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Why Gratitude Enhances Well-Being
Abstract
Gratitude is an acknowledgment that we have received something of value from others. It arises from a posture of openness to others, where we are able to gladly recognize their benevolence. Societies through the ages have long extolled the benefits of gratitude, and classical writings have deemed it the "greatest of the virtues." But only recently has psychological theory and research on gratitude begun to catch up with philosophical commendations. This chapter begins by reviewing research on gratitude and positive human functioning. It explores the mechanisms by which gratitude enhances well-being and considers at several explanations and evaluates the empirical evidence for each. The chapter then establishes an agenda for the future by considering some ways in which the scientific field of gratitude can be advanced.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
This open access book presents a novel multidisciplinary perspective on the importance of human flourishing. The study of the good life or Eudaimonia has been a central concern at least since Aristotelian times. This responds to the common experience that we all seek happiness. Today, we are immersed in a new paradoxical boom, where the pursuit of happiness seems to permeate everything (books, media, organizations, talks), but at the same time, it is nowhere, or at least very difficult to achieve. In fact, it is not easy to even find a consensus regarding the meaning of the word happiness. Seligman (2011), one of the fathers of the positive psychology, confirmed that his original view the meaning he referred to was close to that of Aristotle. But, he recently confessed that he now detests the word happiness, since it is overused and has become almost meaningless.The aim of this open access book is to shed new light on human flourishing through the lenses of neurosciences and health, organizations, and arts. The novelty of this book is to offer a multi-disciplinary perspective on the importance of human flourishing in our lives. The book will examine further how different initiatives, policies and practices create opportunities for generating human flourishing.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
In this chapter, we examine the association between forgiveness and flourishing. We begin by identifying what forgiveness and flourishing are. We then move to considering conceptual models as well as evidence supporting the connection between forgiveness and flourishing. An early model of the forgiveness and mental health relationship offers a beginning in this regard. Next, we examine the stress-and-coping models of forgiveness of oneself and others. The final model is the scaffolding self and social systems model of forgiveness and subjective well-being. These models offer multiple vantage points from which to consider the forgiveness-flourishing connection. Limitations to these models and to the current state of knowledge on forgiveness and flourishing are highlighted, especially the limits to comprehensive assessment of flourishing in the extant literature. Conclusions and future directions for studying and promoting flourishing in people of different religious affiliation, cultures, countries, and life-circumstances are discussed in closing.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
This chapter attempts to connect fatherhood involvement with human flourishing. We begin by presenting to the reader the reasons why fatherhood involvement matters. We then review fatherhood as a transformative event, together with the barriers that may limit the transformational aspect of fatherhood. Next, we review the concept of generativity, and a new definition of paternal generativity is also provided. Then, we present a model that connects fatherhood to human flourishing, partially explained by the role of paternal generativity and relational flourishing. Finally, the chapter ends with implications for researchers, organizations, and governments.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
To establish a “neuroscience of flourishing” one must first boil down its definition to only feature psychological concepts and then build a definition based on what the brain does. The “trait” perspective treats flourishing as a trait of the person that is reflected by forms of brain structure and/or patterns of neural functioning. The “behavioral” perspective emphasizes the brain as doing the behaviors that flourishing people do. I spend more time fleshing out the “belief” perspective, which is the brain’s representions of ‘having flourishing. In particular, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) forms these flourishing beliefs by generating positive evaluations of life circumstances (e.g., life satisfaction), the self (e.g., self-esteem), relationships (e.g., relationship satisfaction), and goal progress (e.g., purpose). This “belief” neuroscientific perspective on flourishing is parsimonious, helps explain the overlapping yet distinct features of hedonic and eudaimonic flourishing, and forms the basis for neurologically constrained psychological models of flourishing.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
Work and family are two domains of human life that are closely interconnected. For that reason, job resources can potentially contribute to have a better non-work life domain. The purpose of this research is to study how contextual resources, such as spouse behavior at home, can foster human flourishing through spill crossover, resulting in enriched outcomes in the work and home domain. We explore how support for work received from the spouse can lead to the generation of resources such as creativity, self-efficacy and strategic renewal. This chapter contributes to the work and family literature by introducing the concept of work supportive spouse behavior (WSSB), defined as behaviors exhibited by spouses that are supportive of their partner’s role in the workplace—this concept mirrors the family supportive supervisor behavior (FSSB) that denotes behaviors by supervisors that favor their employees’ role as family members.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
Eudaimonic well-being builds on the writings of Aristotle and integrates contemporary theories of positive psychological functioning. The empirically operationalization is detailed, emphasizing the importance of rigorous psychometric evaluation. Scientific advances of this model of well-being are noted, showing links to sociodemographic factors, experiences in work and family life, and health outcomes. Three future directions for research are considered. The first addresses growing problems of socioeconomic inequality and their role in undermining the opportunities of disadvantaged segments of society to experience eudaimonia. These problems have now been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted those who were already vulnerable. The second new direction examines the role of the arts and humanities as factors that nurture eudaimonic well-being. Whether the arts can activate needed compassion and caring among the privileged is also considered. The third new direction examines the intersection of entrepreneurial studies with eudaimonic well-being. Conventional conceptions of entrepreneurial success focus on business profits; a case is made that eudaimonia, of the entrepreneur as well as his/her employees and surrounding communities, constitute further measure of success that elevate issues of virtue, morality, and ethics.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
The great architect Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (1852–1926) is one of the shining lights of humanity on its path to social and individual perfection.
Through his works, his life, and his teaching to his disciples and collaborators, we can easily describe a real form of human flourishing. Millions of people from every corner of the world are interested in the works of Gaudí and the positive impact it has on humanity.
In this chapter, first we discuss human flourishing in the life and the teachings to his disciples of Gaudí, how Antoni Gaudí achieved his own flourishing; secondly, we indagate about how his art works are contributing to the flourishing of millions of human beings and, finally, we illustrate our opinions with three examples of Gaudí’s works which demonstrate to others ways to flourish themselves.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
Human flourishing has been defined as a subjective and holistic sentiment related to growth, prosperity, fulfillment, and sense of life completeness. This definition may lead to think that human flourishing is unique to people living under privileged circumstances of health and well-being, whereas people with life limiting illnesses are deprived from this possibility.
