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Gratitude, gratitude intervention and subjective well‐being among Chinese school teachers in Hong Kong

Taylor & Francis
Educational Psychology
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Abstract

This study assessed the dispositional gratitude and its relationships with orientations to happiness and burnout in a sample of 96 Chinese school teachers in Hong Kong and investigated the effectiveness of an eight‐week gratitude intervention programme using a pre‐test/post‐test design with outcome measures of subjective well‐being in the same sample of teachers. The results indicated that the dispositional gratitude of teachers correlated substantially and positively with a meaningful life orientation to happiness and with personal accomplishment, and correlated substantially and negatively with the two negative components of burnout: emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. The effects of the gratitude intervention were evident in the increase in scores on satisfaction with life and on positive affect, especially for teachers in the low‐gratitude group. Implications of the findings on the relationships between gratitude and burnout and the effectiveness of gratitude intervention for teachers of different levels of dispositional gratitude are discussed.

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... Gratitude Three (n=3) studies described various gratitude interventions. Two of the studies were conducted by the same author (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2011. In these studies, participants were taught some gratitude techniques, such as keeping a weekly log using the count-your-blessings form or exercise to record any positive things or events that happened. ...
... A total of 43 of the interventions included in the review had content that aligned with the PERMA-H model. In these studies, 14 interventions aligned entirely or partially on (P) positive emotions and emotional skills (e.g., Castillo et al., 2013;Chan, 2010Chan, , 2011. Topics related to engagement (E), such as mindfulness practices, 25 interventions aligned either partially or wholly (e.g., Akhavan et al., 2021;Schnaider-Levi et al., 2017). ...
... Three (n=3) of the supportive interventions were based on the relationship between gratitude, teacher burnout and well-being. Chan (2010) found that gratitude was associated with valuing meaning in life and a sense of accomplishment, while also being inversely related to emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. The results suggest that dispositional gratitude in teachers not only relates to a eudemonic life orientation but also acts as a protective factor against burnout. ...
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Teacher burnout, stress, and turnover are increasing globally, underscoring the need to explore ways to reduce burnout and support teacher well-being. This scoping review identifies the contents, characteristics, and results of interventions to increase teacher well-being and reduce burnout. The search was conducted using two databases (Education Research Complete and ERIC). Out of 958 studies, 46 addressed interventions to support teacher well-being or reduce teacher burnout. The data covered 7369 participants in 15 countries. Of the 46 studies, 14 used mixed methods, four qualitative approaches, and 28 used quantitative approaches. The content of the interventions primarily focused on improving individual well-being, with some interventions incorporating communal activities. The qualitative content analysis revealed a broad spectrum of intervention activities, including physical activity, mindfulness and meditation, professional development, therapy-based techniques, gratitude practices, and a mix of multiple activities. The PERMA-H model of positive psychology is applied to unify the heterogeneous field of teacher well-being intervention research. The PERMA-H model's contents were broadly consistent with the intervention's contents, emphasising engagement (E), positive emotions (P), relationships (R), and health (H). The gratitude interventions, therapy-based interventions, physical activity interventions, and most mindfulness and meditation interventions, professional development and mixed activities interventions positively contributed to teacher well-being. Overall, the review highlights the diverse methods and theoretical frameworks employed to address teacher well-being, which the PERMA-H model can unify.
... Interventional studies (Table 1) identified a range of interventions and designs, with variable timing of the interventions, some being once per week for 2 to 4 weeks (Ahmed and Masoom, 2021;Berger et al., 2019), others on a weekly basis of up to 10 weeks (for example, Taylor et al., 2017), and others less intensive but delivered over a year (for example, Stegen and Wankier 2018). Interventions were broadly-collated across different approaches as: diarising/journalling elements (Berger et al., 2019;Chan, 2010;Cheng et al., 2015;Ducasse et al., 2019;Jackowska et al., 2016;Kerr et al., 2015;Killen and Macaskill, 2015;Kini et al., 2016;Krejtz et al., 2016;Mȃirean et al., 2019;Martin et al., 2019;O'Connell et al., 2017;Wolfe and Patterson, 2017); facilitated face-to-face or workshop style interventions delivered as individual or group sessions (Gabana et al., 2019;Martin et al., 2019;Ramírez et al., 2014;Salces-Cubero et al., 2019;Taylor et al., 2017;Yang et al., 2018); gratitude exercises, such as blessings counting, gratitude letters, gratitude lists, and gratitude sharing or expression (Berger et al., 2019;Chan, 2010;Deng et al., 2019;Jackowska et al., 2016;Killen and Macaskill, 2015;Kini et al., 2016;Krejtz et al., 2016;Mȃirean et al., 2019;Otto et al., 2016;Rash et al., 2011;Stegen and Wankier, 2018;Taylor et al., 2017;Wolfe and Patterson, 2017;Yang et al., 2018); a gratitude meditation or contemplation programme (Ahmed and Masoom, 2021); and finally, a number of combined or complex interventions (Berger et al., 2019;Martin et al., 2019;Osborn et al., 2020;Ramírez et al., 2014;Stegen and Wankier, 2018). ...
... Interventional studies (Table 1) identified a range of interventions and designs, with variable timing of the interventions, some being once per week for 2 to 4 weeks (Ahmed and Masoom, 2021;Berger et al., 2019), others on a weekly basis of up to 10 weeks (for example, Taylor et al., 2017), and others less intensive but delivered over a year (for example, Stegen and Wankier 2018). Interventions were broadly-collated across different approaches as: diarising/journalling elements (Berger et al., 2019;Chan, 2010;Cheng et al., 2015;Ducasse et al., 2019;Jackowska et al., 2016;Kerr et al., 2015;Killen and Macaskill, 2015;Kini et al., 2016;Krejtz et al., 2016;Mȃirean et al., 2019;Martin et al., 2019;O'Connell et al., 2017;Wolfe and Patterson, 2017); facilitated face-to-face or workshop style interventions delivered as individual or group sessions (Gabana et al., 2019;Martin et al., 2019;Ramírez et al., 2014;Salces-Cubero et al., 2019;Taylor et al., 2017;Yang et al., 2018); gratitude exercises, such as blessings counting, gratitude letters, gratitude lists, and gratitude sharing or expression (Berger et al., 2019;Chan, 2010;Deng et al., 2019;Jackowska et al., 2016;Killen and Macaskill, 2015;Kini et al., 2016;Krejtz et al., 2016;Mȃirean et al., 2019;Otto et al., 2016;Rash et al., 2011;Stegen and Wankier, 2018;Taylor et al., 2017;Wolfe and Patterson, 2017;Yang et al., 2018); a gratitude meditation or contemplation programme (Ahmed and Masoom, 2021); and finally, a number of combined or complex interventions (Berger et al., 2019;Martin et al., 2019;Osborn et al., 2020;Ramírez et al., 2014;Stegen and Wankier, 2018). ...
... One group of researchers (Salces-Cubero et al., 2019) identified increased self-reported resilience scores post-intervention. Other findings included improved scores on quality of life or life satisfaction (Ahmed and Masoom, 2021;Chan, 2010;Kerr et al., 2015;Ramírez et al., 2014;Rash et al., 2011;Salces-Cubero et al., 2019;Taylor et al., 2017;Yang et al., 2018). Similarly, the findings in the 11 observational studies (Table 2) further supports the idea that gratitude has a significant role in reducing anxiety, burnout, and negative emotions, while also positively impacting personal factors such as life satisfaction and social support. ...
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Background New graduate nurses are the nursing cohort at greatest risk for turnover and attrition in every context internationally. This has possibly been heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Workplace conditions significantly impact nursing turnover; however, interventions under the positive psychology umbrella may have a mediating impact on the intention to leave. New graduate nurses are generally challenged most in their first three years of clinical practice, and the need for support to transition is widely accepted. Gratitude practice has been reported to improve individual control and resilient response to setbacks and, therefore, is of interest in testing if this intervention can impact turnover intention in the workforce. Objective To report on a scoping review undertaken to identify whether ‘gratitude practice’ as an intervention had the potential to improve new graduate nurses’ wellbeing and resilience. Methods Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review approach. Primary research papers of any methodology, published in English between January 2010 and July 2022 were included. Literature was sourced from seven databases, including CINAHL PLUS, ERIC, MEDLINE, Professional Development Collection, APA PsychInfo, APA PsychArticles, and Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Collection. Results We identified 130 records, of which we selected 35 for inclusion. A large range of interventions were identified; most had some form of writing, journaling, or diarising. The next most common intervention was teaching gratitude strategies via workshops, and many interventions had some form of list or activity trigger for participants to complete. Five studies had complex combined interventions, while the rest were simple, easily reproducible interventions. Interventions were delivered both face-to-face or asynchronously, with some being online only and others sent out as a ‘kit’ for participants to work through. Conclusion Our review of existing literature shows a significant gap in research on gratitude practice and its impact on nursing populations. To ensure robust future studies, we suggest defining concepts clearly and selecting outcome measures and tools that are not closely related. Intervention design may not be as important as the choice of measures and tools to measure outcomes.
... Gratitude, regarded as a positive psychological trait, aligns with the concept of personal resources within the JD-R Model. It is anticipated to function as a coping mechanism, potentially mitigating the detrimental effects of job demands on teachers' psychological wellbeing (Chan, 2010a;Cain et al., 2019). Previous studies have underscored gratitude's role as a protective factor against stress, burnout, and psychological distress (Wood et al., 2008;Emmons and Mishra, 2011). ...
... Gratitude interventions and practices have consistently demonstrated a robust positive correlation with heightened levels of life satisfaction, increased happiness, and an overall enhanced sense of well-being among individuals (Chan, 2013). In the specific context of teaching, where educators confront multifaceted challenges and stressors, the cultivation of gratitude emerges as a valuable resource (Chan, 2010a, Howells, 2014Komase et al., 2021). Encouraging teachers to recognize and appreciate the positive aspects inherent in their profession, such as the profound impact on students' lives, serves as a pivotal strategy to redirect attention from the inevitable stressors and complexities of teaching (Chan, 2010b). ...
... The hypothesis asserting that the teacher-student relationship mediates the link between gratitude and teacher well-being finds strong support within existing literature. Gratitude tends to foster a positive and empathetic attitude in teachers, significantly impacting their interactions with students (Chan, 2010a;Cain et al., 2019). A robust teacher-student relationship characterized by trust and positive engagement holds a direct correlation with teacher well-being (Howells, 2014). ...
Article
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Introduction This study explores the complex dynamics among gratitude, job crafting, teacher psychological well-being, and teacher-student relationships within the context of Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. Methods A sample of 456 Chinese EFL teachers participated in this study. Valid scales were administered to collect data on gratitude, job crafting, teacher psychological well-being, and teacher-student relationships. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to investigate these relationships. Results The findings reveal significant connections between gratitude, job crafting, teacher psychological well-being, and teacher-student relationships. SEM analysis demonstrates that gratitude and job crafting have direct effects on teacher psychological well-being. Furthermore, teacher-student relationships were identified as a mediator in these relationships. Discussion This study underscores the importance of gratitude and job crafting in enhancing the psychological well-being of EFL teachers. It highlights the mediating role of positive teacher-student relationships in the associations between gratitude, job crafting, and teacher psychological well-being. These results have implications for the development of interventions and practices aimed at promoting gratitude, job crafting, and positive teacher-student relationships in the EFL teaching context.
... Using the gratitude list exercise, they explored the impact of a gratitude intervention on physical, psychological, and subjective well-being. Since then, several studies have shown the effectiveness of gratitude exercises in improved overall well-being (Froh et al., 2009;Wood et al., 2008;Chan, 2010;Kerr et al., 2015;Manthey et al., 2016;Seligman et al., 2005). ...
... However, research on the efficacy of these interventions has yielded mixed results so far. There have been many studies that found positive results of gratitude exercises on well-being (eg., Froh et al., 2009;Wood et al., 2008;Chan, 2010;Kerr et al., 2015;Manthey et al., 2016;Seligman et al., 2005). However contradictory to these findings, some studies did not confirm the positive associations between gratitude exercise and well-being (e.g., Gurel, 2008;Henrie, 2007;Kashdan et al., 2006;Ozimkowski, 2008). ...
... Gratitude-focused interventions can improve overall well-being (eg., Froh et al., 2009;Wood et al., 2008;Chan, 2010;Kerr et al., 2015;Manthey et al., 2016;Seligman et al., 2005). However, more research is needed to see if gratitude exercises are effective in other demographics and when compared to control groups. ...
