomarkers of risk for cardiovascular disease. However, there are limited studies examining this. This paper provides a state-of-the-science review of the literature examining links between gratitude and cardiovascular health outcomes (biomarkers and adherence). Data sources included PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO. Results of 13 studies (from an original pool of 234), both experimental (n = 11) and non-experimental (n = 2) show that gratitude positively impacts biomarkers such as endothelial dysfunction, prognostic inflammatory markers, and improves adherence to health behaviors. Heart disease produces immense health and economic burden in the United States and globally. These novel findings demonstrate that gratitude can be a low-cost intervention in health care that can lead to improved health behaviors and better cardiovascular outcomes for patients living with cardiovascular disease.
... The 5-item Health Activities Scale was used to measure different domains of respondents' health-promoting behaviors 67 : nutrition behavior (i.e., ''I make sure to get healthy nutrition''), exercise behavior (i.e., ''To keep fit I try to stay in motion''), psychological self-care (i.e., ''To sustain mental well-being, I try to do something good for myself regularly''), being socially active (i.e., ''I regularly meet up with friends''), and avoiding substance use (i.e., ''I try to avoid negative influences on my health, such as alcohol consumption and/or the use of drugs''). The items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very). ...
... 17 Other cultural characteristics specific to these Taiwanese sexual minority men, such as filial piety, face concerns, and familism also fall outside the scope of this study. Fourth, the psychometric properties of the translated scales 63,66,67 have not been extensively examined, and thus further work is needed to validate the measures and/or develop culturally sensitive instruments among Taiwanese gay and bisexual men. Comparative studies among East Asian countries can also elucidate other sociopolitical correlates in this minority stress response model. ...
Purpose: Health disparities among sexual minority men remain and continue to demand novel interventions. Other than risk reduction, a promising approach is to identify pathways to health-promoting behaviors. In this study, depressive symptoms, internalized homophobia, and sense of community connectedness were hypothesized to result from the experience of harassment and rejection, and in turn either promote or inhibit an individual's tendency toward health-promoting behaviors. We accounted for subgroup differences by examining the hypothesized model in gay and bisexual men separately.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey study. One thousand three hundred eighty-one gay (81.5%) and bisexual (18.5%) Taiwanese men 18–49 years of age (mean = 26.56, standard deviation = 6) were recruited through a social media advertisement and completed an online survey. Structural equation modeling was employed to simultaneously examine multiple hypothesized paths.
Results: Harassment and rejection were associated with greater depressive symptoms, internalized homophobia, and sense of community connectedness, which in turn yielded direct or indirect associations with health-promoting behavior among gay men. For bisexual men, depressive symptoms remained an important mechanism linking harassment and rejection and health-promoting behavior, whereas the roles of internalized homophobia and sense of community connectedness appeared less obvious.
Conclusion: These findings cast new light on the behavioral implications of minority stress and elucidate the possible underlying mechanisms. The study suggests that more effort should be invested to understand and promote the drivers of health-promoting behavior to reduce health disparities in this population.
... Fewer studies have examined the relation between gratitude and physical well-being, which has been identified as an important area for future research (Wood et al., 2010). Trait gratitude has been linked to perceptions of health (Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013) and health behavior adherence (Millstein et al., 2016). ...
... First, trait gratitude alone was not associated with HRQoL, similar to the nonsignificant results of Millstein and colleagues (2016), who examined physical well-being. However, this finding is inconsistent with other studies that demonstrated significant associations of trait gratitude with mental well-being (Wood et al., 2010) and physical well-being (Hill et al., 2013;Krause, Emmons, & Ironson, 2015). Key differences in this study include a nonclinical, young adult sample compared to older adults and clinical samples; age and clinical status may moderate this link and future research should consider sampling a wider age range. ...
Gratitude has been consistently linked to well-being, but its influence on health-related functioning is not well understood. Furthermore, research suggests the need to differentiate between-person and within-person effects of personality characteristics, and research on gratitude and health has not typically done so. This prospective study aimed to (1) differentiate the unique effects of trait and state gratitude on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and (2) test state gratitude as a mediator between baseline trait gratitude and subsequent HRQoL. Undergraduate participants (N = 141) completed a trait gratitude measure at baseline and then repeated measures of weekly state gratitude and HRQoL over eight weeks. Multilevel models examined baseline trait gratitude, state gratitude averaged across the study (person aggregate) as between-person individual differences, and within-person variability in state gratitude (person-centered) as predictors of HRQoL, as well as the indirect effect of trait gratitude on HRQoL via state gratitude. Greater aggregate and person-centered state gratitude each predicted higher HRQoL. Baseline trait gratitude did not have a significant direct effect but prospectively predicted higher HRQoL via higher weekly state gratitude. Results suggest that understanding effects of gratitude on health-related perceptions requires accounting for both between-person individual differences and within-person fluctuation in state gratitude.
... En effet, la gratitude, qu'elle soit examinée comme un trait ou un état, améliore la santé physique des individus (McCullough et al., 2001). Elle est positivement associée aux comportements de promotion de santé (e.g., activités physiques, solliciter de l'aide, nombre d'heures de sommeil), et par conséquent à une meilleure santé physique perçue (Emmons & McCullough, 2003;Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013). Cet effet bénéfique est également observé sur les variables négatives de santé psychique : la gratitude est négativement associée à la présence de symptômes de troubles anxio-dépressifs (McCullough et al., 2002; O'Connell, O'Shea, (Fagley, 2012;Hill et al., 2013;McCullough et al., 2002;. ...
... Elle est positivement associée aux comportements de promotion de santé (e.g., activités physiques, solliciter de l'aide, nombre d'heures de sommeil), et par conséquent à une meilleure santé physique perçue (Emmons & McCullough, 2003;Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013). Cet effet bénéfique est également observé sur les variables négatives de santé psychique : la gratitude est négativement associée à la présence de symptômes de troubles anxio-dépressifs (McCullough et al., 2002; O'Connell, O'Shea, (Fagley, 2012;Hill et al., 2013;McCullough et al., 2002;. ...
La littérature montre clairement le rôle des émotions collectives (i.e., répondant à des évènements impliquant le groupe d'appartenance) sur les relations intergroupes. Les études existantes ont majoritairement examiné les effets bénéfiques des émotions morales négatives (e.g., culpabilité ; Wohl & Branscombe, 2005) ou des émotions suscitées par des événements négatifs (e.g., sympathie ; Iyer. Leach, & Crosby, 2003), sur les relations intergroupes. Dans cette lignée, nous souhaitions examiner l'effet d'une émotion morale et positive : la gratitude, une émotion générée par la perception d'avoir été la cible de la bienveillance d'autrui (McCullough, Kilpatrick, Emmons, & Larson, 2001). Au delà de ses bénéfices intra-individuels, la gratitude favorise les tendances pro-sociales, renforce les relations (Bartlett & DeSteno, 2006) et diminue l'usage des stéréotypes (Jackson, Lewandowski, Fleury, & Chin, 2001). Si les bénéfices de cette émotion ont été largement examinés dans un contexte interpersonnel (Bartlett & DeSteno, 2006), aucune étude, à notre connaissance, ne s'est intéressée à son impact en tant qu'émotion collective au niveau des rapports intergroupes. Ce travail de thèse a ainsi pour objectif d'identifier les conditions d'apparition de la gratitude collective et les effets de celle-ci sur la perception et les attitudes à l'égard des immigrés. Nous prédisions que (a) la saillance des contributions positives de l'immigration susciterait de la gratitude collective chez les membres de l'endogroupe. En retour, (b) la gratitude collective engendrerait moins de préjugés et plus de comportements positifs envers les immigrés. A cette fin, nous avons mené deux études corrélationnelles (une transversale et une longitudinale) et six études expérimentales, impliquant un total de 1913 participants. Dans ces dernières, les émotions étaient induites en manipulant plusieurs méthodes distinctes : lecture de textes, visionnage de supports vidéo, rappel d'événements historiques. Les résultats montrent que la connaissance des contributions des immigrés s'accompagne de niveaux plus élevés de gratitude collective envers les immigrés, comparée à une condition contrôle ou une autre émotion positive (e.g., joie). En retour, le ressenti de gratitude collective est associé à une réduction des préjugés, une augmentation des attitudes positives envers les immigrés et une plus forte perception de coopération entre les groupes, comparativement aux autres conditions. Les résultats mettent également en lumière le rôle modérateur de l'orientation politique sur la propension à ressentir de la gratitude collective. L'ensemble de nos résultats suggère ainsi que la gratitude collective a un effet bénéfique dans l'amélioration des relations intergroupes.
... Kişiler arası şükran ve minnettarlık, daha iyi fiziksel ve psikolojik sağlık, daha fazla mutluluk ve yaşam memnuniyeti, daha az maddecilik olmak üzere; bireylere birçok fayda sağlamaktadır(Allen, 2018). Yeni bir araştırma alanı olsa da sayıları gün geçtikçe artan çalışmalar; kişiler arası şükran ve minnettarlık duyan insanların, fiziksel olarak daha sağlıklı hale gelebileceklerini ve daha sağlıklı yaşam tarzlarını benimseyebileceklerini göstermektedir(Hill, Allemand & Roberts, 2013;Krause & Hayward, 2014;McCraty, Atkinson, Tiller, Rein & Watkins, 1995). Bunun yanında kişiler arası şükran ve minnettarlık kavramlarının öznel iyi oluş, yaşam doyumu(McCullough ve diğ., 2002;Peterson, Ruch, Beermann, Park & Seligman, 2007;, iyimserlik(Hill & Allemand, 2011; McCullough ve diğ., 2002), umut (McCullough ve diğ., 2002, olumlu etki(Hill & Allemand, 2011; McCullough ve diğ., 2002;Sun & Kong, 2013; Watkins ve diğ., 2003) ve mutluluk (McCullough ve diğ., 2002; Watkins ve diğ., 2003) ile pozitif yönde ilişkili olduğuna dair çalışmalar da mevcuttur. ...