In this paper, we reflect on the idea of human flourishing in the context of palliative care. Although people with advanced illnesses experience in a special manner the limits of human life and vulnerability, and the final stages may inevitably imply considerable suffering, we argue that it is also possible to experience this final stage as an opportunity for personal growth, to live it in full accordance with one's beliefs and values, and to reestablish a profound connection to oneself and to others. In sum, the end of life may also be a time of human flourishing.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
We tend to think of flourishing as a place we get to, where we have arrived, but often do not see that act of change itself is a core facet of what it means to flourish. Indeed, we argue that flourishing is in fact our ability to change and adapt rather than a state that we are striving for. This points to human flourishing requiring an ‘adaptive’ approach to manage change: supporting careful navigation, negotiation and trade-offs. On this basis we need to identify the barriers that get in the way of enacting these possibilities and as such organisations and institutions that seeks to facilitate behaviour change will lean on barrier identification as well identifying ways to overcome them thought educating, assisting and facilitating. Using a behaviour change framework to identify the mechanisms shaping behaviour can help to identify ways to overcome barriers and facilitate positive outcomes.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
Governments should help citizens thrive, not merely survive. Doing so means alleviating stress and addressing mental illness, as well as amplifying positive experiences and emotions that allow humans to blossom and grow. But what factors support human flourishing? In this chapter, I challenge early pessimistic views of human nature as purely selfish by summarizing evidence demonstrating that humans are social and prosocial beings. Critically, I discuss how social and prosocial behavior have been repeatedly shown to promote well-being, a finding that aligns with numerous theories espousing that meaningful social connections are the essential feature to human flourishing (Ryff and Singer, Personality and Social Psychology Review 4(1):30–44, 2000). Using these insights, I suggest that institutions should revise their policies to mirror and inspire human proclivities to connect and care.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
Human flourishing is a complete state of well-being, comprised of essential elements that are universally valued across cultures as ends in themselves rather than as means to ends. Understanding the ontological interconnectedness of individual and communal flourishing has important implications for health. A narrow view of health has been framed in biomedical—and frequently physical—terms as the absence of disease or impairment. But broader and more holistic understandings derived from long-standing wisdom in the humanities are increasingly being used in tandem with the allopathic approach, thereby offering a relational understanding of health that transcends a focus on physical infirmity and locates the individual in social, ecological, and spiritual contexts. This wisdom has profound implications for the organization of healthcare, including a restoration of compassion as the heart of healthcare practice, as recent iterations of lifestyle medicine and integrative medicine have demonstrated. A synthesis of interdisciplinary knowledge affirms the goal of building a wellbeing ecosystem that transcends self-centeredness and reimagines health as flourishing.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
This chapter concerns how artificial agents can be used to bolster moral emotions like compassion that are linked to well-being. While technology-based interventions for well-being are plentiful, e.g., wellness apps, two critical components for flourishing in the twenty-first century are currently overlooked: (1) promoting moral emotions , e.g., gratitude, that relies on complex emotional experiences rather than simple negative or positive affect, and (2) using conversational agents , e.g., chatbots, rather than other technological interventions, e.g., mobile apps, which reframes well-being interventions as conversations . We look into gratitude and compassion as specific moral emotions that can be fostered by talking with technology rather than clicking through technology. This extends our relations of care to include artificial agents, in which we explore flourishing along with (not despite) technology in a new light.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
One of the clearest manifestations of a flourishing life is manifested in the positive impact one projects on society, in the sense of making other lives flourish. Cristóbal Balenciaga is a paradigm of a flourishing life in the fields of creation and education within fashion. This article explains his professional achievements from a doble perspective, artistic and entrepreneurial, and his contribution to the flourishing of clients, workers, and even the fashion of future generations. The legacy of Balenciaga show that human flourishing may be considered as the result of a creative process, for which setting goals, audacity, resilience and consistency are required. When these capacities are put into practice they transcend the improvement of the personal well being to create an expansive mechanism that generates flourishing societies.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
Wellbeing and flourishing are two interconnected concepts. Usually both are studied from just one discipline. In this book we combine research from academics look to combine the evidence on how flourishing has an impact and is influenced by health, art, entrepreneurship, and work life, among other factors. These influences and impact can be categorized in three groups. First, the interconnection with the self that is how we construction the image of ourselves impacts how we interpret and perceive different stimuli or experiences, and this has an impact on our flourishing. Second, the interconnection with others impacts the relationship we build with them, and this relationship impacts our flourishing. Finally, the interconnection with the environment shows us that being aware of the impact that our behaviors and traditions the environment can foster behaviors and changes that look to promote flourishing.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
Travel Literature can be a way of approaching eudaimonia and an interdisciplinary meeting point. When travelling, the individual is exposed to a multiple encounter experience. On the other hand, travelling is an intergenerational experience, and it will be increasingly so. From this perspective, it is possible to enrich studies by focusing on tourism and globalization, but also on relationships with technology. It is also possible, from this angle, to open new ways of developing new narratives that deepen in the encounter with oneself, with other cultures and that define new values in an ethics of human flourishing. The attempt to synthetize Travel Literature, an “elusive genre”, does not only contribute to sort out a tenuous typology, but also evidences the need to keep thinking about two fundamental dimensions of human existence; the dimension of circumstance, and the dimension of imagination.
... Gratitude helps us appreciate what we have in the present (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). This includes the gratitude we feel when appreciated by others (Gordon et al., 2011), as well as when we cherish others' kindness by being thankful towards them (Emmons, 2004;Watkins et al., 2003). ...
... Many prior studies indicate a strong relationship between gratitude and wellbeing (Wood et al., 2009(Wood et al., , 2010Alkozei et al., 2018;Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). ...
... Feeling grateful can directly and/or indirectly contribute to well-being (Killen & Macaskill, 2015). Indirectly, gratitude is said to "dampen" the effect of negative emotions, leading to greater well-being (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Additionally, gratitude can directly enhance well-being by helping us focus on life's positive sides (Alkozei et al., 2018). ...
The study of the good life or Eudaimonia h as been a central concern for academics and philosophers, as well as for many people, at least since Aristotelian times. This responds to the common experience that we all seek happiness. Today, we are witnessing a new paradoxical boom. The pursuit of happiness seems to permeate everything (i.e., books, media, organizations, talks), without reducing, or in some cases even increasing, the numbers of suicides, depression, and similar pathological consequences of anxiety and stress.