Article
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Previous studies have shown inconsistent results regarding the effectiveness of gratitude exercises on well-being. Several researchers suggested this inconsistency could be due to the frequency of performing the exercise, the type of comparison group used in the study, and due to the presence of some moderators like positive affect, trait gratitude, spirituality, religiosity, etc. Out of these variables, the present study tried to examine the role of spirituality. The present investigation experimentally studied the effect of a 4-week gratitude exercise on the well-being of a sample of working Indian adults while examining spirituality as a moderator. Participants were randomly allotted to the gratitude exercise group and control group, consisting of 60 participants in each group (N = 120). The present study employed a sequential explanatory mixed method. The quantitative results were analyzed using a mixed-design ANOVA. The results found a significant increase in gratitude, satisfaction with life, and positive affect and a significant decrease in the negative affect of participants in the gratitude group at post-exercise and follow-up compared to the control group. Spirituality was found to be a significant moderator as participants with high levels of spirituality benefited the most from the gratitude exercise. For the qualitative part, an interpretative phenomenological analysis was used. Three themes: Experience of performing the gratitude exercise, gratitude expressed towards and, benefits of the exercise were identified which were further categorized under several subthemes. Mixing of the study was done at the interpretation level where qualitative data was used to contextualize the quantitative findings.
... The two gratitude interventions used the 'three good things' intervention (Seligman et al., 2005), which is well known in the field of positive psychology for improving happiness and reducing depression. Both studies involved a weekly 15 min reflection over eight weeks (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013. ...
... Sessions also varied in duration, for example: 15 min for Chan's (2010) gratitude intervention, 2.5 h sessions in Cook et al.'s (2017) multi-foci wellbeing program, and a five day training course as part of teacher professional development . The interventions were mainly delivered in person, but also included three delivered online (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013Czerwinski et al., 2020). The online interventions used either written instructions (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013, or an instructional video (Czerwinski et al., 2020), whilst the in person interventions were generally group training sessions. ...
... The interventions were mainly delivered in person, but also included three delivered online (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013Czerwinski et al., 2020). The online interventions used either written instructions (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013, or an instructional video (Czerwinski et al., 2020), whilst the in person interventions were generally group training sessions. The facilitators for in person sessions depended on the type of intervention used. ...
Article
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This systematic literature review summarises the research into interventions intended to improve the wellbeing of educators in the early childhood to secondary sectors. A search of articles published between 2000 and 2020 yielded 23 articles that met our inclusion criteria. Studies were included if they collected quantitative or qualitative data about educator wellbeing pre-intervention and post-intervention from the same group(s) of educators. We classified articles into five categories based on their content: multi-foci (several content areas included in a program), mindfulness, gratitude, professional development (classroom practice oriented), and physical environment. The articles revealed wide variations in: wellbeing theories underpinning interventions, the phenomena measured, and the effectiveness of the interventions. In some studies wellbeing was conceptualised as the absence of negative states (such as stress), in other studies to the presence of positive states (such as satisfaction), and in a few studies as the combination of both these approaches. Some of the gaps noted across the research include the lack of attention to the role of the school climate in determining the success of an intervention, and the lack of analysis to explore whether interventions work better for some individuals than others (for example, a lack of reporting of the characteristics of participants who drop out of the interventions). Overall, the multi-foci interventions show the most promise for improving educator wellbeing.
... In a related investigation, a professional development program focusing on cultivating professional growth in teaching preschoolers has increased the well-being of teachers in Ghana (Wolf & Peele, 2019). Further, the 8-week gratitude intervention program has increased teachers' life satisfaction and positive emotions in Hong Kong (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013. ...
... However, these studies on well-being interventions for teachers have a number of gaps, such as reliance on a unidimensional intervention framework (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013 and non-RCT design. Except for a few studies (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013, previous investigations mostly focused on evaluating the effectiveness of well-being interventions in Western and non-Asian societies such as Italy (Sottimano et al., 2018) and England (Beshai et al., 2016), which further reflects issues regarding the predominance of positive psychological intervention research in Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies (Hendriks et al., 2019). ...
... However, these studies on well-being interventions for teachers have a number of gaps, such as reliance on a unidimensional intervention framework (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013 and non-RCT design. Except for a few studies (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013, previous investigations mostly focused on evaluating the effectiveness of well-being interventions in Western and non-Asian societies such as Italy (Sottimano et al., 2018) and England (Beshai et al., 2016), which further reflects issues regarding the predominance of positive psychological intervention research in Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies (Hendriks et al., 2019). ...
Article
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This study aims to examine the effectiveness of an intervention program based on the PROSPER, a comprehensive framework which emphasises the importance of positivity, relationships, outcome, strength, purpose, engagement, and resilience in pre-service teachers' well-being in Hong Kong. Participants were pre-service preschool teachers (N ¼ 77) who participated in a 1-month randomised control trial with four intervention workshops. They were randomly assigned to either intervention (n ¼ 40) or wait-list control conditions (n ¼ 37). A survey with measures that assessed PROSPER well-being components was administered to participants before and after the intervention. Findings of repeated measures MANCOVA revealed no significant time x group interaction effect, Wilks' Lambda F(7, 50) ¼ 1.66, p ¼ .14, g 2 ¼ .19. Results of univariate analyses showed that a significant time x group interaction effect existed in relationship component (g 2 ¼ .08), indicating that the intervention was effective in facilitating pre-service preschool teach-ers' positive relationships with their peers. Findings underscore the potential benefits of designing positive psychological interventions for teachers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
... Garg [14] points out that studies of gratitude in students are common; however, research on the teaching population is still scarce, and with this, the absence of studies that aim to evaluate approaches that induce gratitude and how it leads to a feeling of well-being is also reported [15]. According to García and Soler [16], scholars of gratitude point out that interventions to improve well-being through gratitude programs reduce information biases, making them healthier and more aware of what they possess in life. ...
... This intervention was built based on the review of various gratitude programs, ensuring that the target population was a teacher [15], [23]- [25]; however, this criterion was flexible since it did not exclude other proposals that contributed to its improvement [12], [26]- [29]. The gratitude program comprised three stages, each with a specific number of slogans, which increased in complexity through time. ...
... Likewise, among these findings, it was possible to identify that registered teachers with greater participation in the two versions of the intervention had the highest scores in the pre-test but lower in the post-test. This coincided with what was found by Chan [15], who classified it as disconcerting and attributed it to the awareness this type of exercise brings, in such a way that as gratitude increases, "indebtedness" towards benefactors also increases, causing an inverse effect. This should be further investigated in future studies. ...
Conference Paper
Gratitude is a pleasant response generated by an external benefit, which is received by someone or oneself. This response generates changes in people’s perspectives, allowing them to recognize positive events and improve different aspects of their life and their environment. The following study aims to understand the effects of a gratitude promotion program in university professors, who, due to the nature of their work, face high-stress situations such as generating meaningful learning experiences in a fast-paced environment. There were 66 professors participating in two subsamples. Group 1 (GR1) included 44 participants (13 control in a control group and 9 participating in the program). This program included 14 activities that promote self-reflection and expressing gratitude for others. Group 2 (GR2) on the other hand, included 22 professors (13 in a control group and 9 included in a short version of the program). The Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6) was used to assess the results of the program, which was applied as a pre and post-intervention measure. Participants were also invited to share their accounts on the perceived benefits and limitations of the program. This allowed for a quantitative and a qualitative analysis of the intervention. Pre-intervention measures report high levels of gratitude. Comparing GR1 and GR2 did not show a significant difference regarding this variable (GR1, X= 3.48, SD=.43; GR2, X=3.48, SD=.50; Mann Whitney’s U=458, p=.720). Post-intervention measures showed no significant effects on neither of the experimental groups (GR1, Wilcoxon’s W= -.578, p=.563; GR2, W= -.510, p=.610). Results yielded no other significant effects between the control group and those enrolled in the program (GR1, U=49.5, p=.539; GR2, U=169, p=.081). On the other hand, from a qualitative standpoint, professors reported satisfactory and insightful experiences: “The program helped me to be more aware of all the good things, people, situations, and experiences that I live on a daily basis. It helped me to focus my attention on bigger things, and to feel well and appreciate my life more.” (CIA043, GR1). Another participant shared: “This program hast made me think of events or people that made me feel grateful, happy, whole, and that I normally don’t think about it.” (ANO508, GR2) Both programs achieved improving awareness on gratitude and its benefits, which it could also become a coping strategy, improve the affective balance of people, perceived well-being, and promote a better learning environment in the classroom, the office, and at home. Since no significant difference was found on the length of the programs, it is recommended to use the short version of the intervention (9 activities version). Regarding the gratitude measurements used, it is suggested that they are modified to adapt to the cultural context, and to also try to include a better sampling method where participants report low levels of gratitude also participate in the program. This study suggests that further research should be conducted on gratitude programs in higher education institutions whose primary aim is to develop a more engaged faculty and to improve overall well-being.
... This issue relates to a broader concern on the preponderance of studies about positive psychological interventions in WEIRD societies (Hendriks et al., 2019), which may not be applicable to people in non-WEIRD and collectivist societies who are more likely to prioritize socially oriented strategies to achieve happiness (Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013). Second, even if there has been evidence showcasing how gratitude intervention can boost well-being among teachers in Hong Kong (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013b, these studies adopted a single-component intervention that may offer limited prospects for cultivating protective psychological resources and self-growth. Third, the scarcity of research on well-being interventions that may boost teachers' well-being continues to persist in relatively challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
... 2. Does the PROSPER-based positive psychological intervention significantly improve interpersonal dimensions of well-being (i.e., positive relationships and meaning in life) among in-service preschool teachers? Hypothesis 2: Guided by previous studies (Chan, 2010;Lee et al., 2021), it was anticipated thar the PROSPER-based positive psychological intervention would significantly improve interpersonal dimensions (i.e., positive relationships and meaning in life) of well-being among in-service preschool teachers. ...
... There also is evidence showing the effects of this intervention on strengths use among teachers, which confirmed previous research findings on how psychological resources such as hope (Chan, 2009) might be linked to well-being in teachers in Hong Kong. The present study addressed shortcomings of previous studies, such as the reliance on a single-component gratitude intervention (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013b, through incorporating hope-increasing activities. Because research has shown that hope served as a strong predictor of well-being among teachers in Hong Kong (Chan, 2009), there is reason to argue that hope interventions might matter for well-being PROSPERING IN THE MIDST OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC 29 among preschool teachers in this context. ...
Article
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The growing concerns regarding the risks of transmitting the COVID-19 virus has intensified the job-related stressors commonly encountered by teachers in various cultural contexts. Evidence shows how the COVID-19 crisis has negatively impacted teachers' mental health outcomes such as stress, depression, and quality of life, which highlights the significance of designing psychological programs to boost teachers' well-being. This study examined the effects of a well-being intervention based on the Positivity, Relationship, Outcomes, Strength, Purpose, Engagement, and Resilience (PROSPER) framework on well-being outcomes among 76 in-service teachers (Mage = 26.05 years, SD = 4.71, range = 20–45; female = 93.4%) in Hong Kong. Participants completed survey measures associated with the seven PROSPER outcomes at baseline and 2-month follow-up. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that there were statistically significant multivariate effects for intervention conditions, Wilks' Lambda F(7, 58) = 4.50, p = .01. Results demonstrated that teachers who were assigned to the intervention condition (n = 36) had significantly higher scores than those in the control condition (n = 40) on positivity (b = 0.41, 95% CI [0.16, 0.65], p = .01), strength (b = 0.62, 95% CI [0.23, 1.01], p = .01), purpose (b = 0.61, 95% CI [0.18, 1.04], p = .01), and resilience (b = 0.57, 95% CI [0.07, 1.07], p = .04). Our findings provide evidence on the mental health benefits of the PROSPER-based psychological intervention program for preschool teachers.
... Interventions used self-conductive exercises along with trainee-based ones. In seven of the studies these self-conductive exercises were done individually and covered the whole content of the intervention (Anderson, Levinson, Barker, & Kiewra, 1999;Chan, 2010;Cheung, Chow, & Parfitt, 2008;Liu, Cheng, Wang, Lin, & Chang, 2015;Masson & de Araujo, 2018;Morgan & Atkin, 2016;Santana, Masson, & Araújo, 2017). ...
... In the psychological exercises group (n = 6) there were different mental exercises done during working hours such as meditation during breaks, gratitude expressions, self-affirmation and self-efficacy exercises and mind-body relaxation between working tasks (Anderson et al., 1999;Chan, 2010;Morgan & Atkin, 2016;Stegen & Wankier, 2018;Tsang et al., 2015;Van Wingerden, Derks, & Bakker, 2017). Different self-reflection practices were the psychological exercises most used in the groups (Fig. 2). ...