Şükran ve minnettarlık aralarında benzerlikler ve farklılıklar bulunan birbirleri ile ilişkili kavramdır. Alanyazın incelendiğinde şükran ve minnettarlığın günlük yaşamda ve akademik tartışmalarda birbirlerinin yerine kullanılmakta olduğu görülmektedir. Ancak bu iki kavram arasında dikkat edilmesi gereken bazı önemli farklılıklar bulunmaktadır. Bu kavramların kuramsal alt yapıları incelendiğinde şükranın, manevi ve kişiler arası boyutlarda değerlendirildiği; minnettarlığın ise sadece kişiler arası bir boyutta değerlendirildiği anlaşılmaktadır. Bu bakımdan şükran ve minnettarlık kavramları arasındaki benzerliğin ve farklılığın; şükran kavramının iki boyutlu yapısından kaynaklandığı söylenebilir. Şükran kavramı bu bakımdan minnettarlığı da içine alan daha geniş bir yapıya sahiptir. Minnettarlık, şükran kavramının sadece gözle görülebilen, toplumsal yaşamdaki somut boyutuna denk gelmektedir. Ancak şükran, minnettarlığı da kapsayan kişiler arası şükran boyutunun ötesinde; dini, felsefi ve büyüsel alanı da içinde barındıran manevi bir boyuta da sahiptir. Bu araştırmada, öncelikle şükran ve minnettarlık kavramları tanıtılmış, daha sonra da kavramlar arasındaki benzerlikler ve farklılıklar ortaya koyulmaya çalışılmıştır. & Gratitude and thankfulness are related concepts having similarities and differences. When the literature is examined, it is seen that gratitude and thankfulness are used interchangeably in daily life and academic discussions. However, there are some significant differences between these two concepts. When the theoretical underlying of these concepts is examined, it is seen that gratitude is evaluated in two dimensions: spiritual and interpersonal while thankfulness is evaluated only in a single dimension: interpersonal. In this regard, the similarities and differences between the concepts of gratitude and thankfulness stem from the two-dimensional structure of the concept of gratitude. Thus, the concept of gratitude is a more comprehensive concept encompassing the concept of thankfulness. Thankfulness only corresponds to the concrete dimension of gratitude that is visible to the eye in the social life. However, gratitude has a spiritual dimension going beyond the interpersonal dimension and including religious, philosophical and mysterious aspects. In the current study, first, the concepts of gratitude and thankfulness are introduced and then similarities and differences between the concepts are attempted to be revealed.
... With this in mind, personality scientists have turned to considering the facets that comprise these traits in order to most effectively capture individual differences and have more precise predictions of experiencing certain life outcomes (Costa & McCrae, 1995;DeYoung, Quilty, & Peterson, 2007;Soto & John, 2017). Other work has taken it a step further to consider traits that are separate from the Big Five, rather than smaller aspects of which a Big Five trait is comprised (Condon, 2018 (Assad, Donnellan, & Conger, 2007;Lemola, Räikkönen, Gomez, & Allemand, 2013), and gratitude (Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013), in order to understand how our dispositions predict different life outcomes. While this evaluation of narrower traits is an improvement in understanding both what makes up a person and greater specificity in trait-related predictions, some of these narrower traits have been misunderstood or overlooked, such as sense of purpose. ...
The current chapter posits that sense of purpose and purpose in life are individual differences that find a natural home in personality science. Situating these constructs within personality psychology allows for an abundance of future research opportunities to illuminate clearer answers to questions such as what the daily life of a purposeful person looks like, what behaviors purposeful people enact, and the unique lifespan trajectories of purpose. Before discussing the research questions personality psychology methodology will support answering, I begin by defining the two main purpose constructs of interest: sense of purpose and purpose in life. From there, I integrate these constructs into three main personality frameworks to provide initial evidence for purpose being an important factor in personality theory. I then discuss the history of purpose within personality science, and why it is distinct from the work that has previously been done in the field. I close the chapter by describing essential questions that exist in purpose research, and offering recommendations for addressing them using personality methodology.
... As a state, gratitude is "a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness, and appreciation for life" (Emmons and Shelton 2002, p. 460). A lot of studies have shown that trait gratitude plays an important role in physical health and mental health (Cheng et al. 2015;Hill et al. 2013;O'Connell et al. 2016). Therefore, the present study focused on trait gratitude. ...
Alkozei et al. (J Happiness Stud 19(6):1–24, 2017) proposed a cognitive model and a psycho-social model for understanding the link of trait gratitude to subjective well-being. The present study examined the two models by testing the mediating role of social support and resilience in the trait gratitude-subjective well-being link in Chinese adolescents. A total of 1445 adolescents (mean age = 15.03 years, SD = 1.95) completed the Gratitude Questionnaire, Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Mediation analyses indicated that both social support and resilience independently mediated the link of trait gratitude with subjective well-being. Besides, effect contrasts revealed that the mediating effect of social support was not significantly different from that of resilience in the link of trait gratitude with subjective well-being. These findings suggest that social support and resilience perform as mediators in the relationship between trait gratitude and subjective well-being, supporting an integrated cognitive and psycho-social model.
... Expressing gratitude can boost psychological and physical well-being (Hill et al., 2013;Seligman et al., 2005). Effective gratitude strategies include expressing gratitude to another person (e.g., by writing a gratitude letter) or privately to oneself (e.g., by journaling about one's fortunes in a diary) (Kaczmarek et al., 2015). ...
Although research has identified dozens of behavioral and psychosocial strategies for boosting resilience in adults, little is known about the common underlying pathways. A comprehensive review of these strategies using an affective neuroscience approach indicates three distinct general routes to resilience (Fig. 1A): 1) down-regulating the negative (e.g., exposure, cognitive reappraisal) by reducing distress-related responses of the amygdala, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and autonomic nervous system; 2) up-regulating the positive (e.g., optimism, social connectedness) by activating mesostriatal reward pathways, which in turn can buffer the effects of stress; and 3) transcending the self (e.g., mindfulness, religious engagement) by reducing activation in the default mode network, a network associated with self-reflection, mind-wandering, and rumination. Some strategies (e.g., social support) can boost resilience via more than one pathway. Under- or over-stimulation of a pathway can result in vulnerability, such as over-stimulation of the reward pathway through substance abuse. This tripartite model of resilience-building is testable, accounts for a large body of data on adult resilience, and makes new predictions with implications for practice.
... In cardiac patients, for example, greater gratitude has been associated with better sleep, less fatigue, less depressed mood, better cardiac-specific self-efficacy, and lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers (12), as well as better self-reported adherence to medication, exercise, diet, stress reduction recommendations (11,14) and lower rates of cardiac readmissions at 6-months (15). In healthy adults, gratitude has been associated with better selfreported physical health, engagement in healthy activities, and willingness to seek help for J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Journal Pre-proof health concerns (16). Suffice to say, observational studies of gratitude consistently link it to better health outcomes. ...
Objective
Gratitude interventions are easy-to-deliver, offering promise for use in clinical-care. Although gratitude interventions have consistently shown benefits to psychological wellbeing, the effects on physical health outcomes are mixed. This systematic review aims to synthesize gratitude intervention studies which assessed physical health and health behavior outcomes, as well as evaluate study quality, comment on their efficacy, and provide directions for future research.
Methods
Relevant studies were identified through searches conducted in PsycINFO, MedLine, Embase and Cochrane Library databases, up until August 2019. Only studies that evaluated a gratitude intervention, randomly assigned participants to gratitude and control conditions, and assessed objective and subjective measures of physical health and health behaviors were included. The Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias (RoB2) tool was used to assess risk of bias.
Results
Of the 1433 articles found, 19 were included in the review. Subjective sleep quality was improved in 5/8 studies. Improvements in blood pressure, glycemic control, asthma control and eating behavior were understudied yet demonstrated improvements (all 1/1). Other outcome categories remain understudied and mixed, such as inflammation markers (1/2) and self-reported physical symptoms (2/8). The majority of studies showed some risk of bias concerns.
Conclusions
Although it was suggested gratitude interventions may improve subjective sleep quality, more research is still needed to make firm conclusions on the efficacy of gratitude interventions on improving health outcomes. Further research focusing on gratitude's link with sleep and causal mechanisms is needed, especially in patient populations where more ‘clinically-usable’ psychosocial interventions are urgently needed.
... Research shows that gratitude predicts psychological subjective well-being (Sadeghi & Pour, 2015), while well-being is a positive predictor of physical health (Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013). Thus, gratitude is related to physical health. ...
... Positive interactions with parents during childhood always linked to experience of more supportive social relationships, which foster wellbeing and contribute to better physical and mental health [13]. Besides, warm memory of parental affection in childhood could also provide benefit that help reducing stress and promote positive health behaviors [36,37]. On the other side, negative discipline and excessive control from parents may increase anxiety and depressive symptoms and affect the following health trajectory in adulthood [34,38]. ...
Backgrounds
The impact of relationships in early childhood may be long-lasting and reaching to mid to late life. Limited studies have investigated the associations between parenting style and different aspects of well-being beyond adolescence. The current study aims to examine the association between parenting styles and multiple dimensions of functioning in mid-and later-life adults.
Methods
We used data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) was applied to examine the association between retrospective parenting styles/behaviors in childhood and health outcome.
Results
Compared with authoritative style, authoritarian style predicted worse self-rated health (coefficient = − 0.13, P < 0.001), cognitive function (− 0.23, P < 0.05) and depressive symptom (0.87, P < 0.001). Paternal affection was associated with more health outcome in mid- and late life than maternal affection. Only paternal affection was a significant predictor of mid- and late life health among male adults, while both paternal and maternal affection were strong predictors among female adults. Authoritative style was associated more positive health outcomes in mid- and late life among adults with literate parents than those with illiterate parents.
Conclusion
This study provides evidence for the link between parenting behaviors in early life stage and physical and psychological functioning in mid- to late adulthood. Authoritative style, and the memory of parental affection, particularly from father and educated parents, could have long-lasting positive influence on children’s physical and mental well-being, which further support the life-course perspective on human development.