... To this end, I develop the Catalyst Model of Change (CMC), which posits (a) the pathways that mediate the longterm effects of gratitude interventions on psychological wellbeing as well as (b) how to augment gratitude experiences within an intervention to boost the magnitude and durablity of intervention effects as well as facilitate these behavioral pathways. The model synthesizes empirical and conceptual insights from the psychology of gratitude (e.g., Emmons & Mishra, 2011), positive psychology interventions (e.g., Carr et al., 2021), and the long-term effects of social psychological interventions (e.g., Miller et al., 2017;Walton & Wilson, 2018). ...
... Following Emmons and Stern (2013), gratitude is defined as the appreciation of goodness in one's life and acknowledgment that the sources of one's benefits reside partially outside oneself (e.g., family members, friends, one's community, and/or God). Put differently, gratitude is a social virtue in which people appreciate the benefits they receive from their benefactors (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). I further define gratitude experiences as those that include gratitude emotions, cognitions, and disclosures (e.g., sharing with a friend what one wrote in a gratitude journal) as well as expressing, receiving, witnessing, and responding to interpersonal gratitude. ...
... Specifically, I identify five socially oriented behavioral pathways that mediate the long-term effects of gratitude interventions (Fig. 1). This focus on socially oriented behaviors, rather than generic behaviors, dovetails with the notion of gratitude as an other-oriented virtue (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). Further, the emphasis on socially oriented behaviors is novel insofar as theories of change for most positive psychological interventions, including gratitude interventions, tend to emphasize a broader array of psychological processes, such as emotions and cognitions (e.g., Cohn & Fredrickson, 2010;Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013;Wood et al., 2010). ...
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.
... Altruism has also been related to the expression of gratitude in volunteers as caregivers of people with HIV [41] as well as in kidney donors [42]. Emmons and Mishra [43] also pointed out in their research that gratitude was very close to some of the values proposed by Schwartz's [36] value theory, such as benevolence and universalism. This linkage can be explained by the fact that benevolent people (those who desire the well-being of others) will also be receptive to the gift or bene t that another person may confer them. ...
... This linkage can be explained by the fact that benevolent people (those who desire the well-being of others) will also be receptive to the gift or bene t that another person may confer them. Another process that may be involved is the reinforcing effects that gratitude expression has on the benefactor, an aspect investigated by McCullough et al. [40][41][42][43][44] meaning that gratitude and benevolence may feed back on each other. All this research suggests that both domains (gratitude and values) are conceptually close to each other, since they would correspond to existential attitudes. ...
Background
The health promotion strategies are directing their field of action to more profound actions involving personal change. A extensively researched and promising construct is known as Sense of coherence (SOC) which represents the orientation to salutogenic life. Investigations that provide empirical evidence are required to understand the fundamental predictors of salutogenic development. Until now, little attention has been paid in the scientific literature to the role of existential attitudes in the prediction of salutogenic variables. This paper relates the values included in Schwartz's model with gratitude viewed in terms of an existential attitude in this way filling a gap found in the previous literature.
Method
Correlational analyses between existential gratitude, gratitude as an affective disposition, values and SOC were conducted among 229 participants. In a Path Analysis, the values of Benevolence and Tradition and existential gratitude were chosen as predictors of SOC.
Results
Existential gratitude obtained significant correlations with all values and its scores were higher than the correlations between dispositional gratitude and values. The results of the Path analysis show good fit indices, indicating that SOC can be predicted by existential gratitude as well as by the values of benevolence and tradition.
Conclusions
The results are discussed in the light of the possibilities that this study opens up in the field of salutogenesis, based on the approach of the second wave positive psychology (PP2.0) which emphasizes the positive psychology of suffering since it takes into consideration the importance of conceptualizing Gratitude as an Existential attitude.
... Gratitude is conceptualized as the feeling of admiration, content, and appreciation of life and of benefits from others (Emmons & Mishra, 2011). The mechanism of gratitude consists in changing the balance between positive and negative affective experiences, by converting negative experiences into positive ones, which leads to greater life satisfaction (Sun & Kong, 2013). ...
... The mechanism of gratitude consists in changing the balance between positive and negative affective experiences, by converting negative experiences into positive ones, which leads to greater life satisfaction (Sun & Kong, 2013). Research showed the correlation between gratitude and SWB (Emmons & Mishra, 2011), and other correlates of the latter such as life satisfaction (Xiang & Youan, 2020). For example, there is a strong positive relationship between gratitude and positive affect, life satisfaction and vitality, and a weak, even negative correlation with negative affect (Kashdan, 2013). ...
The aim of the present study is to determine the prediction level of gratitude, meaning in life, and inspiration on Subjective Well-being (SWB). 325 undergraduates (149 males and 176 females) with Mage=19,29 (S.D.=1,40) participated in the study. In order to measure the respective concepts, we used the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE), the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), the Inspiration Scale (IS), and Single-item measures for life satisfaction and gratitude. The study used descriptive, correlational, and regression analyses. The results of the regression analyses showed that gratitude accounts for most of the SWB variance. The presence of meaning affects SWB positively, while the search for meaning is a negative predictor of SWB. Inspiration frequency is one of the weak predictors of SWB, while inspiration intensity is not a significant predictor of SWB. The results are discussed within the context of the existing literature.
... High levels of gratitude can have various benefits in different areas of life such as social welfare, mental health, physical health as well as mental and psychological well-being [11]. Research shows that gratitude is of the most beneficial positive personality traits [12] and is the mother of all virtues [13]. Some experts believe that gratitude can increase psychological well-being and work conflict [14]. ...
Background: Psychological well-being is one of the issues of positive psychology that requires life and includes good mental health, high life satisfaction, a sense of meaning and purpose, and the ability to manage stress. Given that we live in the 21st Century and since the disease affected people’s health, optimism and gratitude can play an important role in promoting psychological well-being, and investing in this issue can lead to good results.