... decreased the levels of stress, anxiety and burnout) improved using meditation and stress management programs (Anderson et al., 1999;Tsang et al., 2015). There were positive outcomes when using conscious gratitude, self-affirming or self-reflection in work-related situations; this was seen to generate positive emotions towards work, such as increasing job satisfaction and work engagement, and a reduction in negative work related emotions, such as anxiety and stress (Chan, 2010;Morgan & Atkin, 2016;Stegen & Wankier, 2018;Van Wingerden et al., 2017). ...
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Background: The occupational well-being (OW) of educators can be defined as a balance between resources and workload factors as seen from four aspects of working life: (i) individual, (ii) working conditions, (iii) professional competence and (iv) work community. The research in this study examined the individual aspect as particular importance to the physical and mental workability of educators. Aims: To study the individual aspect of the OW of educators as well as the associating factors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was conducted among educators working in health and social care education in Finland. The data were collected with an electronic survey using the 'Occupational well-being of social and health care teachers-index questionnaire'. The data were analysed with an SPSS version 27 using descriptive statistics, explorative factor analysis and linear regression analysis. Results: The educators (n = 552, response rate 31%) assessed their resources for managing their mental workload as quite poor (2.41, standard deviation [SD] 0.98). In addition, workplace support promoting OW was assessed as being quite poor (2.37, SD 0.88), and as especially requiring more measures during working hours. Associations with the individual aspect of OW were found between the personal and work-related background variables as well as overall OW. Conclusions: The perceptions of the educators indicated that resources to cope with workload factors should be promoted. Investing in educators' resources at work, enabling well-being actions during working hours and avoiding backlog situations would all help promote the educators' OW.
... The authors found significant increases in well-being and gratitude, as well as a reduction in workplace absence due to illness. After an 8-week gratitude intervention program (gratitude journaling), school teachers showed increased life satisfaction and more positive affect [38]. Using the same methodology, Chan [39] found that a gratitude intervention improved life satisfaction and the sense of personal accomplishment, together with a decrease in emotional exhaustion. ...
... One concerns the intervention method. Combining the intervention method used in the present study with the self-guided gratitude journaling method used by Chan [38,39] and Cheng et al. [40] could strengthen the effects of the intervention. This self-guided journaling technique is in accordance with Pennebaker and Seagal's findings of significant effects of journaling on health and well-being [67]. ...
Article
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Background: In a demanding working life, it is important to determine how individuals can thrive at work. In a previous study we investigated whether a program of gratitude interventions can increase psychological wellbeing, engagement, job satisfaction, and psychological capital showing promising results. The objective: of the present study was to present the development of a manager coached group intervention program related to gratitude at workplaces and to investigate the effects of such a program on the same variables. Methods: The intervention included five group sessions of gratitude dialogue between employees, supervised by their first line managers. Participants were assigned to an intervention or control group. Assessments were made before and after the intervention program and followed-up at 6 months post-intervention. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed. Both groups completed instruments measuring positive psychological capital (PCQ), work engagement (UWES), psychological wellbeing (PGWB-S), and job satisfaction (aJDI). All managers were interviewed after the intervention. Result: Compared with the control group the gratitude dialogue intervention was found to significantly enhance psychological wellbeing, engagement, and job satisfaction. The results were supported by the interviews with managers. In conclusion: our results suggest that gratitude dialogues at work may be an effective way of improving employee wellbeing. Suggestions on how to improve the results from this kind of gratitude intervention further are presented.
... Se han elaborado revisiones de estudios siguiendo distintas modalidades del diseño experimental con grupos aleatorizados a cuasiexperimentales con la finalidad de acercarse a evaluar la efectividad de estos programas que se han llevado a cabo para dar respuesta a los desafíos de acompañar a docentes en su desarrollo profesional relacionado a la promoción de recursos personales, capital psicológico y competencias relacionadas a la educación socioemocional y para el bienestar, (Dreer, 2023;Falecki & Mann, 2021;Vo & Allen, 2022). Investigaciones previas han puesto de manifiesto como intervenciones multicomponentes basadas en algunos elementos de psicología positiva han reportado efectividad en la mejora del bienestar docente (Datu et al., 2023;García-Álvarez et al., 2020;Pozo-Rico et al., 2023), así como distintos factores protectores como gratitud, positividad, compromiso, fortalezas, propósito, humor, relaciones y resiliencia (Chan, 2010;Datu et al., 2022;Datu et al., 2023;Izquierdo et al., 2022;Lee et al., 2023), también se ha reportado disminución de factores de riesgo como malestar emocional y estrés (Dreer, 2020;Dreer & Gouasé, 2022;Izquierdo et al., 2022;Pozo-Rico et al., 2020). ...
... Entre las implicaciones prácticas se tiene que las intervenciones multicomponentes basadas en elementos de la psicología positiva pueden ser empleadas en los sistemas educativos como dispositivos para promocionar el bienestar y salud docente, ya sea mediante la intervención focalizada en estas variables o en recursos personales considerados factores protectores, en línea similar con otros estudios de intervención (Chan, 2010;Datu et al., 2022;Datu et al., 2023;Izquierdo et al., 2022;Lee et al., 2023), así como mejoras en su desarrollo profesional y formación docente en competencias asociadas a la educación socioemocional y el bienestar tal y como se evidenció en los hallazgos de este estudio en concordancia con otros estudios realizados en docentes (Dreer, 2023;Falecki & Mann, 2021;García-Álvarez et al., 2023;Pozo-Rico et al., 2020;Vo & Allen, 2022). Aunque en esta investigación no se abordaron los factores de riesgos directamente, también se ha reportado disminución de estos debido a intervenciones psicológicas en otros estudios, (Dreer, 2020;Dreer & Gouasé, 2022;Izquierdo et al., 2022;Pozo-Rico et al., 2020), esto invita a reflexionar sobre el rol de la promoción de la salud y prevención de riesgos psicosociales en el trabajo docente. ...
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En la actualidad, existe un creciente interés en promover el desarrollo profesional docente, así como el bienestar y sus recursos personales. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar la efectividad de una intervención multicomponente basada en psicología positiva para mejorar la mentalidad de crecimiento, bienestar eudaimónico y bienestar multidimensional, así como fortalecer competencias relacionadas a la formación docente profesional. La muestra estuvo conformada por 92 participantes con un grupo experimental, el cual recibió la intervención denominada “FODI” y un grupo control (62% grupo experimental y 38% grupo control) con una edad media de 44,7 (SD = 8,6) siendo 75 mujeres y 17 hombres. Las variables fueron evaluadas con un cuestionario de respuestas múltiples con las variables objeto de estudio. Los resultados del análisis de covarianza sugieren que la intervención mejoró eficazmente en p < 0,05, las puntuaciones de la mentalidad de crecimiento tanto general como propia, bienestar eudaimónico, PERMA con su medida de salud autopercibida y formación docente en participantes en comparación con el grupo control. Se concluye que intervenciones basadas en elementos de la psicología positiva pueden ser dispositivos para la mejora de la calidad educativa haciendo énfasis en la formación, crecimiento personal y desarrollo profesional docente. Abstract En la actualidad, existe un creciente interés en promover el desarrollo profesional docente, así como el bienestar y sus recursos personales. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar la efectividad de una intervención multicomponente basada en psicología positiva para mejorar la mentalidad de crecimiento, bienestar eudaimónico y bienestar multidimensional, así como fortalecer competencias relacionadas a la formación docente profesional. La muestra estuvo conformada por 92 participantes con un grupo experimental, el cual recibió la intervención denominada “FODI” y un grupo control (62% grupo experimental y 38% grupo control) con una edad media de 44,7 (SD = 8,6) siendo 75 mujeres y 17 hombres. Las variables fueron evaluadas con un cuestionario de respuestas múltiples con las variables objeto de estudio. Los resultados del análisis de covarianza sugieren que la intervención mejoró eficazmente en p < 0,05, las puntuaciones la mentalidad de crecimiento tanto general como propia, bienestar eudaimónico, PERMA con su medida de salud autopercibida y formación docente en participantes en comparación con el grupo control. Se concluye que intervenciones basadas en elementos de la psicología positiva pueden ser dispositivos para la mejora de la calidad educativa haciendo énfasis en la formación, crecimiento personal y desarrollo profesional docente.
... found that gratitude was associated with higher student well-being and lower mental health problems among adolescent students. Studies have found that gratitude was associated with higher teacher well-being as well (Chan, 2010). However, much of the research on gratitude in school contexts seem to focus on how it is associated with well-being outcomes (Caleon et al., 2019;Valdez et al., 2017 see however King and Datu, 2018). ...
... This can be done in several ways. For example, gratitude interventions can be offered as a standalone psycho-educational program (Chan, 2010) or it can also be embedded into the curriculum (Caleon et al., 2019). Although these interventions have primarily targeted the improvement of well-being, researchers and practitioners can also explore how they might be utilised for improving students' motivation and engagement. ...
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Gratitude has mostly been explored in relation to well-being but whether it is associated with school-related outcomes such as motivation and engagement has seldom been explored. Motivation and engagement, however, are critical to students’ academic success. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine how gratitude is associated with different types of academic motivation (amotivation, controlled motivation, and autonomous motivation) and engagement (cognitive, behavioural, and emotional). We recruited 1099 Chinese university students and asked them to answer questionnaires assessing their levels of gratitude, motivation, and engagement. Structural equation modelling revealed that gratitude was positively associated with controlled motivation, autonomous motivation, and academic engagement but negatively associated with amotivation. Autonomous motivation partially mediated the relationship between gratitude and academic engagement. The findings of this study elucidate the theoretical linkages among gratitude, motivation, and engagement, demonstrating the importance of gratitude for school-related outcomes.
... Gratitude interventions are a well-established tool for enhancing wellbeing (Parks and Schueller, 2014;Boniwell and Tunariu, 2019;Burke, 2021). These interventions include activities such as: ■ Counting blessings: reflecting on what one is grateful for (Emmons and McCullough, 2004), ■ Three good things: listing three good things that happened during the day (Seligman et al, 2005) ■ Gratitude journal relating to work: reflecting and listing the work situations that one is grateful for (Locklear et al, 2021) ■ Grateful self-reflection: reflecting on the small and bigger things that one is grateful for (Chan, 2010) ■ Gratitude letter and visit: writing a letter thanking someone for their deeds, then giving them the letter in person, or reading it out (Lyubomirsky et al, 2005). ...
... This review identified preliminary evidence for a relationship between gratitude and burnout, as well as the effectiveness of gratitude interventions in reducing burnout in healthcare workers. This is in line with previous research outside of healthcare, suggesting that gratitude can be used to reduce stress and burnout (Chan, 2010;Flinchbaugh et al, 2012;Kerr et al, 2015;Killen and Macaskill, 2015). However, further research is necessary to confirm these findings in a healthcare context, including primary research and subsequent meta-analyses. ...
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Burnout is one of the most insidious challenges for healthcare professionals, and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Gratitude is emerging as an intervention to reduce burnout. However, to the authors' best knowledge, no systematic review has previously been carried out to explore the impact of gratitude on burnout among healthcare professionals. The present study aimed to address this gap. A total of 95 publications were identified, of which 13 were included in the review. These studies provide preliminary evidence for the inverse association between gratitude and burnout, and the effectiveness of gratitude interventions in reducing burnout among healthcare professionals. Limitations of the current research and future directions are discussed, along with the implications for practice.
... Diğer yandan daha önce yapılan bazı küçük ölçekli araştırmalar, pozitif psikoloji . 2828 müdahalelerinin iyi oluşu artırmada ve öğretmen stresini en aza indirmede avantajlı etkilerinin olduğunu vurgulamışlardır (Chan 2010(Chan , 2013McCullough, 2015;Rahm ve Heise, 2019). Araştırmalar açıkça göstermektedir ki öğretmenlik mesleği, stres ve strese neden olan faktörleri sistematik olarak bünyesinde barındırır ve bu da sonrasında psikolojik bozukluklara ve fiziksel hastalıklara neden olan, devamsızlık ve yıpranmayı açıklayan kalıcı bir olumsuz zihniyete yol açabilir (Aldrup, Klusmann ve Lüdtke, 2017;Richards vd., 2018;Haydon vd., 2018). ...