... This result is consistent with the findings, mentioned previously in the literature, of those studies showing that gratitude education is effective on students (Eliüşük Bülbül, 2018;Emmons and Crumpler 2000;Froh, Bono and Emmons, 2010;Froh, Kashdan, Ozimkowski and Miller, 2009;Froh et al., 2008;Froh, Yurkewicz and Kashdan, 2009; https://sites.google.com/a/pride.hofstra.edu/jeffrey-j-froh/publications; Koo, Algoe, Wilson and Gilbert, 2008;Ma, Kibler and Sly, 2013;Sheldon and Lyubomirsky, 2006) or adults (Bartlett and DeSteno, 2006;Frias, Watkins, Webber and Froh, 2010;Geraghty, Wood and Hyland, 2010;Hill, Allemand and Roberts, 2013;Kam, 2015;Kashdan, Uswatte and Julian, 2006;Killen and Macaskill, 2015;McCullough et al., 2002;McCullough et al., 2004;Pohling et al., 2018;Wood, Joseph and Linley, 2007;Wood, Joseph, Lloyd and Atkins, 2009;Wood, Maltby, Gillett, Linley and Joseph, 2008;Szczesny, 2014) at various ages, in general, and of those studies showing its positive effects specially on teachers (Chan, 2010;Chin-Ting and Yin Yeh, 2014;Howells and Cumming, 2011). In addition, there are several reasons highlighting the findings of this study among all these findings in the literature. ...
The purpose of this study is to develop and examine the effectiveness of the "Thank You-T" Gratitude Education Program (TYGEP-T) for Turkish elementary school teachers. TYGEP-T aims to contribute elementary school teachers to develop their skills to recognize and express gratitude and review the school-based activities they can do to make gratitude a part of their "school culture". A pre-test, post-test, and follow-up experimental design with one treatment and one none-treatment control group were used to examine the effectiveness of the program, with a sample of 23 elementary school teachers. Results revealed that after the TYGEP-T a significant difference appeared between the total gratitude scores of the experimental group and the control group. This difference disappeared in the follow-up test. Moreover, in this study in a more different way than the former studies, the effects of the program on the sub-dimensions of gratitude, Lack of Sense of Deprivation (LOSD), Simple Appreciation (SA) and Appreciation of Others (AO), were examined. In terms of subscale scores, while the program is considered effective in increasing LOSD and AO scores, permanency was only observed in AO scores.
... Most previous studies of gratitude have focused on gratitude as a trait. These studies found that trait gratitude is associated with increased well-being (Emmons & McCullough, 2003), more prosocial behaviors (Bartlett & DeSteno, 2006), an increased sense of meaning (Kleiman et al., 2013), a lower level of suicidal ideation (Li et al., 2012), fewer self-reported physical symptoms (Hill et al., 2013), and better subjective sleep quality (Wood et al., 2009). Relatively, a smaller number of studies have examined the effect of gratitude as an affective state on well-being (for exceptions, see Algoe et al., 2010;Kashdan et al., 2006;Nezlek et al., 2017Nezlek et al., , 2019Sztachańska et al., 2019;Zygar et al., 2018). ...
Objectives
Numerous studies have shown that gratitude can improve mental health of people facing stressful events. However, most studies in this area have been based on laboratory experiments and retrospective surveys, rather than actual situations in which people are experiencing stress. Moreover, few studies have examined whether age moderates the benefits of gratitude. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused enormous psychological distress worldwide. Evidence-based strategies are needed to enhance well-being during this stressful time. This study attempted to fill these gaps by examining the benefits of feeling gratitude every day during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Method
A sample of 231 participants from mainland China aged 18 to 85 years participated in a 14-day daily diary study. After a pretest to collect demographic data, information on gratitude, daily positive and negative affect, perceived stress related to COVID-19, and subjective health were measured using daily questionnaires on 14 consecutive days. One month after the daily diary period, information on affective experiences, life satisfaction, and subjective health was collected as a follow-up survey.
Results
On days when individuals feel more gratitude than usual, they report more positive affect, a lower level of perceived stress related to COVID-19, and better subjective health on the concurrent day (Day N). Individuals also report a lower level of stress related to COVID-19 on the following day (Day N+1), when they feel more gratitude than usual on Day N. Higher levels of gratitude across the 14-day study period was associated with a higher level of positive affect and a lower level of negative affect, but was not associated with life satisfaction or subjective health at the one-month follow-up assessment.
Discussion
These findings demonstrate the benefits of gratitude in a naturalistic situation that induced stress and anxiety.
... Emmons and Mishra (2011) suggest that feeling grateful for the good things in one's life may promote more efficient physical functioning (physical resources) by mitigating unhealthy attitudes or advancing health-enhancing inner states (psychological resources). Research shows that gratitude is related to physical health (Hill et al. 2013;McCullough et al. 2002). Those practicing gratitude report fewer physical complaints (Froh et al. 2009) and more regular physical exercise (Emmons and McCullough 2003). ...
This study analyzed the mediating effect of the body–mind–spirit dimensions of wellness between dispositional gratitude and life satisfaction among bachelor’s students enrolled at a midsized private university in Islamabad. Rooted in the Broaden-and-Build theory, the study explains how the positive emotion of gratitude may develop personal resources in terms of wellness behaviors or resources, which subsequently foster life satisfaction. The study sample of 779 students was divided into subsample 1 (n = 389) and subsample 2 (n = 390) through a randomizer to obtain solid results. As predicted, the results from a parallel mediation analysis using Model 4 of the PROCESS macro indicated that the body, mind, and spirit dimensions of wellness mediated the dispositional gratitude → life satisfaction link in the two subsamples. The implications of the results for interventions and future research are discussed.
... One such protective factor, gratitude, may have particular utility for suicide prevention, given a growing body of evidence suggesting its beneficial relation with a diverse array of physical and mental health behaviors and outcomes (i.e. less depression and perceived stress, more positive health behaviors) among college students, adolescents, veterans, and community samples. [5][6][7][8] In our study, we define gratitude as a "worldview toward noticing and appreciating the positive in life." 9(p443) This conceptualization of gratitude as a life orientation, at both the dispositional and state levels, includes engaging in positive social comparisons and behaviors to express gratitude, and appreciating other people. ...
Objective:
Gratitude, or thankfulness for positive aspects of life, is related to psychosocial well-being and decreased psychopathology, and may reduce suicide risk. We explored four potential hypotheses purported to explain the beneficial outcomes of gratitude (schematic, positive affect, broaden-and-build, and coping), hypothesizing that hopelessness (schematic), depression (positive affect), social support (broaden-and-build), and substance use (coping) would mediate the gratitude-suicide linkage. Participants: 913 undergraduate students from a mid-size, southeastern U.S. university. Methods: Respondents completed online self-report questionnaires including the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised, Gratitude Questionnaire, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Duke Social Support Index, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, and Drug Abuse Screening Test. Results: Supporting theory and hypotheses, gratitude was related to less suicide risk via beneficial associations with hopelessness, depression, social support, and substance misuse. Conclusions: The linkage between gratitude and suicide risk appears to be predicated on the beneficial association of gratitude to negative mood and interpersonal functioning.
... High levels of trait gratitude (i.e., the disposition to experience gratitude more frequently) have been associated with a number of psychological and physical health benefits (see Alkozei et al. 2018 for a review). For example, correlational studies have shown that individuals who report high levels of trait gratitude report greater life satisfaction, happiness, and fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as better physical health (e.g., less pain) and better sleep quality (Hill et al. 2013;McCullough et al. 2004;Ng and Wong 2013). Longitudinal studies have also shown that higher levels of trait gratitude can predict greater future subjective wellbeing (SWB) in terms of lower depressive symptoms, lower perceived stress, and reduced risk for suicidality one to six months later (Kleiman et al. 2013a, b;Lambert et al. 2012;Wood et al. 2008). ...
High levels of trait gratitude are associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, but the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship have not been extensively studied. One potential explanation for this relationship is that individuals with higher levels of trait gratitude may have a more positive cognitive style, such that they interpret, attend to, and remember events in a more positive rather than negative manner. This study aimed to explore whether one aspect of a positive cognitive style, a positive interpretation bias, is a mediator in the relationship between trait gratitude and depressive symptoms. During a single visit to the lab, we asked eighty-eight individuals (41 females) to complete a measure of trait gratitude (the Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test [GRAT]), two measures of interpretation bias (the Sentence Completion Test for Depression [SCD], and the Ambiguous Scenarios Test for Depression [ASTD]), and a measure of depressive symptoms (the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI-II]). The results of the mediation analyses indicated that a positive interpretation bias partially explained the relationship between trait gratitude and depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that trait gratitude may reduce depressive symptoms in part through its effects on positive thinking patterns. Future longitudinal studies will be needed to elucidate the causal relationship between these variables in greater detail.
... The current study suggests that Crohn's patients may experience high levels of PA, gratitude and happiness despite living with chronic illness. Since gratitude has been found to lead to higher levels of satisfaction with selfreported health status (Hill, Allemand and Roberts, 2013) ...
Happiness is one of the most desired of all human emotional states (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon and Schkade, 2005) which research suggests is attained by experiencing greater pleasure than pain and living a purposeful and meaningful life (Keyes and Annas, 2009). Historically the focus for psychological research has been on correcting negative behaviours, rather than emulating positive behaviours which lead to increased happiness, such as the experience of gratitude and frequent positive affect (Fredrickson, 2001). However, since the relatively recent development of Positive Psychology, studies increasingly support an acceptance of the benefits of positive behavioural interventions, particularly when applied to Health Psychology (Seligman, 2000). Utilising a self-selecting sample of 160 participants over the age of 18, with a confirmed diagnosis of Crohn's Disease, a remitting and relapsing chronic illness categorised under the heading of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, this study controlled for multiple factors previously considered influential to happiness, proposing that despite living with chronic illness, gratitude and positive affect would be the strongest predictors of happiness in Crohn's patients. Participants responded via online links and forums, to a survey incorporating seven previously published measures, with additional questions regarding socioeconomic status and Crohn's related health history. Results confirmed that gratitude and positive affect were the strongest predictors of subjective happiness scores, suggesting a need for further research into interventions and mechanisms supporting the expansion of Gratitude and PA to promote happiness in Crohn's patients.
... A grateful disposition is related to higher well-being, satisfaction with life, hope and lower stress, anxiety and depression (McCullough et al. 2002;Wood et al. 2010;Wood et al. 2008). People with higher gratitude evaluate their physical health as better, report fewer physical symptoms, and more often exercise (Emmons and McCullough 2003;Hill et al. 2013). Moreover, gratitude is beneficial for social functioning: it facilitates establishing and maintaining relationships, strengthens interpersonal relationships, and stimulates cooperation and prosocial attitudes (Algoe et al. 2008;Ma et al. 2017). ...