Methods: The present research design is correlational. All male and female students in the fields of psychology, educational sciences, and counseling at Payame Noor University in Khuzestan province include the statistical population. Due to the prevalence of coronavirus and lack of face-to-face access to students and by designing a WhatsApp link, 393 people (301 girls and 92 boys) were selected voluntarily. To collect data, the questionnaires on optimism (2019); gratitude (2022), and psychological well-being (2022) were used. Questionnaires were distributed and collected through the WhatsApp link. Pearson correlation and regression were used for data analysis in SPSS software, version 27.
Results: The results showed that the mean of optimism and gratitude of girls is higher than boys, while the psychological well-being of boys is higher than girls. The results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between optimism and psychological well-being (r=0.61, P=0.002) and between gratitude and psychological well-being (r=0.55, P
... There have been various attempts to explain the beneficial effect of gratitude. For example, gratitude can promote adaptive coping strategies that allow the individual to deal more effectively with difficult situations and thus return to an optimal level of functioning faster (Emmons & Mishra, 2011;Krejtz et al., 2016a;Tomczyk et al., 2021). Such coping strategies may include seeking social support, focusing on the task instead of avoiding it or adopting a proactive attitude towards the problem (Wood et al., 2007). ...
Introduction: Gratitude is known to have beneficial effects on the well-being of various populations, including women with breast cancer. The present diary study examined if daily feelings of gratitude would affect the daily functioning of women with breast cancer and if after a 2-week-long gratitude intervention they would function better than before it.Methods: Participants were 62 women with breast cancer. Half of them were randomly assigned to the gratitude condition, half to the control condition. All of them completed a 14-day diary that measured their daily gratitude, well-being, affect, satisfaction with life, perceived social support, and other aspects of daily functioning. The gratitude group took part in an intervention that involved wearing a smartwatch that asked them what they were grateful for, three times a day for 14 days. The control group wore smartwatches that sent neutral notifications. Before and after the study, participants completed a set of trait-level scales that measured their dispositional gratitude, depression, anxiety, stress coping styles, and other correlates of gratitude.Results: Daily gratitude was positively correlated with all aspects of good daily functioning (e.g., positive affect, well-being, acceptance of illness), and negatively with negative affect – regardless of the study condition. There were no significant differences in the functioning of women in the gratitude intervention and the control group, besides in daily perceived social support: women who practiced gratitude felt more supported by others on an everyday basis. All participants had a higher level of acceptance of illness and a lower level of anxiety after the study, compared to their baseline scores.Conclusion: We found that daily feelings of gratitude were associated with the good functioning of the patients in everyday life. Keeping a two-week diary that involved self-monitoring of one’s mood and well-being led to better functioning after the study, compared to the initial levels. Yet, research into the effectiveness of gratitude interventions in this population should continue and we conclude the paper with suggestions for future research. We believe this study contributes to the understanding of mechanisms behind a breast cancer patient’s daily functioning.
... According to McCullough et al. (2002), people who see themselves as the beneficiaries of other people's kindness and benevolence may feel more esteemed. When people perceive that someone else cares for them or supports their efforts, they may feel more self-respect (Emmons and Mishra 2011). In turn, Petrocchi and Couyoumdjian (2016) have specified that dispositional gratitude correlates negatively with feelings of inadequacy or self-repugnance and is positively associated with the ability to treat the self with kindness. ...
In comforting or distressing circumstances, individuals tend to have various perceptions of themselves. It seems that religious comfort and religious distress correlate differently with people’s self-esteem. Since the relationship between religiosity and self-esteem is not only direct but can be mediated by other factors that are recognized as buffers against adverse situations, our main goal was to verify whether dispositional gratitude may have an indirect effect on the association between both variables. The research involved data from 254 participants aged 18 to 25 (M = 21.24; SD = 2.09) and included 192 women (76%) and 62 men (24%). To measure the title variables, we used: the Religious Comfort and Strain Scale (RCSS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6). The results showed that people who consider religion as a source of comfort express positive attitudes toward the self and recognize others’ kindness, as well. In contrast, people who consider religiosity as a cause of fear, stress, and internal strain tend to display a lower subjective sense of personal worth and lower appreciation of the positivity around them. Moreover, gratitude had a mediatory effect on the relationships between religious comfort/negative emotions toward God and self-esteem.
... A person could also reflect upon positive past experiences that are connected to the place of attachment they have been separated from (i.e., savoring). These kinds of cognitive processes represent some of the pathways to experiencing gratitude (Emmons & Mishra, 2011), many of which form part of interventions that have been developed to promote gratitude. ...
In Chapters 3 and 6, we discussed the principle that people are naturally driven to invest resources in order to regain, restore, or rebound from resource loss (Hobfoll, 2012). Attempts at offsetting resource loss can take different forms, most of which are functionally adaptive in that they are employed as means of dealing with the challenges a person encounters (Holmgreen et al., 2017). However, the consequences of how a person responds to loss can vary on a spectrum ranging from adaptive to maladaptive. A functionally adaptive approach to recovering from a loss might be useful in the short-term, but it could have unfavorable long-term implications for health and well-being (Wadsworth, 2015). Resource investment responses that balance both short- and long-term ideals may be particularly useful for dealing with resource loss in a way that promotes a more enduring level of positive adjustment. This chapter provides an overview of how resource loss that accompanies place attachment disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic might be transformed into a character-building process that supports short-term adaptation and long-term well-being. Using the virtue of transcendence as a framework (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), it considers three interconnected character strengths—gratitude, hope, and spirituality—that can support exploration and integration of past, present, and future experiences connected to a place of attachment that has been disrupted by the public health crisis. It also outlines some targeted activities that engage each of these transcendent character strengths, the benefits of which could facilitate sustainable adjustment to pandemic-related place attachment disruption experiences and enable people to recover more quickly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
... Further, research also highlights that gratitude also promotes reciprocity in helping behaviors (Froh et al., 2010;Emmons and Mishra, 2011). ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an immense loss of human life, increased economic uncertainty, and negatively impacted individuals' mental health and close relationships. At the same time, experts have noted a concurrent improvement in many environmental quality indicators, including significant decreases in both localized air pollution and global greenhouse gas emissions. These positive trends are due to changes in human behavior necessitated by social distancing and self-quarantining measures (e.g., reduced car and air travel). However, there is already evidence that these improvements in environmental quality are only temporary. This suggests that more intentional efforts will be necessary in order to maintain positive environmental benefits and address major environmental issues as the world gets back to some version of pre-pandemic economic and social activity. Still, our collective experience over the course of the pandemic provides clear evidence that such change is possible and on a rapid timetable. Our individual and collective responses to COVID-19 reveal that we do indeed have the ability to respond to novel societal threats in highly coordinated and effective ways, suggesting that confronting the existential threat of climate change may in fact be feasible. Here, we theorize that the COVID-19 pandemic has potentially activated and made more salient some key psychological mechanisms—including norms of fairness and reciprocity, feelings of gratitude, and consideration of personal legacies—that previous empirical work suggests can be harnessed to promote beneficent intergenerational decision-making aimed at solving the environmental challenges we and our descendants will face in the twenty-first century.