... Yapılan deneysel çalışmalarda, eğitimlerden hemen sonra deney grubundaki katılımcılar, olumlu duyguların sıklığında, yaşam doyumunda ve gelişmede kontrol grubundaki katılımcılara göre önemli ölçüde daha güçlü artışlar göstermişlerdir. Ayrıca duygusal yorgunluk, algılanan stres ve olumsuz duyguların sıklığında önemli ölçüde bir azalma olduğu da tespit edilmiştir (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013Dreer, 2020;Falecki ve Mann, 2020;Fernandes vd., 2020;García-Álvarez vd., 2021;Ilgaz, 2018;Mercer vd., 2016;Rahm ve Heise, 2019). Diğer yandan kontrol grubu bulunmayan çalışmalarda elde edilen olumlu sonuçlar elbette ki başka koşullara (eğitim-öğretim konusunda ulusal düzeyde politika değişikliğine gidilmesi, maaş artışı, çalışma koşullarında iyileştirme yapılması vb.) atfedilebilir. ...
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UNESCO, 2030 eğitim hedeflerine ulaşmak için dünyanın 69 milyon yeni öğretmen istihdam etmesi gerektiğini belirtiyor ancak yapılan araştırmalar mevcut öğretmenlerin %80’inin mesleği bırakmayı düşündüğünü göstermektedir. Öğretmen olmak için başlangıçtaki motivasyona rağmen, ne yazık ki eğitim alma aşamasında ve öğretmenlik mesleğine başlanan ilk yıllarda önemli bir yıpranma söz konusudur. Küresel olarak, öğretmenlerin diğer mesleklere kıyasla en yüksek işle ilgili stres ve tükenmişliğe sahip oldukları bilinmektedir. Ancak etkililiklerini gösteren ve devamlı artan kanıtlara rağmen hem yerli hem de yurt dışı alanyazınında pozitif psikoloji müdahaleleri, öğretmenlerin çalışma ortamlarında nadiren uygulanmış ve incelenmiştir. Öğretmenlerin, rollerinin getirdiği artan stres faktörlerini yönetebilmek için daha etkili ve işlevsel yollara ihtiyaçları olduğu açıktır. Ne yazık ki öğretmenlerin psikolojik kapasitesini geliştirmeye odaklanan herhangi bir profesyonel müdahale, stratejik olan bir tüm okul iyi oluş planının parçası olmak yerine, bir lüks veya eklenti olarak görülmektedir. Buradan hareketle bu çalışmanın temel çıkış noktası, öğretmenlerin iyi oluş, psikolojik sağlamlık ve öz-yeterliklerine yönelik tehditlerin ortaya konulması, PERMA yaklaşımı temel alınarak okullarda öğretmenlerin iyi oluşlarını desteklemek için çeşitli müdahalelerin önerilmesi ve ulusal düzeyde yaygınlaştırılmasına dikkat çekilmesidir. Pozitif psikoloji araştırmalarından aldığı destek sayesinde bu çalışma, öğretmenlerin okullarında yaşadıkları aşırı strese ve tükenmişliğe karşı tampon yapmak adına kendilerine yönelik koruyucu faktörleri geliştirmeyi öğrenebilecekleri bazı müdahale örnekleri sunmaktadır.
... This work had two central objectives: (1) promoting well-being and other psychic resources in teachers; and (2) the training of teaching skills in practice to apply positive psychology in their educational centers. The results of effectiveness of the multicomponent intervention based on positive psychology are consistent with those reported due to the few antecedents carried out with other samples of teachers [58][59][60][61][62]. The effect sizes reported in this study are small to moderate, as indicated by other psychological interventions based on multiple components of positive psychology in clinical and non-clinical populations [63][64][65][66] and with practicing teachers [20]. ...
... Few studies have focused on promoting mental health and teacher training during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some studies have been carried out with the general population with adequate effectiveness indicators such as the "Staying Home-Feeling Positive" program [60] and others with university students [61,62]. This study, despite its stated limitations, is configured as a research antecedent for non-Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) contexts [63] as an effort for positive psychology to be applied to real contexts far removed from the well-to-do societies of WEIRD countries in the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
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Teaching has often been linked to psychosocial problems, and is an occupation in which the implementation of strategies for the improvement, updating and promotion of the mental health of those involved is essential. Accordingly, this study assessed the effectiveness of a program aimed at improving psychological well-being, optimism, self-efficacy, and self-esteem as well as at reducing psychological distress in teachers. The study was quasi-experimental and comprised 24 teachers from technical, secondary, and elementary schools in Uruguay. The constructs were measured before and after the program, which was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and comprised 12 modules in a multicomponent intervention format. The results indicate a significantly low magnitude increase in well-being (F = 5.36, p = 0.033, Cohen’s d = 0.47) and a moderate increase in self-efficacy (F = 9.14, p = 0.008, Cohen’s d = 0.62). Similarly, a significant decrease was observed in psychological distress of mild effect (F = 5.80, p = 0.028, Cohen’s d = 0.49). To conclude, interventions based on positive psychology improve teachers’ well-being, enhance other psychological resources, and reduce psychosocial risks such as discomfort. Thus, these interventions can be devices for career development and teacher updating.
... The gratitude list requires people to think about the situations in which they experienced gratitude and to report them by elaborating and savoring these experiences. It was first developed by Emmons and McCullough (2003), and then successfully applied to a range of populations, such as college students (Işık & Ergüner-Tekinalp, 2017), adolescents (Froh et al., 2008), teachers (Chan, 2010), the elderly (Killen & Macaskill, 2015) and prisoners (Deng et al., 2018). Although the results overall demonstrated an increase in well-being indicators and a decrease in ill-being, independently of the gratitude target (Berger et al., 2019), this was not always the case as outlined by Davis et al. (2016) and Dickens (2017), who suggest the need to consider some moderating factors, such as positive affect (see, e.g., Froh et al., 2009;Wood et al., 2010), and the practices in which the control group is involved. ...
... From a practical point of view, an immediate suggestion is to disseminate as much as possible the practice of recalling, elaborating and writing relevant episodes among students. A close possibility is to extend it to workers, laypersons, younger students, maybe also clinical populations, as suggested by previous research: the gratitude list has been found beneficial also for adolescents (Froh et al., 2008(Froh et al., , 2009, prisoners (Deng et al., 2018), teachers (Chan, 2010) and the elderly (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Self-affirmation was also effective with students and adults (for a review, see Cohen & Sherman, 2014). ...
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Increasing well-being is a prominent worldwide goal that can be achieved primarily through social support and environmental factors. However, in times of social distancing or isolation, it is important to also rely on self-managed activities. This study aimed to (a) test the effectiveness of a seven-week well-being intervention, in increasing need satisfaction, self-compassion, emotion regulation, and grateful disposition by curbing need frustration, self-derogation, and emotional suppression, and (b) examine the maintenance and long-term effects of the practices based on recall, elaboration, and writing. One hundred and twenty university students weekly recalled and elaborated for seven consecutive weeks on three recent episodes of gratitude, self-affirmation, goal setting, or meaningful things, according to the group to which they were assigned. Before the intervention, immediately after and one month later, they filled in questionnaires to assess need satisfaction/frustration, self-compassion/derogation, emotion regulation and grateful disposition. The results confirmed an increase in well-being and a decrease in ill-being for all groups (Cohen d for the significant differences ranging from 0.18 to 0.53). The effects were maintained one month later and even increased for self-compassion, self-derogation, need frustration, and emotional reappraisal. A follow-up assessment revealed that a third of the participants continued with the well-being practices. Implications and suggestions for future well-being interventions are discussed.
... Another protective buffer safeguarding individuals' mental health is gratitude, defined generally as an affective disposition of feeling thankful (McCullough et al., 2002). Gratitude has been found to be associated positively with psychological wellbeing and negatively with burnout among teachers (e.g., Chan, 2010Chan, , 2011Howells and Cumming, 2012). ...
... This finding is anticipated because all of these constructs appear to possess protective properties. Protective factors, such as teacher job satisfaction (e.g., Caprara et al., 2006;Ho and Au, 2006), and gratitude (e.g., Chan, 2010Chan, , 2011Howells and Cumming, 2012) can buffer against stress and promote thriving. Furthermore, the finding of the strongest relationship between thriving and coping efficacy is also not surprising. ...
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Building on theoretical and empirical insights and applying the thriving theory as the conceptual framework, the authors developed two new teacher-specific scales, namely the Teacher Stress Scale (TSS) and the Teacher Thriving Scale (TTS). The goal of this investigation was to evaluate the psychometric properties of these two scales. Data were collected through an online questionnaire administered to a national sample of 122 participating early childhood teachers (ages 22–72 years, M = 41.01) teaching in preschool through third grade in 26 states of the United States during the 2020–2021 school year amidst COVID-19. This study revealed some important psychometric results. First, with respect to their internal structures, both the TSS and the TTS appeared to be best represented as bifactorial and trifactorial, respectively. Specifically, the TSS comprised two constructs: (1) Inadequate School-based Support, and (2) Teaching-related Demands; and the TTS encompassed three constructs: (1) Adaptability and Flexibility, (2) Personal Strengths and Professional Growth, and (3) Positive Mindset. Second, the negative correlation between the TSS and the TTS provided discriminant evidence for each other’s construct validity, while the positive correlations between the TTS and six conceptually cognate constructs (Stress Resilience, Resilience Coping, Coping Efficacy, Teaching Satisfaction, Emotional Support, and Gratitude) demonstrated convergent evidence for construct validity for the TTS. Third, both the overall TSS and the overall TTS as well as their subscales exhibited good internal consistency reliability. Fourth, both the overall TSS and the overall TTS also demonstrated test–retest reliability.
... Additionally, although our study focused exclusively on taxi drivers, positive reflection interventions have also been successfully applied in other various work settings, including healthcare (e.g., Bono et al., 2013), education (e.g., Chan, 2010), and elderly care (e.g., Clauss et al., 2018). Thus, positive reflection interventions hold promise of generalizability for workerswith our study adding nuance highlighting positive effects on different work behaviors in the face of customer demands. ...
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As service jobs tend to be demanding and exhausting, it is critical to identify ways that help service employees stay positive and engage in behaviors that represent high quality customer service. Drawing upon affective events theory, this research aims to examine how a positive work reflection intervention influences service employees’ work behaviors via positive affect and the role of promotion focus as a personality moderator. We used a between-subjects design to test the effects of the “three good things” positive work reflection intervention in a field experiment. Data were collected from 74 taxi drivers who were randomly assigned into either an intervention condition or a control condition. They rated their positive affect and work behaviors using daily diary surveys for 7 consecutive days, during which participants in the intervention condition completed the “three good things” exercise at the end of each workday. Results showed that participants in the intervention condition reported higher levels of morning positive affect compared to participants in the control condition, but only for those with higher levels of promotion focus. Further, the intervention indirectly increased extra-role service behavior and reduced rule breaking behavior and passive response to entitled customer demands via positive affect for individuals with higher levels of promotion focus. The intervention showed opposite effects for individuals with lower levels of promotion focus. The intervention also directly enhanced employees’ active response in handling entitled customer demands. Our findings suggest that a simple exercise like the “three good things” positive work reflection intervention can significantly influence service employees’ work behaviors and the importance of considering the alignment between the intervention and individual differences.
... The use of SMART goals setting and strategy of WOOP, which is the acronym of wish, outcome, obstacle, and plan was targeted to promote participants' outcome dimension (Duckworth et al. 2013). Strength was cultivated by promoting gratitude (e.g., gratitude diary) (Chan 2010). Gratitude was chosen to represent strength because it is considered a salient element of one's character strengths (Park, Peterson, and Seligman 2004). ...
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Limited research has examined the well-being of international preschool teachers, while intervention targeting their well-being is even rarer. The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a 2-month EASP (i.e., Early Advancement in Social-Emotional Health and Positivity) positive psychological intervention program based on the PROSPER-which stands for posi-tivity, relationship, outcome, strength, purpose, engagement, and resilience-framework on international preschool teachers' well-being in Hong Kong. Eighty-three teachers (M age = 34.44 years, SD = 8.43, range = 19-53; female = 95.18%) were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 44) and waitlist control groups (n = 39). Teachers completed survey measures of PROSPER well-being at baseline and after the intervention. The results of the multivariate regression analyses revealed that the intervention did not have significant overall effects on the PROSPER well-being, Wilks' lambda F(7, 56) = 1.28, p = 0.28, η2 = 0.14. Yet, findings of univariate analyses suggested the intervention yielded significant medium effects on participants' relationship, outcome, strength and engagement (b = 0.26 to 0.45, 95% CI [0.04, 0.95], p = 0.02 to 0.03, η2 = 0.07 to 0.08). The findings underscore the practical utility of the PROSPER framework in supporting international preschool teachers' well-being but, at the same time, highlight the need to further examine how cultural variations might implicate its effectiveness.