Scientific interest in trait gratitude has burgeoned in recent years. However, the majority of studies on this subject do not take into account that the level of gratitude may differ depending on the target. The primary aim of this study was to examine the heterogeneity of a sample of 765 young adults with respect to gratitude toward different interpersonal targets. Six targets of gratitude were considered: mother, father, grandparent(s), sibling(s), partner, and friend(s). Using latent profile analysis, five profiles of young adults with similar combinations of gratitude toward different people were identified: (1) primarily grateful to parents (35.4%), (2) primarily grateful to mother and partner (24.1%), (3) highly grateful to all measured targets (17.1%), (4) primarily grateful to partner and friend(s) (13%), and (5) not highly grateful to any measured target (10.4%). Latent profiles differed in terms of gender, well-being and coping strategies. The study suggests that considering different interpersonal targets of gratitude and using the person-oriented approach may considerably deepen the knowledge on trait gratitude and its relationship with other variables.
... This can contribute to one's belief in the meaning and significance of their individual life path, fortify their resolve to continue striving, and lead to even better psychological coping against past and future stressors (Antonovsky, 1993;Selvaraj & Bhat, 2018). Indeed, studies have shown that purpose in life tends to develop when one has experienced and reflected upon significant life events (Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013;Ryff, 2017), and people have been documented to derive greater meaning out of negative life experiences than positive ones (Tov & Lee, 2016). Further research can examine the role played by purpose in life in turning one's difficulties into strength and resilience against subsequent life stressors, thereby extending our understanding of how purpose contributes to psychological well-being. ...
Background: Childhood emotional abuse and neglect is linked with a host of adverse outcomes later in life, including depression. However, potential psychological resources that may mitigate the adverse outcomes of childhood emotional abuse and neglect are not well-understood.
Aims: Drawing from the insight that having a sense of purpose can help individuals deal with setbacks and difficulties better, we propose that purpose in life can also help sufferers of childhood maltreatment cope more effectively and reduce the onset of depressive symptoms.
Methods: Participants were drawn from two large, nationally representative studies comprising a total of 3664 respondents. Purpose in life, childhood emotional abuse and neglect, and depressive symptoms were measured with validated scales.
Results: We found convergent evidence that purpose in life attenuates the effect of childhood emotional abuse and neglect on subsequent depressive symptoms across a range of measures of mood and depression.
Conclusions: The current study highlights the important role played by purpose in life in building resilience, coping against adverse life events, and psychological well-being.
... However, the sample had racial (33% of the sample was non-Caucasian) and ethnic (17.9% of the sample was Hispanic) diversity. Future research should aim to examine these associations in samples with a more diverse age range, given recent evidence suggesting gratitude is highest in older adults and that the associations between gratitude and health differ across adulthood (Chopik et al., 2019;Hill et al., 2013). ...
Positive affect is associated with more adaptive responses to psychological stress. However, few studies have examined the association between gratitude, a specific type of positive affect, with physiological responses to acute psychological stress. The current study aimed to replicate and extend on previous work examining the associations between state and trait gratitude and cardiovascular stress reactivity in 324 (59.9% female, 67.0% Caucasian, 17.9% Hispanic) healthy participants. State gratitude was measured at the beginning of the laboratory session using the Gratitude Adjective Checklist-Three Items. Trait gratitude was measured using the Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Items. Blood pressure and heart rate reactions to an acute mental arithmetic task were measured. In regression models that adjusted for baseline cardiovascular activity, body mass index, sex, depressive symptomology, performance on the acute mental arithmetic task, and state positive affect, state gratitude was associated with lower systolic blood pressure reactivity. There were no associations between trait gratitude and any of the cardiovascular variables. Results support previous work demonstrating that state, but not trait, gratitude is related to cardiovascular stress reactivity. Higher levels of state gratitude immediately preceding a stressful encounter may be protective.
... For example, research demonstrates that gratitude is positively related to several indicators of subjective well-being including positive affect and satisfaction with life ( McCullough et al., 2002). Gratitude is associated with self-reported physical health (Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013), predicts greater subjective sleep quality and duration (Wood, Joseph, Lloyd, & Atkins, 2009), strengthens social relationships (Algoe, Haidt, & Gable, 2008), helps maintain intimate bonds (Gordon, Impett, Kogan, Oveis, & Keltner, 2012), and leads to more relationship maintenance behaviours (Lambert & Fincham, 2011). ...
Objective:
Gratitude plays an important role for individual and social well-being. However, less is known about the link between gratitude and experiences of interpersonal stressors. The current research examined the associations between gratitude and interpersonal transgressions.
Method:
One cross-sectional study with a broad age range and two daily diary studies (total N = 2,348; total age range: 18-91) were used to test the associations on the between- and within-person level.
Results:
A consistent result across all studies was that dispositionally grateful individuals tended to report fewer interpersonal transgressions than less grateful people. In turn, people who generally reported more interpersonal transgressions were less grateful in daily life. Moreover, higher gratitude on one specific day was associated with fewer reported transgressions on the same day. However, the results from the daily diary studies indicated differences between the samples. Whereas gratitude was consistently associated with interpersonal transgressions in one daily diary sample, the findings in the second daily diary sample were less consistent.
Conclusion:
The present findings suggest that grateful people tend to perceive their social exchanges differently and/or actually experience fewer interpersonal transgressions. Future work is needed to test the underlying mechanisms of this negative association. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... For example, in the current study, the participants reported that it took a significant amount of effort for them to express gratitude which is seen as supposedly the opposite of battling with their illness. Although gratitude is not easy to achieve, it is also considered a paramount task for cancer patients to improve their health and well-being (Hill et al., 2013). Some participants in the current study viewed gratitude as an accomplishment. ...
Gratitude has gained attention among health researchers for its benefits among chronic illness. However, most of the studies were focusing on the positive effects, neglecting the complex dimensions of gratitude that can contribute to both opportunities and challenges for chronic illness patients. This study aims to understand gratitude among cancer patients in Malaysia from a sociocultural perspective. This includes understanding how cancer patients view gratitude and the impacts of gratitude throughout their cancer-battling journey. This qualitative study involved 35 cancer patients. A thematic analysis was done to analyze the collected data. Among the themes discovered were searching for meaning, meaningful experience, gratitude through the enrichment activities, and gratitude as religious cultural expectations. This study suggests that gratitude is an important experience for chronic illness patients. The ability to understand this experience is vital to support and empower the patients throughout their daily lives.
... Once task significance, as the work meaningfulness indicator, is noticed by grateful employees, it could activate the intensity nature of trait gratitude to have high arousal and more energy at work (Fehr et al., 2017;Grant, 2008b;McCullough et al., 2002;Morgeson & Humphrey, 2006;Tett et al., 2021). In this sense, paired with task significance, employees with trait gratitude tend to have high levels of psychological health and physical health, which lays the physical resources foundation for psychological availability (Hill et al., 2013;Kahn, 1990;May et al., 2004). ...
... Individuals with higher levels of gratitude experience better psychological well-being, including lower rates of depression, anxiety, and greater emotional functioning, including more positive affect, less negative affect, and higher life satisfaction (Datu & Mateo, 2015;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Kong et al., 2015;Wood et al., 2010;Wood, Joseph, et al., 2008a, 2008b. Gratitude has also been associated with lower levels of stress (Wood et al., 2008a(Wood et al., , 2008b, stronger social relationships (Algoe, 2012;Algoe et al., 2020), better self-reported physical health (Hill et al., 2013;O'Connell & Killeen-Byrt, 2018), and better cardiovascular and immune health (Cousin et al., 2020;Emmons & Stern, 2013). Research has also shown that gratitude alleviates the negative psychological consequences of stressors such as chronic illness and COVID-19 (Jiang, 2020;Sirois & Wood, 2017), and studies directly testing the stress-buffering effects of gratitude have shown that gratitude reduces the impact of stress on negative health outcomes (Deichert et al., 2019). ...
Exploring ways to mitigate the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic is important for long-term health. Expressive and gratitude-focused writing are effective methods to help individuals process traumatic or stressful events. Gratitude-focused writing may yield additional benefits because it helps individuals appraise events positively. We hypothesized that an online gratitude writing intervention would yield greater benefits than an expressive writing intervention or control group. Participants were randomized to one of three groups and completed assessments one-week and one-month post-intervention. The gratitude
writing group maintained gratitude levels and decreased stress and negative affect at one-month post-intervention. The expressive writing group decreased in gratitude and showed no changes in stress or negative affect at one-month post-intervention. The control group decreased in gratitude and negative affect and showed no changes in stress at one-month post-intervention. Gratitude writing may be a better resource for dealing with stress and negative affect than traditional expressive writing methods under extremely stressful situations
with uncertain trajectories.
... Based on these conceptualizations, previous researchers have described several ways that gratitude affects an individual's wellbeing. Grateful people report better physical health, and they are more likely to engage in physical activity (Hill et al., 2013). The experience of gratitude leads to better sleep, less fatigue and less cellular inflammation (Mills et al., 2015;Wood et al., 2009). ...
Purpose
The aim of the current study was to examine the previously unexplored relationship between positive reframing as a mediator between gratitude and technostress in Indian students. By examining this relationship, the authors aim to expand the theoretical domain of gratitude research by examining its potential influence on technology-induced stress.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey was used to collect and analyze data from 552 Indian college students who participated in graduate and postgraduate programs across various educational institutions in India. Regression and mediation analyses were performed with both IBM SPSS 25 and AMOS.
Findings
This study’s data suggest that positive reframing plays an important mediating role between gratitude and technostress. Gratitude also encourages positive reframing, which reduced technostress among the students. Taken together, our data showed that gratitude induces positive reframing, which in turn reduces techno-stress among Indian students in the current study.
Research limitations/implications
The sample size in this study is relatively small in relation to the student population in India. The current study relied primarily on quantitative data and analysis and further research could use a mixed-method approach to better understand the underlying mechanisms between positive reframing, gratitude and technostress. The results are derived under an extreme coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic situation; therefore, the results cannot be generalized to normal times.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for teachers, academic leaders, parents and civil society.