What types of attributions and appraisals predict gratitude to God (GTG)? After preregistering key hypotheses, we did an Internet survey of 1078 U.S. adults focused on a recent positive event. Even when controlling religiousness and God belief, GTG was strongly related to divine attributions for the event, which seemed more plausible when God was seen as powerful and loving and when divine attribution made the event seem more meaningful. In addition to these cognitive judgments, divine attributions and GTG were linked with desire: wanting to see God as a cause. Relationally, GTG was associated with seeing God’s intentions as positive (trying to help, love, comfort, encourage, or protect), with actually feeling loved, cherished, valued, or appreciated by God in response, and with seeing the event as a divine gift – a perception more likely when people saw God as a gift-giver: giving gifts often to many people, including themselves.
Gratitude is essential in positive organizational scholarship and is said to flourish and prosper organization members. This article aims to investigate the role of gratitude in transforming a toxic workplace into a collaborative work environment by exploring the mediating role of psychological capital (Psycap). The results reveal that gratitude practiced by the employees at the workplace can counter workplace toxicity and enhance a collaborative work environment, creating harmony in society. The study proposes the institutionalization of a gratitude-based organizational culture that prevents workplace toxicity and supports a collaborative work environment. The study is one of the pioneer studies that tried to unlock the “black box” through which dispositional gratitude can help build workplace harmony and collaboration.
Demut wäre nicht erstrebenswert, wenn sie nicht messbare Effekte zeitigen würde. In den letzten zehn Jahren hat die Forschung in Hunderten von Projekten messbare, zum überwiegenden Teil positive Ergebnisse von Demut festgestellt. Sie lassen sich in drei Gruppen einteilen: Auswirkungen einer demutsvollen Führungskraft auf die Mitarbeiter (z. B. in Bezug auf Leistung oder Kreativität), Resultate für das gesamte Unternehmen (z. B. in Bezug auf Strategie oder Kultur) sowie Konsequenzen für die Führungskraft selber (z. B. in Bezug auf Leistung oder Stress).
Although each person faces their own share of challenges, it is their individual perception and responses to these difficulties that determine how they are affected by them. In this paper we investigate the association between gratitude and human prosperity including the underlying mechanism that helps people thrive during trying circumstances. We survey the literature, examining how gratitude enables people to prosper amidst adversity and employ a narrative style to present these unique characteristics. This review suggests that gratitude enhances coping abilities, such as meaning-focused coping and positive reframing, which foster positive emotions and augment personal resources like resilience, perseverance, and social bonds. These elements, in turn, may possibly explain the association between gratitude and human prosperity during dire circumstances.
La adultez emergente es un período de transición que plantea múltiples demandas psicosociales que pueden afectar la salud mental y el bienestar de las personas. El objetivo general de este trabajo fue analizar las conexiones entre bienestar general, ansiedad y gratitud según las percepciones de la adultez. Los participantes fueron 344 venezolanos y venezolanas (69,19% mujeres) con una edad media de 22 años, seleccionados mediante muestreo no probabilístico. Los datos se recogieron mediante un formulario online que incluía: Escala de bienestar PERMA, Cuestionario de gratitud-6, Escala de ansiedad ANSILET y una pregunta abierta sobre la autopercepción de la edad adulta. Los resultados mostraron: niveles medios de bienestar general, ansiedad y gratitud en la muestra; diferencias estadísticamente significativas para bienestar y gratitud entre las mujeres, con un tamaño del efecto pequeño; aumentos significativos en la gratitud y el bienestar durante el recentrado del adulto emergente, y una disminución significativa de la ansiedad (en comparación con las etapas de la adolescencia tardía y extendida); correlaciones negativas significativas entre ansiedad y bienestar general, gratitud y percepción de la edad adulta, y correlaciones positivas significativas para el resto de las variables del estudio. También se encontró que el recentrado del adulto emergente tenía un papel predictivo en relación con el bienestar, la gratitud y la ansiedad tratadas como covariables en el modelo. Se concluye que las percepciones de recentramiento son una variable importante para explicar la salud mental, la gratitud, la ansiedad y el bienestar en el proceso de la edad adulta emergente.
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.
Workplace stress can cause serious physical and mental illness and result in billions of dollars in lost productivity every year. Researchers have called for the development of frameworks through which Human Resource Management (HRM) practices can reduce employee stress. Building on HRM attribution theory, this study builds a framework based on benevolent HRM attributions. Benevolent HRM attributions are employee beliefs that their management has enacted HRM practices to support their performance (performance HRM attributions) and improve their well-being (well-being HRM attributions). This study examined if both benevolent HRM attributions engender employee gratitude, which in turn may reduce their general job stress levels. Respondents of the study were chosen from the telecom sector of Pakistan as they operate in a high stress inducing environment. The theoretically based causal associations were examined by employing the structural equation modeling (SEM) method. The results confirmed the hypotheses and also showed that both benevolent HRM attributions reduce employees' job stress with the mediating influence of gratitude. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed as well.