... Apart from journaling, which only included self-reflection, "The Gratitude Visit" referred to writing letters of appreciation and delivering the letters in person (Seligman, Steen, Park et al. 2005). Further cross-cultural studies, such as "Grateful Self-reflection" (Chan 2010) and "Writing Letters of Appreciation" (Fritz, Armenta, Walsh et al. 2019), were an attempt to replicate the practice of gratitude interventions to adapt to the diverse needs of each community. These studies revealed cultural differences in the effectiveness of gratitude interventions, which we would take into consideration for later discussion in our study. ...
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The current study investigated the impact of predictive factors on the well-being of undergraduates in Ho Chi Minh City. Those factors were relationship satisfaction, academic achievement satisfaction, and financial well-being. Besides, the study explored the effectiveness of gratitude journaling in increasing students' well-being. There are two phases in this study, in the first phase, referred to as study 1, a total of 102 undergraduates from twenty-two universities in Ho Chi Minh City were surveyed. After being controlled for individual differences in socioeconomic status, the multiple linear regression results showed that satisfaction in the relationship and academic achievement positively predicted overall well-being, while financial well-being did not make a significant contribution. In the second phase, which is study 2, forty-five participants from study 1 agreed to move on to this phase, where they were randomly divided into two groups for a controlled pre and post-experiment. The experimental group practiced self-guided gratitude journaling for seven days. Analysis of covariance assessment was made to evaluate the impact model and the improvement of participants' well-being before and after the experiment. Results showed that the difference in well-being between the control and experimental group was insignificant and did not come directly from practicing gratitude journaling, but might indicate individual and cultural differences in well-being. Further research on cross-cultural differences and standardized protocol is encouraged.
... al., 2020). Wellbeing of teachers is closely related to wellbeing on subjects (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013 and wellbeing on socio-ecological frameworks (McCallum, 2020). In addition to this, teachers' mental and physical health, engagement on profession, desire to leave a school have also closely related to teachers' wellbeing (Claeys, 2011;Kellr, Frenzel, et. ...
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Teachers usually feel unprepared for the behaviours students bring to the school, which affect their wellbeing and teaching management. This promotes ways for the staff of the school and the policymakers to solve challenges to the teaching and learning process. Investigating ways to promote teachers’ positive wellbeing in the school climate is the aim of the present research. Using survey methodology, the participants were teachers, school managers, and educational policymakers. Educational policymakers include the Minister of National Education, the Undersecretary of the Minister of Education, the Director of the General Secondary Education Department, and Members of the Education Union Board of Directors. Data were collected through surveys, observations, and audio recording transcripts of interviews. The identified wellbeing of teachers can be used to support teachers and students in creating a positive school climate. Findings revealed that there are several strategies that schools and policymakers can use to support teachers in promoting wellbeing and creating a positive school climate. Teachers’ wellbeing is promoted through managing behaviours and teaching. It is concluded that behaviours that promote teachers’ wellbeing are promoted through developing effective action, developing social skills, developing personal skills, and producing a safe and predictable school climate. In addition to this, teachers’ wellbeing and teaching management are promoted through effective content and context and prompting leadership skills and qualities. As a result, policymakers are strongly urged to take a holistic approach to promote positive wellbeing and create a positive school climate. Implications provide teachers with opportunities to develop themselves professionally, to encourage collaboration and support, to use positive reinforcement strategies, to establish clear expectations and rules, to foster student engagement, to involve students’ in decision-making processes, to give students a sense of ownership, and to adopt inclusive practises.
... It is accepted that gratitude improves organizational belonging behavior, strengthens teamwork (51), and has positive effects on self-confidence, mental resilience, and physical health (48,52,53). Again, the positive and significant relationship between happiness, life satisfaction, well-being, and gratitude has been demonstrated through many scientific studies (54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)(64) (27). In an interesting study conducted by Wood (65), it is reported that sleep quality is higher in individuals who experience gratitude. ...
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This research aims to investigate the relationship between the feeling of gratitude in team members and paradoxical leadership behavior in a sports team where a grateful team climate is experienced. For this purpose, the feelings, thoughts and experiences of the athletes in a fencing team characterized by the phenomenon of gratitude were consulted. “What are the paradoxical leadership behaviors that make team members feel grateful?” question constitutes the main problem of this research. In collecting research data, in addition to the grateful team climate scale, the team members' experiences within the team were accessed through structured open-ended questions, and the effects of paradoxical leadership behavior were sought in these experiences. Data was analyzed with MAXQDA 24 ANALYTICS Pro. Based on the data obtained in accordance with the phenomenology pattern application, the inter-phenomenal relationships determined were evaluated in the context of the emergence of the gratitude climate and the paradoxical leader's attitudes and behaviors. According to the research findings, it has been concluded that paradoxical leadership attitudes and behaviors have an impact on the formation of a grateful team climate. According to the research findings, it has been concluded that paradoxical leadership attitudes and behaviors have a decisive role in the formation of a grateful team climate.
... A workplace culture built on gratitude could increase employee retention, engagement, and productivity [18]. Additionally, gratitude-based interventions, such as a gratitude diary [11,14] and the "Three Good Things" exercise [33], have been introduced in healthcare, e.g., clinical counseling [5]. ...
... Well-being is a construct with many definitions (Collie et al., 2016). Chan (2010) defines well-being as "teachers' emotional responses to the cognitive, emotional, health and social conditions pertaining to their work and their profession." Similarly, Redding and Henry (2018) focus on well-being in terms of perceived strain and negative responses by teachers when experiencing stress in their work. ...
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A gradual transition from a collectivist to a more individualist identity has been noted in the Arab minority with implications for teachers’ well-being and organizational citizenship behavior. This study builds on the Job Demands–Control model to investigate the mediating role of teacher organizational commitment in the relationship between the teacher collective involvement in decision making to teacher well-being and organizational citizenship behavior. Data were collected from a sample of 350 teachers randomly chosen in the Arab educational system in Israel. Structural equation modeling (using the AMOS 21.0 program) was used to test the proposed relationships. The results indicate both a direct and indirect relationships (through the mediating role of teacher organizational commitment) of teacher collective involvement in decision making on teachers’ well-being and organizational citizenship behavior. The model which tested both direct and indirect relationships (through organizational commitment) between collective involvement in decision making and teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior, and well-being, showed good fit indices (χ² = 62.60; χ²/df = 2.50; CFI = .947, TLI = .905, IFI = .949; RMSEA = .066). Specifically, the bootstrapping analysis reaffirmed the mediating role of organizational commitment between collective involvement in decision making and well-being (β = −.04, p < .001) and organizational citizenship behavior (β = .11, p < .001). Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
... For the purposes of this research, gratitude is understood as a "subjective felt sense of wonder, thankfulness, and appreciation" (Chan, 2010, p. 139). To date, research examining the relationship between teacher gratitude and perceived stress is limited to work in Hong Kong and South Korea, but findings have suggested self-gratitude interventions to be effective in reducing teacher burnout (Chan, 2010, Da Hye & Lee, 2021. The current study examines gratitude received from othersas opposed to gratitude that is self-givento expand this research base and determine to what extent receiving gratitude from others serves as a resource for teachers in their work. ...
... These include school achievement (Wen et al., 2010), student relationships (Bai & Jin, 2016), subjective wellbeing (Tian et al., 2015), and psychological and academic adjustment (Wu et al., 2020). Gratitude is also correlated positively with happiness and personal accomplishment and subjective wellbeing, and negatively with emotional exhaustion among Hong Kong Chinese teachers (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013. ...
... For instance, there are exemplar case studies illustrating the use of POS in designing interventions tailored to specific higher education organisations (Cameron, 2021). In contrast, Donaldson et al. (2021b) description of Positive Organisational Psychology Interventions (POPIs) include studies such a gratitude intervention with teachers from multiple schools, which lacked adaptation to their specific circumstances or the education field as a whole (Chan, 2010). Throughout this study we argue that interventions that target the organisational level should include adaptations to the particular organisational context in which they are implemented. ...
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Improving educator wellbeing presents a complex challenge due to the variety of influences on wellbeing at the individual, relational, and contextual (school and policy) levels. This complexity contributes to the gap between the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) and their real-world success. To bridge this gap, it is essential to understand and adapt to school context when integrating psychological interventions into educational settings. This study addresses this gap through an approach to developing an educator wellbeing program that embraces the idea of understanding and adapting to context. We use a theory of change approach to designing a program, that outlines the context, design rationale, activities, and outcomes of the program. The program is multi-level, targeting influences on educator wellbeing at the individual, relational, and contextual (school) levels. Additionally, it employs a multi-foci strategy, encompassing a range of activities that target different levels and allow for adaptation. We present a case study of program implementation in one school, exploring contextual factors, adapting the program accordingly, and evaluating the degree to which theory of change outcomes were achieved. Program participants experienced improved wellbeing and a relational space characterised by more positive interactions with colleagues. This design and case study contribute to the ongoing discourse on progressing towards context-specific, whole-school approaches to wellbeing.
... Since research in the domain of gratitude and specifically in the context of gratitude intervention is still in its formative stages, there is still plenty of work to be done. Despite the remaining uncertainties, contemporary research in the area of gratitude has layout the various forms of interventions for obtaining a range of substantial successful C outcomes such as lower stress (Chan, 2010) and higher satisfaction with life (Peters et al., 2013). ...
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The said piece of work is based on the concept behind gratitude and its various facets.
... Beyond looking at the antecedents of optimal psychological functioning in preand in-service teachers, his research findings have critical implications for designing more holistic well-being intervention programs for teaching professionals. For instance, previous studies adopted gratitude-based (Chan, 2010), mindfulness (Klingbeil & Renshaw, 2018), and positive psychotherapy intervention that promotes forgiveness, gratitude, positive emotions, relationships, and contentment (Taghvaienia & Alamdari, 2020). Recent investigations have shown that a technologically facilitated multi-component psychological intervention with foci on cultivating positivity, relationships, outcomes, strengths, purpose, engagement, and resilience can promote well-being in pre-and in-service teachers in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis (Datu et al., 2022a, b). ...
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This tribute celebrates the distinguished scholarship and extraordinary life of Dennis Michael McInerney, who passed away in Hong Kong on May 20th, 2022. It is a testimony of his impact on our professional and personal lives while highlighting the multitude and depth of his scholarly contributions. McInerney was one of those thinkers who invited us to reconsider how we conceptualize, assess, and apply scientific investigations in our teaching and learning practices. He authored and co-authored numerous widely used books and published numerous research articles in peer-refereed journals. During his remarkable career, McInerney dedicated a significant part to researching the problems associated with studying culture and uncovering how culture is a missing link in most motivation research. He believed there was a noteworthy need to conduct Indigenous educational research to understand the extent to which mainstream motivation theories apply to culturally diverse groups and stand up to cross-cultural testing scrutiny. McInerney’s influence and impact will transcend future generations of research, given the gravity of his scholarly contributions.
... Interventions focusing on increasing state gratitude reveal their potential for improving daily positive emotions (Ouweneel et al. 2014;Watkins 2004). Therefore, as in the case of trait gratitude, cultivating gratitude as a state encourages seeing life in a positive light (Chan 2010;Eaton et al. 2014;Fredrickson et al. 2003;Wood et al. 2008a, b). Three methods of gratitude induction have been identified, based on daily listing the things to be grateful for, grateful contemplation, and behavioral expressions of gratitude (see Wood et al. 2010, for a review). ...
Article
Sincerity (narimo ing pandum) and gratitude can improve psychological well-being. However, the role of gratitude as a moderator in the relationship between the feeling of sincerity and psychological well-being is not widely studied yet. This study aimed to determine the role of sincerity and psychological well-being with gratitude as a moderator for the new students at Aisyah University Pringsewu, Lampung. The population of this study was the new students of Aisyah University Pringsewu with 765 students as the sample. The data were collected by using the psychological well-being, sincerity (narimo ing pandum), and gratitude scales, and analyzed by using the Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA). The data were processed by using IBM SPSS 20. The analysis showed that sincerity (narimo ing pandum) has a significant role in predicting the psychological well-being (r = 0.604; p < 0.01) with a predictor contribution of 36.5%. Gratitude can moderate the relationship between gratitude and psychological well-being (p < 0.01). It can be concluded that sincerity can affect the psychological well-being of the students. Gratitude can act as a moderator in the relationship between gratitude and psychological well-being of the students.