Originality/value
Overall, the relationship between positive reframing, gratitude and technostress has not been thoroughly explored. To the best of the authors' understanding, this is the first study to examine the influence of gratitude on technology-induced stress and the role of reframing.
... Több szerző egyetért abban, hogy a hála nem közvetlenül, sokkal inkább közvetett módon, a mentális egészség és a jóllét támogatásán keresztül gyakorol hatását a fizikai egészségre (Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013;Jackowska et al., 2016;Lavelock et al., 2016;Portocarrero, Gonzalez, & Ekema-Agbaw, 2020). Hill és munkatársai (2013) a hála és a fizikai egészség összefüggéseit három lehetséges okkal magyarázták. ...
Background and aims: Becoming a mother that is the forty weeks of pregnancy is a highlighted stage of life for a woman. It is a determinative period for both the mother and her child, who is to be born. Therefore, the preservation of mental health and support for women is especially important in prenatal care.
Methods: This study aims to explore the relationship between dispositional gratitude, mental health, and prenatal development in pregnant women. Our study analyses questionnaire data (mental health test, short gratitude questionnaire) from 513 pregnant women who applied for genetic testing. Of the mothers who completed the questionnaire, 322 had an ultrasound, 295 had a risk assessment for a genetic disorder and 294 had a risk assessment for toxemia.
Results: The study results revealed a positive correlation of medium strength between dispositional gratitude and mental health. Higher levels of dispositional gratitude were most strongly associated with global well-being and the ability to savor. None of the prenatal developmental risks showed a direct correlation with mental health, but there was lower mental health when risks were cumulative.
Conclusion: In particular, pregnant women need professional mental health support alongside healthcare, so improving the well-being of pregnant women is a key priority, alongside maintaining their health. A potential means of doing this could be to increase gratitude, for example through gratitude diary. As an extension of this study, a longitudinal investigation of the use of gratitude interventions with expecting mothers was undertaken.
Keywords: gratitude, mental health, pregnancy, pregnancy toxemia.
... Health-promoting behavior was measured by Healthy Activities Scale (Hill et al., 2013). The same translation procedure described above also applied to this scale. ...
Equality for marriage and reproduction has become a major policy agenda worldwide. Opportunities for sexual minority individuals to pursue planned parenthood through assisted reproductive technologies, adoption or surrogacy emerged only recently. Perhaps due to socio-cultural and structural barriers, sexual minority individuals consistently report lower parenthood desires and intentions than heterosexual individuals. Using a cross-sectional online survey, we examined the relationship between parenthood desire and demographic and psychosocial characteristics in a sample of 1,395 gay and bisexual men in Taiwan. Results showed that sexual orientation, relationship status, psychosocial well-being and cultural factors such as filial piety are significant predictors of parenthood desire. Implications for social work practice are discussed.
... Various researches have shown that trait gratitude is linked with better physical health (Hill, Allemand & Roberts, 2013;O'Connell, O'Shea, & Gallagher, 2016). Trait gratitude has been defined as a "part of a wider life orientation towards noticing an appreciating the positive in the world" (Wood, et al., 2010, p891). ...
Positive Psychology emerged in the 1990s and new paradigm comes into existence for understanding human behaviour from human weaknesses to human strengths. Forgiveness and gratitude are constructs of Positive Psychology. Peterson and Seligman (2004) have classified forgiveness and gratitude as human virtues and strengths. There is something common in forgiveness and gratitude. Forgiveness is a positive psychological response to interpersonal harm and gratitude is a positive psychological response to interpersonal benefits (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). In positive psychology, gratitude as an emotion is not only being grateful, but also having greater appreciation for someone or something. Forgiveness happens when one offers mercy to the one who has wronged us instead of holding on to anger. Forgiveness and gratitude are personality qualities that can significantly improve physical and psychological well-being. Individuals, who learn to forgive, reported improvement in stress tolerance, sleeping habits and overall well-being. Gratitude also increases happiness, empathy feeling and decreases aggression and depression. Forgiveness and gratitude both are very essential to strengthen human relationship that is core behind to subjective well-being. In another words forgiveness and gratitude are positive characteristics of human that are connected to subjective well-being. The present paper is an attempt to incorporate the constructs of forgiveness and gratitude in connection to subjective well-being that have implications for health enhancements.
... Research on the topic of gratitude has increased exponentially over the last two decades, spurred by the various psychosocial benefits that gratitude confers. For example, gratitude is positively related to life satisfaction , adaptive coping (Wood et al., 2007), improved sleep patterns (Wood et al., 2009), better physical health (Hill et al., 2013), positive social relationships and affiliation (Algoe, 2012;Algoe et al., 2008;Bartlett et al., 2012), wellbeing at work (Waters, 2012;Waters & Stokes, 2015) and prosocial behaviors (Ma et al., 2017). More recently, attention in this field has questioned the universality of gratitude experiences and moved towards examining gratitude in relation to the sociocultural context in which it is being studied (see, for example, Merçon-Vargas et al., 2018). ...
Examinations of the influence of culture on how gratitude is experienced are sparse, as are studies that simultaneously explore developmental differences in understandings of gratitude. This paper presents three studies that examine whether perceptions and experiences of gratitude differ across children, adolescents and adults in two individualistic, WEIRD and Commonwealth cultures—Australia and the UK. Studies 1a ( N = 88, ages 17–39) and 1b ( N = 77, ages 17–25) provide initial insights into “features of gratitude” in Australia through two stages of a prototype analysis. These features are compared to a previous prototype study of gratitude in the UK, alongside a further comparison to the US. Study 2 employs vignettes to examine how perceptions of the benefactor, benefit and mixed emotions influence the degree of gratitude experienced across adolescents and adults in Australia ( N = 1937, ages 11–85), with a comparison to the UK ( N = 398, ages 12–65). In Study 3, factors examined in Study 2 are adapted into accessible story workbooks for younger children (Australia N=135, ages 9–11; UK N=62, ages 9–11). Results across these studies demonstrate similarities and differences in understandings and experiences of gratitude across cultures. While adults across Australia and the UK responded similarly to gratitude scenarios, cross-cultural differences are observed between children and adolescents in these two countries. Developmental differences are noted in relation to more sophisticated reasoning around gratitude, such as recognition of ulterior motives. These findings highlight the need for gratitude research and interventions to be cross-culturally, and developmentally, responsive.
... Not surprisingly, gratitude has been positively associated with well-being (Wood et al., 2010), and experimental and longitudinal studies show that the link from gratitude to well-being is causal (Emmons & McCullough, 2003, 2004Nezlek et al., 2017;Wood et al., 2010). Gratitude has also been associated with better subjective physical health (Hill et al., 2013). ...
Gratitude and optimism are positive psychological dispositions associated with beneficial outcomes. To examine their associations with physiological and psychological experiences in daily life, we examined data from an Ecological Momentary Assessment study (N = 4,825), including blood pressure, heart rate, and reports of stress, health behaviors, and thoughts. Trait gratitude and trait optimism both predicted lower heart rate and blood pressure, better sleep quality, more exercise, less stress, more positive expectations and reflections, and greater feelings of appreciation toward others. However, gratitude and optimism were not completely overlapping constructs: Gratitude was a stronger predictor of felt appreciation toward others and pleasantness when reflecting on the best part of the day, whereas optimism was a stronger predictor of sleep quality, lower stress, and lower unpleasantness when reflecting on the worst part of the day. These associations reveal both similar and differential influences of positive dispositions on psychological and physiological outcomes that provide insight into health consequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
... Moreover, gratitude can be expected to work as a potential factor that alleviates health problems among older adults: the number of people who suffer from chronic diseases that lead to increased mental health disorders and impaired well-being increases with age [8,9], partially due to retirement and loss of loved ones [10][11][12]. Previous studies have found that older adults with higher levels of gratitude are more likely to show the advantages of physical and mental health [7,13,14]. ...
Background:
Childhood maltreatment can impede gratitude, yet little is known about the older population and its moderators. The aim of this study is to clarify the association between childhood maltreatment and levels of gratitude of the older population, and the moderating effect of social ties on the association.
Methods:
We analyzed the data of 524 community-dwelling older adults aged 65-84 years without functional disabilities in Tokamachi City, Niigata, Japan, collected for the Neuron to Environmental Impact across Generations (NEIGE) study in 2017. Using a questionnaire, the participants rated three types of childhood maltreatment before the age of 18 (physical abuse, emotional neglect, and psychological abuse), level of gratitude, and social ties.
Results:
We found an inverse association between emotional neglect and gratitude. Furthermore, emotional neglect was inversely associated with gratitude only for those with lower levels of social ties.
Conclusions:
Promoting social ties may mitigate the adverse impact of emotional neglect on the level of gratitude.
... Adjusting to an unfamiliar socioeconomic environment, while also socially distancing from the familiar and more natural past environment, can be a major stress-inducing process compromising upwardly mobile individuals' psychological and, consequently, physical health. In turn, an alternative perspective, so-called "rags to riches" thesis [20], suggests that upward social mobility could lead to better health outcomes by generating a sense of personal control, boosting psychological well-being from overcoming life course constraints, fostering healthy behaviours and lifestyles, and developing a health conducive sense of gratitude among the upwardly mobile individuals [21][22][23][24][25]. ...
The contemporaneous association between higher socioeconomic position and better health is well established. Life course research has also demonstrated a lasting effect of childhood socioeconomic conditions on adult health and well-being. Yet, little is known about the separate health effects of intergenerational mobility—moving into a different socioeconomic position than one’s parents—among early adults in the United States. Most studies on the health implications of mobility rely on cross-sectional datasets, which makes it impossible to differentiate between health selection and social causation effects. In addition, understanding the effects of social mobility on health at a relatively young age has been hampered by the paucity of health measures that reliably predict disease onset. Analysing 4,713 respondents aged 25 to 32 from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health’s Waves I and IV, we use diagonal reference models to separately identify the effects of socioeconomic origin and destination, as well as social mobility on allostatic load among individuals in the United States. Using a combined measure of educational and occupational attainment, and accounting for individuals’ initial health, we demonstrate that in addition to health gradient among the socially immobile, individuals’ socioeconomic origin and destination are equally important for multi-system physiological dysregulation. Short-range upward mobility also has a positive and significant association with health. After mitigating health selection concerns in our observational data, this effect is observed only among those reporting poor health before experiencing social mobility. Our findings move towards the reconciliation of two theoretical perspectives, confirming the positive effect of upward mobility as predicted by the “rags to riches” perspective, while not contradicting potential costs associated with more extensive upward mobility experiences as predicted by the dissociative thesis.