The present study aimed to investigate the self-regulation of blind people in memorizing the Qur’an. Eight blind Qur’an memorizers were interviewed about the internal motivation of Qur’an memorization, self-regulation, and Qur’an memorization with vision impairment. The research was conducted using a phenomenological approach on exploration of the lived experience of eight blind memorizers, who were selected using purposive and snowball techniques. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by Moustakas’ phenomenological method. The findings revealed that (1) gratitude was the main factor in regulating the rest of the metacognitive process among the blind memorizers, (2) the motivation to benefit for others served as a metacognitive purpose for the blind memorizers, (3) memorization strategies including the repetitive listening at a specific time and place were used in improving and maintaining the memorization, and (4) the belief in not to see and commit sins through eyes enabled the blind memorizers to maintain the purity of heart and made it easier for them to memorize the Qur’an. Informants described two spiritual meanings of the self-regulation within themes of gratitude and maintenance of heart purity associated with the Qur’an memorization. Gratitude is associated with the self-efficacy in the motivational dimension, whereas the reflective aspect of heart purity due to being blind is related to the metacognitive component of self-regulation. The findings provided new knowledge and understanding of blind individuals’ experiences in the self-regulation and memorization of the Qur’an.
Although gratitude has received increasing attention from positive psychology researchers in recent years, few studies have examined the benefits of gratitude in decision making. In the present research we explored the effect of gratitude on regret, a decision-making-specific negative emotion. Across five studies (N = 738), the results revealed that gratitude reduced regret in decision-making, and past-focus was the underlying mechanism. The results of Studies 1, 2 and 3 consistently showed that gratitude reduced regret in decision-making. Studies 4 and 5 provided a potential explanation, demonstrating that temporal focus was the mechanism underlying the effect of gratitude on regret. These results indicate the benefits of gratitude in decision-making, suggesting a need to investigate why gratitude enhances well-being.
Gratitude or the appreciation of being given something of value, is an important element in positive emotions within positive psychology. Gratitude has been linked to wellbeing and gratitude in the workplace is positively associated with constructs such as performance and organizational citizenship behavior. The pandemic brought on many negative experiences but employees could still find things to be grateful for during this time. The purpose of the study was to understand what aspects of work and the organization employees were grateful for during the pandemic. A generic qualitative approach was used. Participants were sourced from various industries in South Africa using purposive sampling. Data were gathered through 21 semi-structured interviews of working people in South Africa. Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis revealed five themes, namely, (1) gratitude for no negative work-life changes; (2) gratitude for a caring workplace; (3) gratitude for a new way of working; (4) gratitude for the ability to put oneself first; and (5) gratitude for having resilience, optimism and spirituality as a psychological buffer. Managers should deliberately engage in behaviors that will bring about gratitude from their employees. Employees should reflect on the positive things at work that they are thankful for as a way of enhancing gratitude and thereby, wellness, performance, and commitment. The study combines existing knowledge on gratitude during the pandemic with gratitude in the workplace.
Researchers have emphasized the detrimental effects of COVID-19 on mental health, but less attention has been given to personal strengths promoting resilience during the pandemic. One strength might be gratitude, which supports wellbeing amidst adversity. A two-wave examination of 201 college students revealed anxiety symptom severity increased to a lesser extent from pre-COVID (January–March 2020) to onset-COVID (April 2020) among those who reported greater pre-COVID gratitude. A similar trend appeared for depression symptom severity. Gratitude was also correlated with less negative changes in outlook, greater positive changes in outlook, and endorsement of positive experiences resulting from COVID-19. Thematic analysis showed “strengthened interpersonal connections” and “more time” were the most commonly reported positive experiences. Overall findings suggest gratitude lessened mental health difficulties and fostered positivity at the onset of the pandemic, but more research is needed to determine whether gratitude and other strengths promote resilience as COVID-19 continues.
The application of positive psychology ideas to forensic settings, however, has taken longer to occur and is probably best encapsulated in the development of the Good Lives Model (GLM), and work in the area of desistance. Both the GLM and the desistance paradigm are highly consistent with the ideas of positive psychology. This chapter begins by describing the origins of positive psychology before considering its influence on forensic thinking and the role that it has to play in promoting and fostering well‐being and resilience. It provides an overview of three key service settings: prisons and community corrections, juvenile justice, and forensic mental health. There are few areas of practice in the criminal justice arena quite so contentious as how to respond to young people who commit serious and/or repeated offenses. Finally, the chapter proposes a preliminary integrative framework to guide the delivery of forensic positive psychological services.
Dispositional gratitude has recently emerged as a variable of interest in organizational contexts. However, it remains unclear whether dispositional gratitude is predictive of employee well-being, with limited theoretical and empirical elucidation of the underlying mechanisms. To address these limitations, the present study investigated dispositional gratitude as a predictor of employee well-being and organizational commitment. Drawing on the broaden-and-build theory of positive affect, the study also examined whether the social bonding resources of leader-member exchange (LMX) and coworker exchange (CWX) mediated these effects. The participating employees ( N = 300) completed the survey in three waves at one-week intervals. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) confirm that dispositional gratitude is positively related to employee well-being and organizational commitment and that these effects are mediated by LMX and CWX. The paper concludes by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, the study’s limitations, and future research directions.
This naturalistic observation study investigated the influence of broad societal events such as the COVID-19 pandemic on public expressions of gratitude. Spontaneously produced gratitude expressions posted by individuals (N = 159) in an online discussion forum were extracted at three time periods (during the pandemic, one year pre-pandemic, and 2 years pre-pandemic). The gratitude expressions were coded for the categories of deficiency and growth needs based on Maslow’s Theory of Motivation. The results demonstrate a higher frequency of gratitude expressions for growth opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 2 years prior. The results also demonstrate a higher frequency of gratitude for the fulfillment of deficiency needs compared to growth needs within each of the years, highlighting the overall salience of this category. These findings reveal the capacity of broad societal events to impact public gratitude expressions for needs fulfilment, which has implications for policies and programs intended to meet needs during a global crisis.
Introduction
Gratitude is commonly known as a positive emotion, but it can also be understood as a disposition—one’s inherent quality that includes being grateful for the positive aspects of one’s life and appreciating altruistic gifts. A growing body of research suggests that having a disposition of gratitude is positively related to wellbeing and psychological adjustment. The present study examined the extent to which acceptance of illness—a measure of adjustment to a distressing condition—mediated relationships between dispositional gratitude and wellbeing among women who had elevated levels of depressive symptoms.
Methods
Participants were 131 women who, based on scores on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale, were at-risk for experiencing clinical depression. Thirty-five of these participants had been diagnosed as depressed at some point in their lives and 96 had not. Participants completed measures of dispositional gratitude, wellbeing, anxiety, and acceptance of illness.