... İhtiyaç defalarca belirtilmiş olsa da (Gibbs & Miller, 2014;McCullough, 2015), etkililiği tam olarak kanıtlanmış olan programlara ve öğretmen adaylarının eğitimleri ile hizmet içi öğretmen eğitimleri için pozitif tutumları teşvik edebilecek genel müdahalelere henüz yol açmamıştır (Hwang vd., 2017;McCullough, 2015;Necsoi, 2018). Diğer yanda daha önce yapılan bazı küçük ölçekli araştırmalar, pozitif psikoloji müdahalelerinin iyi oluşu artırmada ve öğretmen stresini en aza indirmede avantajlı etkilerini göstermiştir (Chan, 2010(Chan, , 2013Dreer, 2020;Falecki & Mann, 2020;Fernandes vd., 2020;García-Álvarez vd., 2021;Mercer vd., 2016;Rahm & Heise, 2019). ...
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Öğretmenlerin iyi olma hali son derece önemli bir konudur. Uluslararası alanda gelişmekte olan pozitif eğitim, pozitif psikolojiden elde edilen bulguları okullara uygular ve okulların akademik başarılarına ek olarak, okula dâhil olan herkesin bütünsel iyi oluşunu geliştirme hedefine odaklanır. Pozitif psikoloji araştırmalarından aldığı destek sayesinde bu bölümde, öğretmenlerin okullarında yaşadıkları aşırı strese ve tükenmişliğe karşı tampon yapmak adına kendilerine yönelik koruyucu faktörleri geliştirmeyi öğrenebilecekleri müdahaleler tasarlanmıştır. Bunu başarmak için pozitif psikolojinin, PERMA modeline odaklanan etkinliklerden esinlenerek, öğretmenlerin mesleki işlevselliğini ve iyi oluşunu destekleyebilecek bazı yararlı yönlendirmeler ve müdahaleler sunulmuştur. Müdahalelerde çağdaş bir 21.yüzyıl öğretmeni olmanın stresleri ve zorluklarıyla başa çıkmalarına yardımcı olmak için öğretmenlerin, nasıl destekleneceğine ve onların profesyonel rollerinde gelişmelerinin nasıl sağlanabileceğine vurgu yapılmaktadır. Bu bölüm, öğretmenlerin psikolojik sağlamlık ve iyi oluşlarına yönelik tehditleri azaltabilmeleri ve okullardaki pozitif tutumlarını destekleyebilmeleri için müdahale örnekleri sunacaktır.
... Gratitude is the emotion experienced when we are thankful for positive aspects of our life (6). In addition to less context-specific physical and social benefits (7)(8)(9), in the classroom gratitude is associated with higher school life satisfaction (10), higher classroom engagement (11), higher feelings of accomplishment (12), higher academic motivation (13), and increased focus and resilience in learning (14). Gratitude has also been associated with predictors of academic retention and success in college students (15). ...
... Gratitude interventions have been widely applied to improve the well-being of varied populations, such as children and adolescents (Froh et al., 2009), school teachers (Chan, 2010), psychotherapy clients (Wong et al., 2018), student athletes (e.g., Gabana et al., 2022), women with breast cancer (Sztachańska et al., 2019), suicidal inpatients (Huffman et al., 2014), and health care practitioners (Cheng et al., 2015) in diverse countries (e.g., Heckendorf et al., 2019;Sztachańska et al., 2019;Valdez et al., 2022). Despite their popularity, evidence for the efficacy of gratitude interventions has been mixed. ...
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How can gratitude interventions be designed to produce meaningful and enduring effects on people’s well-being? To address this question, the author proposes the Catalyst Model of Change—this novel, practical, and empirically testable model posits five socially oriented behavioral pathways that channel the long-term effects of gratitude interventions as well as how to augment gratitude experiences in interventions to boost treatment effects and catalyze these behavioral pathways. Specifically, interventions that enhance the frequency, skills, intensity, temporal span, and variety of gratitude experiences are likely to catalyze the following post-intervention socially oriented behaviors: (a) social support–seeking behaviors, (b) prosocial behaviors, (c) relationship initiation and enhancement behaviors, (d) participation in mastery-oriented social activities, and (e) reduced maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, which, in turn, produce long-term psychological well-being. A unique feature of the Catalyst Model of Change is that gratitude experiences are broadly conceptualized to include not just gratitude emotions, cognitions, and disclosures, but also expressing, receiving, witnessing, and responding to interpersonal gratitude. To this end, gratitude interventions that provide multiple opportunities for social experiences of gratitude (e.g., members expressing gratitude to each other in a group) might offer the greatest promise for fostering durable, positive effects on people’s psychological well-being.
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Background Health promotion in schools can be defined as any activity undertaken to improve the health of all school users. This qualitative study aimed to explore the systems of health promotion in primary schools in the aftermath of the COVID‐19 pandemic, from the perspectives of teachers and principals in the Republic of Ireland. Methods Participants were recruited using snowball and convenience sampling techniques via a larger quantitative study. Participants joined 45‐min online focus groups informed by a semi‐structured interview guide. A reflexive thematic approach was taken to analysis. Results Thirty teachers participated, and most ( n = 26) identified as female. Teaching experience across the sample ranged from 2 to 38 years. School sizes ranged from 20 to 850 students. All types of eligible publicly funded schools were represented. Three themes were generated: rebuilding the foundation, choosing within our limits and drawing the line. Conclusion Findings indicate that systems of health promotion in primary schools were severely challenged during the COVID‐19 pandemic and that recovery will be lengthy. School communities are well‐positioned to have a leading role in primary and secondary disease prevention, but investment is needed to establish resilient frameworks for health promotion as child health issues provoked by the pandemic are addressed over the coming years.
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Background The study of gratitude has been a trending subject in psychology and emerging in health sciences education. For the past several years, interest has been aroused through various published contributions that still lack scientific support, so it is necessary to have instruments that obtain valid and reliable data about it. Gratitude has proven to be sensitive to different cultures. This research aims to determine the psychometric properties using a combined scale to measure dispositional gratitude in health sciences faculty. Method A quantitative study was conducted with a non-experimental trans-sectional design with a correlational scope, with a sample of 216 professors of health sciences in a northeastern Mexico private university divided into subsamples for an Exploratory Factor Analysis (n = 113) and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (n = 103). The Gratitude Questionnaire, Work Questionnaire and Brief Interactive Optimism-Garcia was applied to 110 women, 104 men and 2 who prefer not to specify their gender. Results The result was a unifactorial measurement model composed of 10 items with evidence of construct validity (χ² = 59.83, df = 20, p < 0.001, χ²/df = 59.83/20 = 2.99, SRMR = 0.11, GFI = 0.96; NFI = 0.93, RFI = 0.91, AGFI = 0.93), PRATIO = 0.78, PNFI = 0.73; concurrent validity with interactive optimism (r = 0.45, p < 0.001); convergent validity (AVE = 0.42); and reliability (α = 0.88; ω = 0.88). Conclusions This model measures dispositional gratitude in health sciences Mexican faculty and contributes a vital instrument to advance future educational innovations involving this construct. The validation of the one-factor model with convergent reliability and validity suggests that the total scale score serves as an adequate measure of gratitude. Finally, it represents a valuable contribution to the teaching of health sciences since it generates healthy environments with prosocial attitudes that facilitate flourishing in personal and academic life, and in the future, health professionals with humanism as their standard.
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This meta-analytical review aims to investigate the overall effect of comprehensive interventions on teacher well-being and the factors that moderate the effect by synthesizing empirical evidence. A total number of 176 effect sizes from 44 studies were included in this study. The results reported the mean effect size of intervention on teacher well-being was significant (g = 0.35). The study quality (F = 5.38, p < .01), intervention type (F = 3.03, p < .05), and intervention duration (F = 2.80, p < .05) were identified as the statistically significant moderators for the overall effect. The further multiple moderator model reported a significant outcome (F = 2.91, p < .01). This study is the first attempt to synthesize the impact of the intervention on teacher well-being using a three-level model. Conceptual, methodological, and practical implications were provided and particular guidelines for professionals and education policy makers to better promote teacher wellness were also presented.
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Teachers play a significant societal role, yet many feel underappreciated, and commonly cite this as a reason for considering leaving the profession. This study investigated responses to the #ThankYourTeacher social media campaign, which was created to generate public expressions of gratitude towards teachers. Data were collected from Twitter, Instagram, a campaign website, and public events and thematically analysed. Orr’s (1992) Head, Heart, and Hands Model of Transformational Learning was used as a framework for understanding the qualities of teachers and their teaching that participants appreciated. Notably, more individuals expressed gratitude for teachers’ motivational and compassionate qualities (Heart) and their enthusiasm and leadership (Hands) than for their subject knowledge (Head). These findings underscore the importance of the teacher-student relationship and relational qualities over subject expertise. This study also highlights the potential for further research into the impacts of practicing gratitude towards teachers and increasing teachers’ sense of being valued and appreciated.
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Gratitude interventions have been usually less effective for collectivistic cultures compared to individualistic cultures. The first study examined the impact of the target person in the efficacy of gratitude intervention in the Indian context. The second study examined whether conception of gratitude is similar between Indians and Anglo-Americans. In first study, 312 first-year undergraduate Indian students (Mage = 18.64, SD = 0.76) were randomly assigned to three groups. They wrote about a typical day in their life, gratitude toward a particular person of their choice and gratitude toward an immediate family member, respectively. Selected sub-scales of PANAS-X were administered before and after the intervention. In second study, 112 Indian participants (Mage = 27.63, SD = 5.82) and 80 Anglo-American (Mage = 38.48, SD = 11.94) participants took part in a survey whereby they needed to rate the centrality and positivity of some gratitude features. We found expressing gratitude toward an immediate family member was neither effective in increasing positive emotions nor effective in decreasing negative emotions. However, expressing gratitude toward any person of choice was effective in increasing positive emotions as well as decreasing negative emotions. Three prominent themes emerged for gratefulness toward any person, i.e., being an inspiration, providing a perspective in life, and emotional and financial support in success. Providing support to the hypotheses, indebtedness and its associated negative emotions were perceived more positively and more central to the concept of gratitude for Indian participants than Anglo-American participants.
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This study compares a gratitude intervention with an Indian yoga intervention to determine its efficacy to raise happiness levels. A randomized control trial was conducted with 48 female participants in each intervention group for eight weeks. The results suggest that happiness levels improved from pre-intervention to mid- and post-intervention and from mid- to post-intervention in the gratitude and yoga intervention groups. Despite similar levels of happiness pre-intervention in both groups, the yoga intervention group outperformed the gratitude intervention group in improving participants’ happiness levels at mid-intervention and post-intervention. The findings reveal the significance of customizing interventions to fit specific cultural contexts.
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This research investigates the relationship between life satisfaction and gratitude among young adults in the Delhi/NCR region. A sample size of 100 participants aged between 18 to 25 years was selected for the study. The study employed the 6G-Q Gratitude scale developed by McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J., and the Life Satisfaction scale by Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin to measure gratitude and life satisfaction, respectively. The results of the study revealed a significant correlation between life satisfaction and gratitude among young adults. The findings suggest that higher levels of life satisfaction are associated with greater expressions of gratitude. This study contributes to the understanding of the factors influencing gratitude among young adults, emphasizing the importance of fostering life satisfaction for cultivating a grateful disposition. These findings underscore the potential benefits of interventions targeting life satisfaction to enhance gratitude among young adults
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Many psychological problems arise when facing retirement due to unpreparedness during this period. Unpreparedness is commonly triggered by their fears of being unable to meet primary and secondary needs. Physical issues such as retirement health are essential, but paying attention to psychological problems is also necessary. Research on the well-being of retirees needs to be done to see what factors influence both internally and externally. This study aims to test the retirement well-being model in terms of such aspects as gratitude, forgiveness, and social support mediated by self-efficacy. This study used the structure equation model (SEM) approach with a sample of 220 retirees aged at least 55 through a convenience sampling technique. The data was collected in Bandung and its surroundings for six months, from August 2019 to March 2020, through well-being, gratitude, forgiveness, social support, and self-efficacy scales. The results of the research model tested have a good fit with empirical data and meet the goodness of fit requirements. There is a direct influence of gratitude, social support, and self-efficacy on well-being. There is an indirect effect of social support on well-being through self-efficacy. The value of the indirect effect is smaller than the direct effect, meaning that self-efficacy is not a good mediator variable for social support for well-being. In conclusion, most retirees experience well-being due to social support from their environment and their gratitude and self-efficacy. The well-being of retirees can be increased by appreciation, having social support from the environment, and having confidence in one's ability to deal with problems.