... This can encourage college students to continue the process of working on their undergraduate thesis completion. Hill et al. [32] explained that grateful individuals will tend to report good physical health. Meanwhile, the appreciation factor for all parts and aspects of life has a role in negative emotions and loneliness. ...
... Since older workers are found to show higher levels of gratitude because the awareness of mortality directs attention to gratitude (Hill et al., 2013), we included age as a control variable. Since highly educated individuals show higher gratitude (Jans-Beken, 2018) due to improved cognitive abilities and awareness, we controlled for level of education. ...
Since workers are increasingly suffering from burnout, there is a need for insights into how burnout can be decreased to improve
subjective well-being. The broaden-and-build theory proposes that gratitude increases well-being through an upward spiral. Few studies have
examined whether gratitude decreases burnout and what mediating behaviors explain this relationship. Using an international sample of
employees (N = 353), this study examines whether work-specific gratitude negatively relates to exhaustion and disengagement. Additionally,
since gratitude stimulates helping through upstream reciprocity, this study investigates whether interpersonal helping behavior (IHB) mediates
these relationships. Our study showed a negative effect of work-specific gratitude on disengagement and exhaustion and a negative relationship between work-specific gratitude and disengagement, mediated by IHB, suggesting that gratitude stimulates IHB, thereby alleviating
disengagement.
Objective: The unprecedented occurrence of a global pandemic is accompanied by both physical and psychological burdens that may impair quality of life. Research relating to COVID-19 aims to determine the effects of the pandemic on vulnerable populations who are at high risk of developing negative health or psychosocial outcomes. Having an ongoing medical condition during a pandemic may lead to greater psychological distress. Increased psychological distress may be due to preventative public health measures (e.g., lockdown), having an ongoing medical condition, or a combination of these factors.
Methods: This study analyses data from an online cross-sectional national survey of adults in Ireland and investigates the relationship between comorbidity and psychological distress. Those with a medical condition (n=128) were compared to a control group without a medical condition (n=128) and matched according to age, gender, annual income, education, and work status during COVID-19. Participants and data were obtained during the first public lockdown in Ireland (27.03.2020–08.06.2020).
Results: Individuals with existing medical conditions reported significantly higher levels of anxiety (p<.01) and felt less gratitude (p≤.001). Exploratory analysis indicates that anxiety levels were significantly associated with illness perceptions specific to COVID-19. Post-hoc analysis reveal no significant difference between the number of comorbidities and condition type (e.g. respiratory disorders).
Conclusion: This research supports individualised supports for people with ongoing medical conditions through the COVID-19 pandemic, and has implications for the consideration of follow-up care specifically for mental health. Findings may also inform future public health policies and post-vaccine support strategies for vulnerable populations.
Recent research suggests that the association between age and gratitude might be curvilinear—despite gratitude ostensibly being higher in middle-age, it might be lower in older adulthood. It is unclear if this curvilinear pattern of age differences in gratitude is found in other samples and whether its manifestation depends on contextual (i.e., national/cultural) characteristics. The current study examined cultural variation in the curvilinear effect of age on gratitude in a sample of over 4.5 million participants from 88 countries. Participants from countries with lower levels of human development, a shorter-term orientation, and higher levels of indulgence reported higher levels of gratitude. Cultural moderation effects were very small, suggesting that curvilinear effects of age on gratitude may be relatively comparable across cultures.
The current study examined the nature of gratitude and future time perspective (FTP) during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the effects of age and virus worry on the associations between gratitude and remaining opportunities and time. Data came from a survey of a representative sample of Swiss adults (N = 1,008; 18–90 years) assessed during the pandemic in 2020. Local structural equation modeling (LSEM) was used to investigate the effects of continuous age and virus worry on mean-levels and correlations. While gratitude was unaffected by age and worry, the remaining opportunities and time factors of FTP decreased across age and levels of worry. The associations between gratitude and the FTP factors were invariant across age and levels of worry. Additionally, using previous cross-sectional data, the study found that associations between gratitude and future time perspective were significantly smaller during the pandemic as compared to an assessment in 2018.
Background
Consistent self-care slows the progression of heart failure (HF). Gratitude, the practice of appreciating the positive aspects of life, may influence self-efficacy, which in turn is known to improve self-care. However, little is known about the relationships among gratitude, self-efficacy, and medication adherence in HF.
Objective
The aim of this study was to test a model to determine if self-efficacy mediates the relationship between gratitude and medication adherence in asymptomatic patients with HF.
Method
This is a secondary analysis of data from a prospective observational study. Data were analyzed using a structural equation model to examine associations between gratitude, cardiac-specific self-efficacy, and medication adherence in 153 patients with HF. Gratitude, self-efficacy, and medication adherence were assessed using the Gratitude Questionnaire-6, Cardiac Self-efficacy Scale–Maintain Function Subscale, and the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, respectively.
Results
Patient mean (SD) age was 66 (11) years, and 95% of the participants were men. Patients were primarily white (79%), black (12%), or Asian (6%). Gratitude exerted an indirect effect on medication adherence through self-efficacy (b = 0.16; P < .05). Gratitude was positively related to self-efficacy (b = 0.50; P < .05), and self-efficacy was positively related to medication adherence (b = 0.31; P < .05). The model fit was acceptable (comparative fit index = 0.92, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.90, root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.08).
Conclusion
In this study, we found evidence that self-efficacy was a mechanism through which gratitude was associated with medication adherence in asymptomatic patients with HF, suggesting a way to improve self-care nonpharmacologically. Future work will examine whether gratitude intervention results in improved self-care.
Affecting one in five people, chronic pain is a complex, multifactorial condition that is challenging for both patients and clinicians. Prevailing pain management, which includes NSAIDS and opioids, has not adequately addressed the growing cohort of those suffering and comes with serious side effects. Current Western diets are high-calorie, micronutrient-deficient and create excessive inflammation. Most pain syndromes are associated with chronic inflammation, altered gut microbiomes, drug-nutrient interactions, nutrient insufficiencies and food sensitivities. Through individual foods, nutrients and dietary patterns, nutrition has preventive, causative, managerial and curative involvement in chronic pain. Using diet and lifestyle as a first-line intervention is empowering for the pain patient, can increase function, and can be potentially transformative.
"Did you know the most dominant apes and monkeys are usually the kindest? They share the most food, groom others more often, break up fights, are slow to anger, and breathe in a relaxed manner. Those on the bottom of the social hierarchy are the opposite. They are stingy, combative, irritable, anxious, depressed, and they breathe shallowly. It is not easy for a submissive primate to become dominant. They have mindsets, mannerisms, and muscle tension that keep them from escaping their subordinate social strategy and the chronic stress it produces.
All of this generalizes to people. If you want to be free of negative emotion, you need to rehabilitate physical trauma in your breath, eyes, face, voice, heart, gut, spine, and brain. Program Peace will coach you to do precisely this by first retraining your breathing pattern, and then walking you through dozens of innovative and effective self-care exercises. After creating new mindsets and mannerisms, and learning to reinvigorate muscles you never knew you had, you will find yourself more confident, healthier, kinder, and reprogrammed for peace."
Dispositional gratitude has emerged in the literature to be associated with many health benefits in measures ranging from self-reported health to biomarkers of cardiovascular risk. However, little is known about the link between dispositional gratitude and lipid profiles. Drawing from the Gratitude and Self-improvement Model that grateful individuals are more likely to strive for actual self-improvement such as engaging in healthy lifestyles, we investigated the relation between dispositional gratitude and serum lipid levels. Participants consisted of 1800 adults from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) 2: Biomarker Project ( N = 1054) and MIDUS Refresher: Biomarker Project ( N = 746). Serum lipid profiles were measured through fasting blood samples. After controlling for demographics, use of antihyperlipidemic mediation, and personality traits, we found that higher dispositional gratitude was associated with lower triglyceride levels. Results also revealed that healthy diets and lower BMI partially mediated the gratitude-triglyceride association. However, some variations in the analytic method may influence the associations between gratitude and triglycerides levels. Our findings provide preliminary evidence suggesting dispositional gratitude as a promising psychological factor that is associated with a healthier lipid profile.
Regression methods were used to select and score 12 items from the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) to reproduce the Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary scales in the general US population (n = 2,333). The resulting 12-item short-form (SF-12) achieved multiple R squares of 0.911 and 0.918 in predictions of the SF-36 Physical Component Summary and SF-36 Mental Component Summary scores, respectively. Scoring algorithms from the general population used to score 12-item versions of the two components (Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary) achieved R squares of 0.905 with the SF-36 Physical Component Summary and 0.938 with the SF-36 Mental Component Summary when cross-validated in the Medical Outcomes Study. Test-retest (2-week) correlations of 0.89 and 0.76 were observed for the 12-item Physical Component Summary and the 12-item Mental Component Summary, respectively, in the general US population (n = 232). Twenty cross-sectional and longitudinal tests of empirical validity previously published for the 36-item short-form scales and summary measures were replicated for the 12-item Physical Component Summary and the 12-item Mental Component Summary, including comparisons between patient groups known to differ or to change in terms of the presence and seriousness of physical and mental conditions, acute symptoms, age and aging, self-reported 1-year changes in health, and recovery from depression. In 14 validity tests involving physical criteria, relative validity estimates for the 12-item Physical Component Summary ranged from 0.43 to 0.93 (median = 0.67) in comparison with the best 36-item short-form scale. Relative validity estimates for the 12-item Mental Component Summary in 6 tests involving mental criteria ranged from 0.60 to 1.07 (median = 0.97) in relation to the best 36-item short-form scale. Average scores for the 2 summary measures, and those for most scales in the 8-scale profile based on the 12-item short-form, closely mirrored those for the 36-item short-form, although standard errors were nearly always larger for the 12-item short-form.