Results
Dispositional gratitude was positively correlated with wellbeing and was negatively correlated with depression and anxiety. Dispositional gratitude was also positively correlated with acceptance of illness. Mediational analyses found that acceptance of illness mediated relationships between dispositional gratitude and wellbeing, between dispositional gratitude and anxiety, and between dispositional gratitude and depression. Moreover, such mediation varied as a function of whether women had ever been diagnosed as depressed. Acceptance of illness was related more strongly to wellbeing for women who had been diagnosed as depressed at some time in their lives than it was for women who had never been diagnosed as depressed.
Conclusion
Women with elevated depressive symptoms who were more grateful (compared to those who were less grateful) were more accepting of their condition, which was related to increased wellbeing and decreased feelings of depression and anxiety.
The present study was concerned with how gratitude and facets of emotional intelligence (i.e., self-emotions appraisal, others-emotions appraisal, use of emotion, & regulation of emotion) are related to life satisfaction in older adults. Two models were examined in a sample of 191 Spanish older adults: (1) a broaden-and-build model, in which gratitude might be associated with greater life satisfaction by broadening and building facets of emotional intelligence; and (2) an amplification model, in which gratitude might interact with facets of emotional intelligence to amplify life satisfaction. In examining a broaden-and-build model, mediation analysis indicated that gratitude was associated with greater life satisfaction in older adults via broadening one’s use of emotions. In addition, in examining an amplification model, we found evidence of an Others-Emotions Appraisal × Gratitude interaction effect, such that the life satisfaction of older adults with an adept understanding of others’ emotions was enhanced by dispositional gratitude. The present study contributes to the extant literature by delineating specific pathways by which gratitude and emotional intelligence influence life satisfaction among older adults. Our findings provide evidence of potential strengths-based mechanisms to support older adult life satisfaction. In addition to existing therapies and psychoeducational interventions, it would seem valuable for practitioners to not only consider ways to promote older adults’ gratitude, but also the use of emotions, and adept appraisal of others’ emotions to facilitate their life satisfaction.
Gratitude can play a significant role in enhancing the well-being of emerging adults since it armors them from the cold waves of psychological distress associated with emerging adulthood. Therefore, this study explored the association between gratitude and the psychological well-being of emerging adults. Further, the study examined the process underlying the association between these concepts through the lens of spirituality. The study investigated proposed relationships on a sample of 413 emerging adults ranging from 18 to 25 years with a mean age of 21.27 (SD = 1.60). First, the study applied structural equation modeling to establish the validity of the model (measurement model validity), and then the model's hypothesized relationships were tested (structural model). The findings illustrated both gratitude and dimensions of spirituality share a positive and significant association with psychological well-being. Spirituality’s dimensions emerged as possible mediators in the association between gratitude and psychological well-being. These results lead to a deeper understanding of the relationship between gratitude and the psychological well-being of emerging adults, concluding that gratitude influences psychological well-being both directly (b = 0.34, p < .001) and indirectly (b = 0.20, p < .001) through spirituality. The study also addresses the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound change in the higher education workplace, and resulted in increased workloads and stress for academic staff. Servant leadership has previously been identified as a particularly effective model of leadership to support wellbeing during times of disruption and change. Whilst servant leadership has been examined in the context of follower wellbeing, little is known about the wellbeing of servant leaders. The aim of this study was to examine the literature and relationship between ‘Servant Leadership Theory’ and ‘PERMA Wellbeing Theory’. Additionally, to open a discussion and invite research in this area. This integrative review advances current knowledge by proposing that servant leadership addresses all of the required elements to optimise the servant leaders’ subjective wellbeing. It is hoped that this study will pioneer future discussion and research aimed at examining if higher education teachers’ application of servant leadership’s altruistic principles at work may mitigate some of the stress which they are currently experiencing due to changes occurring as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on universities.
Humility is often defined by what it is not; as the antithesis to various vices such as pride, arrogance, conceit, or vanity. This negative definition leaves open the possibility of some underlying characteristic or trait that influences the formation of this virtue. Homo amans lays out the classic theological triad of faith, hope, and love as a natural inclination in humanity. This chapter explores one aspect of this triad, love, as a possible underlying characteristic or trait that uniquely informs the formation of the virtue of humility: specifically, love as altruistic concern for the other that puts them ahead or before the self. Contemporary psychological studies of humility demonstrate a connection between this virtue and altruistic concern for the other. Altruistic concern becomes a part of moral schemas that greatly influence moral behavior and are the basis for the development of moral identity. Holocaust rescuers demonstrate that moral schemas, which contain altruistic concern as a primary component of their view of the world, cultivate a moral identity that makes rescuing a consequence of their self-identity and naturally leads to humility about their actions.
Background: Mindfulness is our innate capacity to pay full, conscious, and compassionate attention to something in the moment. It is also a skill that can be strengthened by mental practice. More recently, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are identified within clinical practice guidelines as an intervention in the treatment of certain symptoms for children with cancer. However, there is little guidance available on the practice of using MBIs in the pediatric oncology population. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of mindfulness, highlights symptoms where mindfulness practices may be of benefit, identifies trauma-sensitive considerations, and provides examples of MBIs that may be considered in the context of pediatric oncology. Methods: Collaboration of expert opinion, which included The Mindfulness Project Team, has enabled this collective informative paper. Results: Mindfulness has been recommended to help with the symptom of fatigue in children with cancer. Emotional symptoms such as anxiety, sadness, and anger may also benefit from the use of MBIs. Ideal MBIs for this population may include mindful movement, mindfulness of the senses, mindfulness of breath, mindfulness of emotions, and the body scan. These approaches can easily be adapted according to the age of the child. Many approaches have been administered with minimal training, with very few requiring a facilitator. However, hospitals have started to incorporate mindfulness experts within their care provision. Conclusion: Future research should continue to investigate the use of MBI programs for children with cancer.