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Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the potential mediating role of employee engagement in the relationship between gratitude and subjective well-being (SWB) of employees working in the information technology (IT) sector in India. The study investigated a moderated mediation model for gratitude and SWB, treating employee engagement as a mediator and gender as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from 162 professionals working IT sector in India. Process Macro, AMOS and IBM SPSS 22 were used to analyze the mediation and moderation effects. Findings The results depicted that employee engagement fully mediates the positive association between gratitude practice and the SWB of employees as well as the demographic variable; gender also demonstrated a full moderation effect between them. Originality/value This research may be one of the few studies from the Indian context that explore whether gratitude practiced by employees working in the IT sector can play a significant role in impacting their SWB. Past research models had not introduced employee engagement’s indirect impact on the examined variables.
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Despite scholarly calls for multi-source assessments, the well-being of teachers has thus far generally been measured through self-reports. This paper explores whether it is possible to observe the well-being of teaching professionals via a structured observation tool for teacher classroom behaviour. The tool proposes a four-factor structure for assessing the verbal and non-verbal classroom behaviour of teachers. It focusses on the observation of the positive emotions, engagement, relationships, and achievement of teachers. To evaluate the feasibility of such an approach, observational data and teacher self-reports were gathered during 90 lessons in 19 German primary schools. Analyses revealed satisfactory results for internal consistency, interrater reliability, and convergent validity. Statistically significant small- to medium-sized relationships between observation scores and the data from the self-report scales were indicated by correlation analyses. Notably, correlations were strongest where observations and self-reports assessed identical well-being dimensions. Given these results, observations could be considered a promising method for assessing teacher well-being. They may prove particularly valuable within multi-method approaches for mitigating the limitations of other relevant measures such as self-reports. Additionally, observations of teacher well-being could be adapted for use as interventions or for periodic assessments by school leaders. These and other implications are discussed, as are limitations and avenues for future research.
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The COVID-19 educational crisis has generated both psychosocial risks and growth opportunities for teaching staff; these are challenges to be addressed from the perspective of sustainable development in SDG 3 Health and Well-being and SDG 4 Quality Education. During the pandemic, a character education training experience was carried out for principals and teacher coordinators, with the dual purpose of developing professional competencies for the application of positive psychology in educational centers and strengthening teacher well-being: specifically, dedication and enthusiasm in conjunction with personal resources such as self-efficacy and resilience. The multicomponent intervention based on positive psychology applied to education was carried out with a sample of 32 teaching coordinators and school principals (mean age 45.9 years; 93.75% female staff and 71.8% between 16 and 21 years of experience) from different departments in Uruguay. The results suggest that the intervention was effective, detecting higher scores in the post-test in self-efficacy (F = 18.17, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.40), resilience (F = 13.41, p = 0.001, η2 = 0.33), dedication and enthusiasm (F = 8.09, p = 0.008, η2 = 0.23), and teacher training (F = 8.36, p = 0.007, η2 = 0.24). It is concluded that the training program can provide an opportunity for improving teacher health and well-being, as well funcitoning as a device for promoting teacher professional development.
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Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between workplace toxicity and psychological capital (PsyCap). It also investigates the moderating role of gratitude in the toxicity–PsyCap link. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on explorative-cum-descriptive research design. The sample comprises 411 employees engaged in banking, insurance, IT, automobile and oil and gas companies. The collected data is explored for reliability, validity, multicollinearity and common method variance estimates. Also, the relationship between workplace toxicity and PsyCap and the moderating effect of gratitude are examined using structural equation modelling. Findings The findings report a negative association between toxicity and PsyCap. Also, the study concludes a significant moderating effect of gratitude. The study recommends the institutionalisation of a gratitude-based organisation to reduce the impact of workplace bullying and uncivil behaviour. Originality/value The study is based on primary data and one of the few studies that explore psychological capital as a dependent variable, which is influenced by toxic behaviours at work.
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This research study utilizes multi-source data to examine the relationship between vacation search on Google and the happiness index. Big data regarding vacation searches were extracted from Google Trends and happiness index values were obtained from publicly available sources. States in the USA are the unit of analysis. Regression models were applied as the statistical method. Personal income was employed as a control variable to exclude income level impact on the relationship between the predictor and the outcome variables. The study findings revealed that vacation search on Google is used as a momentary mood alignment tool to escape from daily stress or daily unhappiness, particularly work-related. On a similar note, this study contributes to the research literature by addressing not only vacation itself but also vacation search, which can be interpreted as planning and/or dreaming about a vacation through searching on the Internet (in this study, via Google), can be used as a method by individuals to seek "feeling good". It is suggested that the role of vacation with its stages pre-, during, and after should be highlighted in happiness indexes and quality of life batteries. In this study, the role of the pre-stage of vacation (dreaming and/or planning via search on Google) was examined. Future studies can investigate other stages of vacation in relation to sub-metrics of happiness and quality of life concepts. Future research can also apply survey-based cross-sectional methods to identify true underpinnings and magnitude levels of the relationship among variables of this study. Öz: Bu araştırma çalışmasında Google'da tatil araması ile mutluluk endeksi arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemek için çok kaynaklı verileri kullanılmıştır. Tatil aramalarına ilişkin büyük veriler Google Trends'ten ve mutluluk indeksi değerleri de ikincil data olarak elde edilmiştir. ABD'deki eyaletler analiz kapsamında yer almıştır. İstatistiksel yöntem olarak regresyon modelleri uygulanmıştır. Kişisel gelir, bağımsız ve bağımlı değişkenler arasındaki ilişkide gelir düzeyi etkisini kısıtlamak için kontrol değişkeni olarak kullanılmıştır. Çalışma bulguları Google'da tatil aramanın, özellikle işle ilgili günlük stres veya günlük mutsuzluktan uzaklaşmak için bir başa çıkma aracı olarak kullanıldığını ortaya koymuştur. Bu şekilde, insanların gün içinde modunu yükseltiyi anlaşılmıştır. Bireylerin bunu "iyi hissetme" arayışında bir yöntem olarak
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This research study utilizes multi-source data to examine the relationship between vacation search on Google and the happiness index. Big data regarding vacation searches were extracted from Google Trends and happiness index values were obtained from publicly available sources. States in the USA are the unit of analysis. Regression models were applied as the statistical method. Personal income was employed as a control variable to exclude income level impact on the relationship between the predictor and the outcome variables. The study findings revealed that vacation search on Google is used as a momentary mood alignment tool to escape from daily stress or daily unhappiness, particularly work-related. On a similar note, this study contributes to the research literature by addressing not only vacation itself but also vacation search, which can be interpreted as planning and/or dreaming about a vacation through searching on the Internet (in this study, via Google), can be used as a method by individuals to seek "feeling good". It is suggested that the role of vacation with its stages pre-, during, and after should be highlighted in happiness indexes and quality of life batteries. In this study, the role of the pre-stage of vacation (dreaming and/or planning via search on Google) was examined. Future studies can investigate other stages of vacation in relation to sub-metrics of happiness and quality of life concepts. Future research can also apply survey-based cross-sectional methods to identify true underpinnings and magnitude levels of the relationship among variables of this study.
Article
Objective To determine the effects of a popular opinion leader (POL)-led organizational intervention targeting all physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) working within clinic groups on professional fulfillment (primary outcome), gratitude, burnout, self-valuation, and turnover intent. Patients and Methods All 20 Stanford University HealthCare Alliance clinics with ≥5 physicians-APPs were matched by size and baseline gratitude scores and randomly assigned to immediate or delayed intervention (control). Between July 10, 2018, and March 15, 2019, trained POLs and a physician-PhD study investigator facilitated 4 interactive breakfast or lunch workshops at intervention clinics, where colleagues were invited to discuss and experience one evidence-based practice (gratitude, mindfulness, cognitive, and behavioral strategies). Participants in both groups completed incentivized annual assessments of professional fulfillment, workplace gratitude, burnout, self-valuation, and intent to leave as part of ongoing organizational program evaluation. Results Eighty-four (75%) physicians-APPs at intervention clinics attended at least 1 workshop. Of all physicians-APPs, 236 of 251 (94%) completed assessments in 2018 and 254 of 263 (97%) in 2019. Of 264 physicians-APPs with 2018 or 2019 assessment data, 222 (84%) had completed 2017 assessments. Modal characteristics were 60% female, 46% White, 49% aged 40 to 59 years, 44% practicing family-internal medicine, 78% living with partners, and 53% with children. Change in professional fulfillment by 2019 relative to average 2017 to 2018 levels was more favorable (0.63 points; effect size = 0.35; P=.001) as were changes in gratitude and intent to leave among clinicians practicing at intervention clinics. Conclusion Interventions led by respected physicians-APPs can achieve high participation rates and have potential to promote well-being among their colleagues.
Article
The aim of the study was to examine the effect of the Reality Therapy based psychoeducation program on the psychological need satisfaction and subjective well-being levels of the teachers. The study was conducted with paired experimental and control groups with pre, post and follow up tests with a quasi-experimental, 2x3 factorial design. Within the scope of the study, a six sessions psychoeducation program was developed, and the developed program was administered to the teachers on a once-a-week basis. As data collection instruments, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Psychological Needs Inventory were used. The data were analyzed with mixed-design ANOVA. As a result of the study, it was observed that for the experimental group that received the psychoeducation program, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Positive Affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Psychological Needs Inventory were scores of participants were significantly increased compared to the control group, whereas the Negative Affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule scores were significantly decreased compared to the control group. The demonstrated changes were also observed to continue in the follow-up tests.
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In four studies, the authors examined the correlates of the disposition toward gratitude. Study 1 revealed that self-ratings and observer ratings of the grateful disposition are associated with positive affect and well-being prosocial behaviors and traits, and religiousness/spirituality. Study 2 replicated these findings in a large nonstudent sample. Study 3 yielded similar results to Studies 1 and 2 and provided evidence that gratitude is negatively associated with envy and materialistic attitudes. Study 4 yielded evidence that these associations persist after controlling for Extraversion/positive affectivity, Neuroticism/negative affectivity, and Agreeableness. The development of the Gratitude Questionnaire, a unidimensional measure with good psychometric properties, is also described.
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The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was developed to assess satisfaction with the respondent’s life as a whole. The scale does not assess satisfaction with life domains such as health or finances but allows subjects to integrate and weight these domains in whatever way they choose. Normative data are presented for the scale, which shows good convergent validity with other scales and with other types of assessments of subjective well-being. Life satisfaction as assessed by the SWLS shows a degree of temporal stability (e.g., 54 for 4 years), yet the SWLS has shown sufficient sensitivity to be potentially valuable to detect change in life satisfaction during the course of clinical intervention. Further, the scale shows discriminant validity from emotional well-being measures. The SWLS is recommended as a complement to scales that focus on psychopathology or emotional well-being because it assesses an individuals’ conscious evaluative judgment of his or her life by using the person’s own criteria.
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We investigated the relationship between the emotional states of gratitude and indebtedness in two studies. Although many have suggested that these affects are essentially equivalent, we submit that they are distinct emotional states. Following Heider (1958), we propose that with increasing expectations of return communicated with a gift by a benefactor, indebtedness should increase but gratitude should decrease. The results of two vignette studies supported this hypothesis, and patterns of thought/action tendencies showed these states to be distinct. In addition, we found that with increasing expectations communicated by a benefactor, beneficiaries reported that they would be less likely to help the benefactor in the future. Taken together, we argue that the debt of gratitude is internally generated, and is not analogous to an economic form of indebtedness.
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We provide evidence that self-focused attention (both dispositional and situationally induced) affects the evaluation of a benefactor. Specifically, self-focused attention distinguishes between gratitude and indebtedness. In Study 1, gratitude correlated negatively with dispositional public self-focused attention and social anxiety, whereas indebtedness correlated positively with public self-focused attention and social anxiety. In Study 2, participants recalled a recent benefit under either high self-focused attention, induced via a mirror, or low self-focused attention. Highly self-focused individuals recalled increased indebtedness, but not gratitude, toward a benefactor, relative to those in the control condition. Self-focused individuals also felt less commitment and closeness to the benefactor. The implications for the link between self-focus and social emotions (and thus social life) are discussed.