Zusammenfassung. Die zunehmende Etablierung des Fünf-Faktoren-Modells der Persönlichkeit hat zur Folge, dass die so genannten “Big Five“ vermehrt auch in Anwendungskontexten erhoben werden sollen. Da jedoch gerade in diesen Bereichen die Untersuchungszeit oft stark begrenzt ist, sind die herkömmlichen Verfahren zur Erfassung der fünf Faktoren oft zu umfangreich. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde deshalb ein Fragebogen, das BFI-K, entwickelt, das mit 21 Items bzw. einer durchschnittlichen Bearbeitungsdauer unter 2 Minuten als extrem ökonomisch angesehen werden kann. Die Ergebnisse belegen zufriedenstellende psychometrische Kennwerte für das BFI-K. Neben ausreichenden Reliabilitäten konnten sowohl die faktorielle Validität des Verfahrens als auch hohe Übereinstimmungen mit Bekanntenurteilen und mit anderen etablierten Verfahren zu Erfassung des Fünf-Faktoren-Modells bestätigt werden.
This study tests whether gratitude predicts psychological well-being above both the domains and facets of the five factor model. Participants (N = 201) completed the NEO PI-R measure of the 30 facets of the Big Five, the GQ-6 measure of trait gratitude, and the scales of psychological well-being. Gratitude had small correlations with autonomy (r = .17), and medium to large correlations with environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relationships, purpose in life, and self-acceptance (rs ranged from .28 to .61). After controlling for the 30 facets of the Big Five, gratitude explained a substantial amount of a unique variance in most aspects of psychological well-being (requivalent = .14 to .25). Gratitude is concluded to be uniquely important to psychological well-being, beyond the effect of the Big Five facets.
Previous research has established conscientiousness as a predictor of longevity (H. S. Friedman et al., 1993; L. R. Martin & H. S. Friedman, 2000). To better understand this relationship, the authors conducted a meta-analysis of conscientiousness-related traits and the leading behavioral contributors to mortality in the United States (tobacco use, diet and activity patterns, excessive alcohol use, violence, risky sexual behavior, risky driving, suicide, and drug use). Data sources were located by combining conscientiousness-related terms and relevant health-related behavior terms in database searches as well as by retrieving dissertations and requesting unpublished data from electronic mailing lists. The resulting database contained 194 studies that were quantitatively synthesized. Results showed that conscientiousness-related traits were negatively related to all risky health-related behaviors and positively related to all beneficial health-related behaviors. This study demonstrates the importance of conscientiousness' contribution to the health process through its relationship to health-related behaviors.
Conscientious individuals experience better physical health, in part because of their greater propensity to behave in ways that maintain wellness. In the current study we examined whether and how adherence mediates the relation between conscientiousness and physical health. Moreover, we examined whether these effects differed for adhering to doctor's orders (doctor adherence) versus adhering to medication regimens (medication adherence), as the latter is likely more relevant for older adults' health.
A nationwide sample of adults (N = 2,136, Mage = 51 years) completed personality and adherence measures, in addition to a self-report measure of perceived general health, in an online survey. Correlational analyses were performed to examine the basic relations between the constructs of interest. A bootstrapping approach was employed for examining whether the indirect effect through adherence was conditional on age.
Doctor adherence partially mediated the relation between conscientiousness and perceived health across adulthood. However, the indirect effect of medication adherence was conditional on age, insofar that medication adherence mediated the link between conscientiousness and perceived health only for older adults in the sample (i.e., those around age 51 and over).
These results suggest that although conscientious individuals report higher levels of both doctor and medication adherence, the role of adherence in explaining the link between conscientiousness and health may differ across adulthood.
This paper presents a new model of gratitude incorporating not only the gratitude that arises following help from others but also a habitual focusing on and appreciating the positive aspects of life", incorporating not only the gratitude that arises following help from others, but also a habitual focusing on and appreciating the positive aspects of life. Research into individual differences in gratitude and well-being is reviewed, including gratitude and psychopathology, personality, relationships, health, subjective and eudemonic well-being, and humanistically orientated functioning. Gratitude is strongly related to well-being, however defined, and this link may be unique and causal. Interventions to clinically increase gratitude are critically reviewed, and concluded to be promising, although the positive psychology literature may have neglected current limitations, and a distinct research strategy is suggested. Finally, mechanisms whereby gratitude may relate to well-being are discussed, including schematic biases, coping, positive affect, and broaden-and-build principles. Gratitude is relevant to clinical psychology due to (a) strong explanatory power in understanding well-being, and (b) the potential of improving well-being through fostering gratitude with simple exercises.
The personality trait of conscientiousness is an important predictor of health and longevity. The present research examined how conscientiousness, in combination with educational attainment and health-related behaviours, predicted self-reported physical health across adulthood. These relations were investigated in two studies, one using a large, representative sample of Illinois residents (N = 617) and the other using a community sample with a multi-method assessment of conscientiousness (N = 274). Across both studies, structural path analyses provided evidence for a model wherein conscientiousness predicted health, in part, through its relationship to both educational attainment and health-related behaviours. The findings suggest conscientiousness predicts health through a diverse set of mechanisms including, but not limited to, educational attainment and health-related behaviours.
Prior research links optimism to physical health, but the strength of the association has not been systematically evaluated.
The purpose of this study is to conduct a meta-analytic review to determine the strength of the association between optimism and physical health.
The findings from 83 studies, with 108 effect sizes (ESs), were included in the analyses, using random-effects models.
Overall, the mean ES characterizing the relationship between optimism and physical health outcomes was 0.17, p < .001. ESs were larger for studies using subjective (versus objective) measures of physical health. Subsidiary analyses were also conducted grouping studies into those that focused solely on mortality, survival, cardiovascular outcomes, physiological markers (including immune function), immune function only, cancer outcomes, outcomes related to pregnancy, physical symptoms, or pain. In each case, optimism was a significant predictor of health outcomes or markers, all p < .001.
Optimism is a significant predictor of positive physical health outcomes.
To test whether individual differences in gratitude are related to sleep after controlling for neuroticism and other traits. To test whether pre-sleep cognitions are the mechanism underlying this relationship.
A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted with a large (186 males, 215 females) community sample (ages=18-68 years, mean=24.89, S.D.=9.02), including 161 people (40%) scoring above 5 on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, indicating clinically impaired sleep. Measures included gratitude, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), self-statement test of pre-sleep cognitions, the Mini-IPIP scales of Big Five personality traits, and the Social Desirability Scale.
Gratitude predicted greater subjective sleep quality and sleep duration, and less sleep latency and daytime dysfunction. The relationship between gratitude and each of the sleep variables was mediated by more positive pre-sleep cognitions and less negative pre-sleep cognitions. All of the results were independent of the effect of the Big Five personality traits (including neuroticism) and social desirability.
This is the first study to show that a positive trait is related to good sleep quality above the effect of other personality traits, and to test whether pre-sleep cognitions are the mechanism underlying the relationship between any personality trait and sleep. The study is also the first to show that trait gratitude is related to sleep and to explain why this occurs, suggesting future directions for research, and novel clinical implications.
Regression methods were used to select and score 12 items from the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) to reproduce the Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary scales in the general US population (n=2,333). The resulting 12-item short-form (SF-12) achieved multiple R squares of 0.911 and 0.918 in predictions of the SF-36 Physical Component Summary and SF-36 Mental Component Summary scores, respectively. Scoring algorithms from the general population used to score 12-item versions of the two components (Physical Components Summary and Mental Component Summary) achieved R squares of 0.905 with the SF-36 Physical Component Summary and 0.938 with SF-36 Mental Component Summary when cross-validated in the Medical Outcomes Study. Test-retest (2-week)correlations of 0.89 and 0.76 were observed for the 12-item Physical Component Summary and the 12-item Mental Component Summary, respectively, in the general US population (n=232). Twenty cross-sectional and longitudinal tests of empirical validity previously published for the 36-item short-form scales and summary measures were replicated for the 12-item Physical Component Summary and the 12-item Mental Component Summary, including comparisons between patient groups known to differ or to change in terms of the presence and seriousness of physical and mental conditions, acute symptoms, age and aging, self-reported 1-year changes in health, and recovery for depression. In 14 validity tests involving physical criteria, relative validity estimates for the 12-item Physical Component Summary ranged from 0.43 to 0.93 (median=0.67) in comparison with the best 36-item short-form scale. Relative validity estimates for the 12-item Mental Component Summary in 6 tests involving mental criteria ranged from 0.60 to 107 (median=0.97) in relation to the best 36-item short-form scale. Average scores for the 2 summary measures, and those for most scales in the 8-scale profile based on the 12-item short-form, closely mirrored those for the 36-item short-form, although standard errors were nearly always larger for the 12-item short-form.
We examine the growing number of studies of survey respondents' global self-ratings of health as predictors of mortality in longitudinal studies of representative community samples. Twenty-seven studies in U.S. and international journals show impressively consistent findings. Global self-rated health is an independent predictor of mortality in nearly all of the studies, despite the inclusion of numerous specific health status indicators and other relevant covariates known to predict mortality. We summarize and review these studies, consider various interpretations which could account for the association, and suggest several approaches to the next stage of research in this field.
In four studies, the authors examined the correlates of the disposition toward gratitude. Study I 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 I 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.
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.
Numerous changes in physiological functioning accompany the aging process. Gradual declines in fundamental aspects of the neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and immune systems contribute to increased risks for morbidity and mortality. Importantly, alterations in physiological processes are not invariant with age but are influenced by individual differences in vulnerability and resilience that accrue across the life span. In this review, I focus on what is known about positive emotion as a contributing factor in lowering morbidity and mortality in older adults. I describe plausible pathways that may underlie the association between positive emotion and health and review illustrative studies examining these pathways. The findings point to new research questions that pose important research opportunities.
The purpose of this studywas to see if feeling grateful to God reduces the deleterious effects of stress on health in late life. In addition, an effort was made to test for gender differences in this process. Three main findings emerged from the analysis of data provided by a nationwide sample of older adults. First, the data suggest that olderwomen are more likely to feel grateful to God than older men. Second, the results revealed that the effects of stress (e.g., living in a deteriorated neighborhood) on health are reduced for older people who feel more grateful to God. Finally, the analyses indicated that the potentially important stress-buffering properties of gratitude toward God emerge primarily among older women but not older men.
Following recent guidelines for moral personality research, this study sought to provide insights into how moral personality traits influence well-being in adulthood. Using a large sample of Swiss adults (N = 962), we examined the roles of gratitude and forgivingness on well-being in adulthood (assessed as positive affect, negative affect, optimism, pessimism, and satisfaction with life). Our results point to three primary findings. First, grateful and forgiving adults report greater well-being in adulthood and these effects are not moderated by age, gender, or marital status. Second, both traits uniquely predict well-being when controlling for each other, suggesting the importance of studying multiple moral personality variables. Third, these two traits largely remained significant predictors of well-being when controlling for the Big Five traits. Results are discussed with respect to their place within current directions in moral personality research as well as how they provide a foundation for future work.
ABSTRACT The concept of a moderator variable has a long and checkered history in personality psychology. In this article I review the methodological and conceptual advances in recent moderator variable research. I then report the results of a number of empirical analyses of three newly proposed idiographic moderator variables: scalability, metatraits, and construct similarity, as well as the ipsatized variance index. The results of these analyses indicate that moderator effect sizes in personality can be expected to correspond to a correlation of about. 10:1 then consider two recent prescriptions, (a) aggregating trait-specific moderators into general ones, and (b) evaluating joint (e.g., triple interaction) moderator effects. Following these prescriptions did not increase the size of the moderator effects in these data. I conclude that moderator effects in personality will be small, and will thus be most reliably detected in very large samples with predictors that are strongly related to the criteria. Even small moderator effects can be important and interesting in the context of theory disconfirmation. However, moderator variables generally will not serve to transform weak relations among personality variables into strong ones.
A growing body of literature supports a link between positive emotions and health in older adults. In this article, we review evidence of the effects of positive emotions on downstream biological processes and meaningful clinical endpoints, such as adult morbidity and mortality. We then present relevant predictions from lifespan theories that suggest changes in cognition and motivation may play an important role in explaining how positive emotions are well maintained in old age, despite pervasive declines in cognitive processes. We conclude by discussing how the application of psychological theory can inform greater understanding of the adaptive significance of positive emotions in adulthood and later life.
This content analysis investigated the inclusion of positive psychological constructs in research published in three leading health psychology journals. A list of positive constructs relevant to health psychology was compiled and their inclusion in these journals was examined. It was found that although there has been a sharp increase in recent years, only 3 percent of all articles published (114 of 3789) included the study of overtly positive constructs. The constructs that have been most and least studied in health psychology were identified and are discussed. This analysis provides insight into the foundations of positive health psychology and identifies future directions.
This article provides researchers with a guide to properly construe and conduct analyses of conditional indirect effects, commonly known as moderated mediation effects. We disentangle conflicting definitions of moderated mediation and describe approaches for estimating and testing a variety of hypotheses involving conditional indirect effects. We introduce standard errors for hypothesis testing and construction of confidence intervals in large samples but advocate that researchers use bootstrapping whenever possible. We also describe methods for probing significant conditional indirect effects by employing direct extensions of the simple slopes method and Johnson-Neyman technique for probing significant interactions. Finally, we provide an SPSS macro to facilitate the implementation of the recommended asymptotic and bootstrapping methods. We illustrate the application of these methods with an example drawn from the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions, showing that the indirect effect of intrinsic student interest on mathematics performance through teacher perceptions of talent is moderated by student math self-concept.
Positive well-being has been associated with a range of favorable health outcomes. The contribution of health-promoting behaviors is unclear.
The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between life satisfaction and seven health behaviors in young adults and investigate the consistency of associations across regions.
Students (17,246) aged 17-30 years from 21 countries completed questionnaire measures of life satisfaction, smoking, physical exercise, alcohol consumption, sun protection, fruit intake, fat consumption, and fiber intake. Three geopolitical regions were identified: Western Europe and the USA (12 countries), Central and Eastern Europe (five countries), and Pacific Asia (four countries).
Life satisfaction was positively associated with not smoking, physical exercise, using sun protection, eating fruit, and limiting fat intake, but was not related to alcohol consumption or fiber intake, after adjusting for age, gender, and data clustering. Results were consistent across regions for smoking and physical exercise, but differences were apparent for sun protection, fruit intake, and fat avoidance. Relationships between life satisfaction and health behaviors were independent of beliefs in the health benefits of behavior.
The association between life satisfaction and health-promoting behavior is likely to be bidirectional, but may partly account for the relationship between positive states and good health.
The development and manifestation of gratitude in youth is unclear. We examined the effects of a grateful outlook on subjective well-being and other outcomes of positive psychological functioning in 221 early adolescents. Eleven classes were randomly assigned to either a gratitude, hassles, or control condition. Results indicated that counting blessings was associated with enhanced self-reported gratitude, optimism, life satisfaction, and decreased negative affect. Feeling grateful in response to aid mediated the relationship between experimental condition and general gratitude at the 3-week follow-up. The most significant finding was the robust relationship between gratitude and satisfaction with school experience at both the immediate post-test and 3-week follow-up. Counting blessings seems to be an effective intervention for well-being enhancement in early adolescents.
Hypotheses involving mediation are common in the behavioral sciences. Mediation exists when a predictor affects a dependent variable indirectly through at least one intervening variable, or mediator. Methods to assess mediation involving multiple simultaneous mediators have received little attention in the methodological literature despite a clear need. We provide an overview of simple and multiple mediation and explore three approaches that can be used to investigate indirect processes, as well as methods for contrasting two or more mediators within a single model. We present an illustrative example, assessing and contrasting potential mediators of the relationship between the helpfulness of socialization agents and job satisfaction. We also provide SAS and SPSS macros, as well as Mplus and LISREL syntax, to facilitate the use of these methods in applications.
Patients' willingness to take a newly prescribed medication is an important, but little studied, part of the medication process. The authors studied the impact of patient age on the perceived importance and interaction of three factors known to influence young people: severity of their medical condition, extent of possible medication side effects, and level of trust in their physician. A convenience sample of 170 French adults aged 18 to 93 rated their likelihood of taking a medication intended to alleviate physical suffering in 27 scenarios in which three levels (low, moderate, and high) of each of the above three factors were combined in an orthogonal factorial design. Among younger participants, high trust in the physician was not considered a sufficient reason for high acceptance of a new medication; it had to be accompanied by low side effects. Among very elderly participants, high trust led to high acceptance almost irrespective of the severity of possible side effects. Among the middle aged, trust and side effects had largely independent effects. To promote patients' acceptance of newly prescribed medications, physicians need to establish trust, but not abuse its power in elderly patients.
For centuries, folk theory has promoted the idea that positive emotions are good for your health. Accumulating empirical evidence is providing support for this anecdotal wisdom. We use the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions (Fredrickson, 1998; 2001) as a framework to demonstrate that positive emotions contribute to psychological and physical well-being via more effective coping. We argue that the health benefits advanced by positive emotions may be instantiated in certain traits that are characterized by the experience of positive emotion. Towards this end, we examine individual differences in psychological resilience (the ability to bounce back from negative events by using positive emotions to cope) and positive emotional granularity (the tendency to represent experiences of positive emotion with precision and specificity). Individual differences in these traits are examined in two studies, one using psychophysiological evidence, the second using evidence from experience sampling, to demonstrate that positive emotions play a crucial role in enhancing coping resources in the face of negative events. Implications for research on coping and health are discussed.
The examination of predictors of adolescents' intentions to use health care for different types of health issues has received little attention. This study examined adolescents' health beliefs and how they relate to intentions to seek physician care across different types of health problems.
Two hundred ten high school students (54% females; 76.6% participation rate) completed a self-administered survey of four separate age- and gender-specific health case scenarios: an adolescent who has symptoms of pneumonia; smokes five cigarettes daily; plans to initiate sex; and has symptoms of depression. For each health scenario, participants rated the seriousness of the health problem, physician effectiveness, and intentions to seek physician care.
Most adolescents believed all health problems were serious except for planning to initiate sex (P < 0.001). Adolescents believed that physicians were most effective in diagnosis and treatment for pneumonia, followed by cigarette use, depression, and sex, respectively (P's < 0.001). Adolescents' intentions to seek physician care were greatest for physical as compared to risk behavior or mental health problems (P < 0.001). Multiple regression analyses revealed that adolescents had greater intentions to seek physician care for cigarette, sex, and depression when they believed physicians were effective and they perceived these as health problems after controlling for age and gender (all P's < 0.001). Health beliefs explained 12% to 49% of the variance in intentions to seek care (all P's < 0.001).
Adolescents' health beliefs are important when understanding intentions to seek physician care. Health care use may be improved by increasing adolescents' beliefs that physicians are effective in areas other than physical health, including risk behaviors and mental health.
Perspective-taking judgments of medication acceptance were studied for hypothetical mental health treatment scenarios. Three types of information were manipulated in all possible subsets: level of trust in the medication prescriber, severity of the hypothetical mental health condition being experienced, and the potential side effects of the medication. Subjects made judgments from four perspectives: self perspective and that of three other hypothetical people who were each said to place the most importance on one of the three cues. The results showed individual differences in self-reports of the relative importance of the cues which, in turn, predicted differences in judgment patterns. Subjects modified their cue use when making judgments from the perspectives of hypothetical others. The interaction patterns and rank orders of the perspective-taking judgments resembled the individual differences in judgments made from subjects’ own perspectives, but the perspective-taking judgments showed extreme effects of the most important cue. There was also some influence of subjects’ own perspectives on their perspective-taking judgments. When only a subset of the three cues was given, the judgment pattern depended on the importance of the cue that was omitted. The relative weight averaging model accounted for the judgments of only a minority of the subjects. Models which propose that subjects infer the value of missing information were also unsuccessful in explaining the data of the majority. Modifications of those models are proposed.
SF-36. Fragebogen zum gesundheitszustand
- M Bullinger
- I Kirchberger
Bullinger, M., & Kirchberger, I. (1998). SF-36. Fragebogen zum gesundheitszustand.
Göttingen: Hogrefe: Handanweisung.