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In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
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Reviews the literature since 1967 on subjective well-being (SWB [including happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect]) in 3 areas: measurement, causal factors, and theory. Most measures of SWB correlate moderately with each other and have adequate temporal reliability and internal consistency; the global concept of happiness is being replaced with more specific and well-defined concepts, and measuring instruments are being developed with theoretical advances; multi-item scales are promising but need adequate testing. SWB is probably determined by a large number of factors that can be conceptualized at several levels of analysis, and it may be unrealistic to hope that a few variables will be of overwhelming importance. Several psychological theories related to happiness have been proposed; they include telic, pleasure and pain, activity, top–down vs bottom–up, associanistic, and judgment theories. It is suggested that there is a great need to more closely connect theory and research. (7 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
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The purpose of these studies was to develop a valid measure of trait gratitude, and to evaluate the relationship of gratitude to subjective well-being (SWB). Four studies were conducted evaluating the reliability and validity of the Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test (GRAT), a measure of dispositional gratitude. This measure was shown to have good internal consistency and temporal stability. The GRAT was shown to relate positively to various measures of SWB. In two experiments, it was shown that grateful thinking improved mood, and results also supported the predictive validity of the GRAT. These studies support the theory that gratitude is an affective trait important to SWB.
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W. Wilson's (1967) review of the area of subjective well-being (SWB) advanced several conclusions regarding those who report high levels of "happiness." A number of his conclusions have been overturned: youth and modest aspirations no longer are seen as prerequisites of SWB. E. Diener's (1984) review placed greater emphasis on theories that stressed psychological factors. In the current article, the authors review current evidence for Wilson's conclusions and discuss modern theories of SWB that stress dispositional influences, adaptation, goals, and coping strategies. The next steps in the evolution of the field are to comprehend the interaction of psychological factors with life circumstances in producing SWB, to understand the causal pathways leading to happiness, understand the processes underlying adaptation to events, and develop theories that explain why certain variables differentially influence the different components of SWB (life satisfaction, pleasant affect, and unpleasant affect). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Positive psychotherapy (PPT) contrasts with standard interventions for depression by increasing positive emotion, engagement, and meaning rather than directly targeting depressive symptoms. The authors have tested the effects of these interventions in a variety of settings. In informal student and clinical settings, people not uncommonly reported them to be "life-changing." Delivered on the Web, positive psychology exercises relieved depressive symptoms for at least 6 months compared with placebo interventions, the effects of which lasted less than a week. In severe depression, the effects of these Web exercises were particularly striking. This address reports two preliminary studies: In the first, PPT delivered to groups significantly decreased levels of mild-to-moderate depression through 1-year follow-up. In the second, PPT delivered to individuals produced higher remission rates than did treatment as usual and treatment as usual plus medication among outpatients with major depressive disorder. Together, these studies suggest that treatments for depression may usefully be supplemented by exercises that explicitly increase positive emotion, engagement, and meaning. ((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
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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.
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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.
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Positive psychology has flourished in the last 5 years. The authors review recent developments in the field, including books, meetings, courses, and conferences. They also discuss the newly created classification of character strengths and virtues, a positive complement to the various editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (e. g., American Psychiatric Association, 1994), and present some cross-cultural findings that suggest a surprising ubiquity of strengths and virtues. Finally, the authors focus on psychological interventions that increase individual happiness. In a 6-group, random-assignment, placebo-controlled Internet study, the authors tested 5 purported happiness interventions and 1 plausible control exercise. They found that 3 of the interventions lastingly increased happiness and decreased depressive symptoms. Positive interventions can supplement traditional interventions that relieve suffering and may someday be the practical legacy of positive psychology.
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This article reports the development and validation of a scale to measure global life satisfaction, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Among the various components of subjective well-being, the SWLS is narrowly focused to assess global life satisfaction and does not tap related constructs such as positive affect or loneliness. The SWLS is shown to have favorable psychometric properties, including high internal consistency and high temporal reliability. Scores on the SWLS correlate moderately to highly with other measures of subjective well-being, and correlate predictably with specific personality characteristics. It is noted that the SWLS is Suited for use with different age groups, and other potential uses of the scale are discussed.
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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.
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The literature on subjective well-being (SWB), including happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect, is reviewed in three areas: measurement, causal factors, and theory. Psychometric data on single-item and multi-item subjective well-being scales are presented, and the measures are compared. Measuring various components of subjective well-being is discussed. In terms of causal influences, research findings on the demographic correlates of SWB are evaluated, as well as the findings on other influences such as health, social contact, activity, and personality. A number of theoretical approaches to happiness are presented and discussed: telic theories, associationistic models, activity theories, judgment approaches, and top-down versus bottom-up conceptions.
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The evolution of the conceptualization of burnout and the three components of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) were first briefly reviewed with a focus on the studies of teacher burnout in Hong Kong, leading to the introduction of the notion of the antithesis of teacher burnout. Teacher burnout and its anti-thesis were then discussed in the context of positive psychology with reference to the three orientations to happiness (the pleasant life, the meaningful life, and the engaged life) and the twenty-four character strengths that could be subsumed under six virtues or strength domains in the hierarchy of strengths. Strength-based interventions and more broadly positive interventions were introduced as effective interventions to promote the antithesis of burnout. Among the effective positive intervention exercises, gratitude interventions were more closely examined and discussed in the context of the conceptualization and assessment of gratitude. Despite that scant research attention has been accorded to the conceptualization and applications of gratitude in both Western and Chinese societies, it is maintained that gratitude interventions are well-suited for helping Chinese teachers combat burnout and cope with the experience of burnout, considering that gratitude has always been valued in Chinese culture and represents a prized attitude and an aspired way of life.
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This introductory chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about the psychological aspects of gratitude. It discusses the reasons behind the increased interest in gratitude. These include the focus of the positive psychology movement on human strength and virtues, renewed interest of social scientists in people's religious and spiritual lives and resurgent interest in virtue ethics, a subfield of moral philosophy. This book examines the prosocial contours of gratitude, its origin and its manifestations and development in modern life.
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Gratitude is an emotional state and an attitude toward life that is a source of human strength in enhancing one's personal and relational well-being. In this article, we first explore the theological origins of gratitude as a virtue to be cultivated in the major monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each tradition emphasizes the development of gratitude as a path to a good life, and prescribes approaches for practicing. Gratitude is explored further in the context of psychological theory and research. Empirical research linking gratitude with well-being and goal attainment is presented and discussed. Finally, future research questions and a tentative research agenda are presented.
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This article reports the development and validation of a scale to measure global life satisfaction, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Among the various components of subjective well-being, the SWLS is narrowly focused to assess global life satisfaction and does not tap related constructs such as positive affect or loneliness. The SWLS is shown to have favorable psychometric properties, including high internal consistency and high temporal reliability. Scores on the SWLS correlate moderately to highly with other measures of subjective well-being, and correlate predictably with specific personality characteristics. It is noted that the SWLS is suited for use with different age groups, and other potential uses of the scale are discussed.
Chapter
This chapter explores the philosophical and theological foundations of gratitude. It examines the place of gratitude in the history of ideas, focusing primarily on the influential writings of philosopher and economist Adam Smith. It provides a scholarly overview of several other philosophers for whom gratitude was central in their thinking, including Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Hobbes and Samuel Pufendorf and evaluates the importance of gratitude in civic society.
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We investigated the relationship between various character strengths and life satisfaction among 5,299 adults from three Internet samples using the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths. Consistently and robustly associated with life satisfaction were hope, zest, gratitude, love, and curiosity. Only weakly associated with life satisfaction, in contrast, were modesty and the intellectual strengths of appreciation of beauty, creativity, judgment, and love of learning. In general, the relationship between character strengths and life satisfaction was monotonic, indicating that excess on any one character strength does not diminish life satisfaction.
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This article proposes a strength-based model for counseling at-risk youth. The author presents the assumptions, basic concepts, and values of the strength perspective in counseling and offers strength categories as a conceptual model for viewing clients’ behavior. Propositions leading toward a theory of strength-based counseling and stages of this model are given, representative strength-based counseling techniques are examined, and a case study is used to illustrate risk factors, protective factors, and strength assessment. Ethical, research, and training implications of the strength-based model of counseling are discussed.
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This article describes the likableness, familiarity, and frequency of 844 person-descriptive words and compares these characteristics to those of shorter lists established by Anderson (1968) and (1984) [Anderson, N. H. (1968). Likableness ratings of 555 personality-trait words. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9, 272–279; Myers, J. F. (1984). Schematic processing and self-reference during contiguous periods of clinical depression and symptomatic remission. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Calgary, Alberta: The University of Calgary]. Results show that the list offers reliable ratings of likableness and familiarity that are in keeping with those of these earlier lists. In addition, the list offers a direct comparison with the ratings of these earlier lists, as well as data on the frequency of each word in American English on the basis of two independent sources. We anticipate that this list will prove useful to researchers needing rapid access to ratings of likableness, familiarity, and frequency of person-descriptive words.
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This study investigated three orientations to happiness and their relationships with subjective well‐being in a sample of 228 Chinese prospective and in‐service teachers in Hong Kong. Confirmatory item factor analyses supported a three‐dimensional model that included constructs represented by a life of meaning, a life of pleasure, and a life of engagement. These three orientations, especially the meaningful life and the engaged life were found to predict life satisfaction and positive emotions as two components of subjective well‐being. Implications of the findings on the relationships between orientations and subjective well‐being for helping teachers to promote a more satisfying life to combat against teacher burnout are discussed.
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The pursuit of happiness is an important goal for many people. However, surprisingly little scientific research has focused on the question of how happiness can be increased and then sustained, probably because of pessimism engendered by the concepts of genetic determinism and hedonic adaptation. Nevertheless, emerging sources of optimism exist regarding the possibility of permanent increases in happiness. Drawing on the past well-being literature, the authors propose that a person's chronic happiness level is governed by 3 major factors: a genetically determined set point for happiness, happiness-relevant circumstantial factors, and happiness-relevant activities and practices. The authors then consider adaptation and dynamic processes to show why the activity category offers the best opportunities for sustainably increasing happiness. Finally, existing research is discussed in support of the model, including 2 preliminary happiness-increasing interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Chinese secondary school students with low academic achievement (N = 365) responded to instruments measuring their perceived paternal and maternal parenting behavior and styles, and their conflict with the father and the mother. Results generally showed that more positive perceptions of specific parenting behavior, global parenting style, and parent-adolescent conflict were associated with a lower level of psychological symptoms and higher levels of positive mental health or coping resources. It was also found that compared with maternal characteristics and mother-adolescent conflict, paternal parenting characteristics and father-adolescent conflict were more strongly related to adolescent mental health.
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Different orientations to happiness and their association with life satisfaction were investigated with 845 adults responding to Internet surveys. We measured life satisfaction and the endorsement of three different ways to be happy through pleasure, through engagement, and through meaning. Each of these three orientations individually predicted life satisfaction. People simultaneously low on all three orientations reported especially low life satisfaction. These findings point the way toward a distinction between the full life and the empty life.
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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.
Article
In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented.
Article
The tripartite components of burnout and eight coping strategies were assessed in a sample of 415 Chinese secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. While emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation were relatively undifferentiated among these teachers, a reduced sense of accomplishment as a distinct component of burnout was generally reported. The findings that avoidant coping strategies were consistently related to all three aspects of burnout suggested that teachers employing escape-avoidance to cope with stressors might be more prone to burnout. Implications for promoting certain patterns of coping to combat burnout were discussed.
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The convergent and discriminant validities of well-being concepts were examined using multitrait-multimethod matrix analyses (D. T. Campbell & D. W. Fiske, 1959) on 3 sets of data. In Study 1, participants completed measures of life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, self-esteem, and optimism on 2 occasions 4 weeks apart and also obtained 3 informant ratings. In Study 2, participants completed each of the 5 measures on 2 occasions 2 years apart and collected informant reports at Time 2. In Study 3, participants completed 2 different scales for each of the 5 constructs. Analyses showed that (a) life satisfaction is discriminable from positive and negative affect, (b) positive affect is discriminable from negative affect, (c) life satisfaction is discriminable from optimism and self-esteem, and (d) optimism is separable from trait measures of negative affect.
Positive psychology: The science and practical explorations of human strengths
  • C R Snyder
  • S J Lopez
Snyder, C.R., & Lopez, S.J. (2007). Positive psychology: The science and practical explorations of human strengths. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Naikan: Gratitude, grace, and the Japanese art of self-reflection
  • G Krech
Krech, G. (2001). Naikan: Gratitude, grace, and the Japanese art of self-reflection. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press.
How to want what you have
  • T Miller