This study explores gratitude as a multidimensional and work-specific construct. Utilizing a sample of 625 employees from a variety of positions in a medium-sized school district in the United States, we developed and evaluated a new measure, namely the Work Gratitude Scale (WGS), which encompasses recognized conative (intentional), cognitive, affective, and social aspects of gratitude. A systematic, six-phased approach through structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore and confirm the factorial structure, internal consistency, measurement invariance, concurrent, convergent, and discriminant validity of the WGS. The results supported a 10-item measure with three dimensions: "grateful appraisals" (three items), "gratitude toward others" (four items), and "intentional attitude of gratitude" (three items). Thereafter, first-order, second-order, and bifactor confirmatory models were estimated and compared. Work gratitude was found to be best described by a second-order construct with three underlying first-order dimensions. Measurement invariance was supported in relation to gender. Concurrent validity was supported in relation to two existing dispositional gratitude scales, namely the Gratitude Questionnaire and the Gratitude, Resentment, and Appreciation Scale (GRAT). Convergent validity was supported in relation to the Core Self-Evaluations Scale (CSES) and the Psychological Capital Questionnaire. Discriminant validity was supported in relation to various demographic factors such as age, gender, occupation, and tenure. The findings support the WGS as a multidimensional measure that can be used in practice to measure overall work-related gratitude and to track the effectiveness of gratitude-related workplace interventions.
All college students report high levels of stress, but engineering departments pose additional challenges that the field seeks to address. However, a focus solely on remedying stress may not be enough to resolve the issue, as research suggests that coping with stress requires skills different from those needed to thrive and function optimally. This study examines the complex relationships between wellbeing, stress, and belonging by examining survey responses from 2,285 U.S. engineering undergraduate students from 17 universities. Latent profile analysis was used to identify wellness and stress profiles across ten constructs (including meaning and purpose, mindfulness, test anxiety, and stress reactivity). Hierarchical regressions were used to examine the explanatory potential of the identified profiles and their role as moderators of students’ experiences and belonging in engineering. Results suggest that there are clearly distinguishable patterns of wellness and stress across students’ reported experiences, and that these profiles are more than merely descriptive. These findings are discussed in relation to engineering education’s unique stress culture and the pursuit of student wellbeing and belonging.
This article reviews the Actively Caring for People (AC4P) Movement, initiated in 2007 to increase occurrences of interpersonal acts of kindness worldwide. Resources to support the AC4P Movement, including research-based training manuals and AC4P wristbands for adults and children, are available at www.ac4p.org. This prosocial movement incorporates principles from three diverse disciplines of psychological science: humanism, positive psychology, and applied behavioral science (ABS). With this article, I explicate seven evidence-based “life lessons” that operationalize select principles from humanism and ABS, and rejuvenate a seemingly forgotten applied psychology concept from the 1970s: humanistic behaviorism. Whenever and wherever practiced, these life lessons benefit human well-being and quality of life. Certain life lessons reflect the essence of empowerment and self-motivation and thereby illustrate critical distinctions between management and leadership. Next, I exemplify synergistic connections between positive psychology and ABS, highlighting practical techniques for promoting and supporting human welfare and personal happiness. Previous and ongoing research by my students and colleagues demonstrates how ABS can apply findings from positive psychology to promote subjective well-being on a large scale. The need for worldwide application and dissemination of practical procedures to increase occurrences of AC4P behavior is strikingly obvious, perhaps more so now than ever before in our contentious, fractured, and polarized society. This article explores evidence-based strategies for increasing occurrences of AC4P behavior in various settings, with the mission to cultivate an AC4P culture in families, educational settings, corporations, and communities throughout the world.
Der Arbeitsalltag ist voll von Ablenkungen und häufig durch zeitlichen Druck und Stress geprägt. Um dem Streben nach Glück mehr Halt und Struktur zu geben, bietet es sich an, drei Kernelemente des Glücks in den Arbeitsalltag einzubinden: Achtsamkeit, Mitgefühl und Dankbarkeit. Auch wenn es verschiedene weitere Elemente gibt, so lohnt es, sich auf diese kleine Auswahl zu fokussieren, um sich nicht im „Glücksdschungel“ zu verlieren. Das Praktizieren von Achtsamkeit hat nachgewiesenermaßen positive gesundheitliche Effekte, indem es uns einen bewussten Zugang zu und Umgang mit unserem vegetativen Nervensystem verschafft. Gleichzeitig ist es die Grundlage für ein gutes, angenehmes und produktives Zusammenarbeiten mit Kolleginnen und Kollegen. Besonders erfolgreiche Führungskräfte zeichnet das Praktizieren und Integrieren von Mitgefühl im Unternehmen aus. Dankbarkeit schließlich erlaubt es uns, aus den Tretmühlen und den damit verbundenen Zwängen des Lebens auszusteigen. Der Ausdruck von Dankbarkeit gegenüber Kolleginnen und Kollegen geht im Arbeitsalltag häufig unter. Dabei würden alle Seiten davon profitieren. Immerhin gibt es einige CEOs, die als Vorbilder dienen können. Für alle drei Glücksfaktoren gibt es Übungen, die einen kurzfristigen, wenn auch lediglich temporären Effekt haben können. Nur durch regelmäßiges Praktizieren über einige Monate und Jahre, können die positiven Effekte auf das subjektive Wohlbefinden nachhaltig zur Entfaltung kommen.
The current study examined the nature of gratitude and future time perspective (FTP) during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the effects of age and virus worry on the associations between gratitude and remaining opportunities and time. Data came from a survey of a representative sample of Swiss adults (N = 1,008; 18–90 years) assessed during the pandemic in 2020. Local structural equation modeling (LSEM) was used to investigate the effects of continuous age and virus worry on mean-levels and correlations. While gratitude was unaffected by age and worry, the remaining opportunities and time factors of FTP decreased across age and levels of worry. The associations between gratitude and the FTP factors were invariant across age and levels of worry. Additionally, using previous cross-sectional data, the study found that associations between gratitude and future time perspective were significantly smaller during the pandemic as compared to an assessment in 2018.
In this study we investigated the impact of grateful processing on bringing closure to unpleasant emotional memories. After recalling an open memory, participants were randomly assigned to one of three writing conditions. For three sessions, participants wrote about neutral topics, the unpleasant event itself, or positive consequences from the event from their open memory that they felt they could now be grateful for. Results showed a significant effect of writing condition, and the pattern of means were as predicted: those in the grateful condition showed more memory closure, less unpleasant emotional impact, and less intrusiveness of the open memory than the other writing conditions. Grateful reappraisal of unpleasant memories may help individuals emotionally process these events, thus bringing emotional closure to these incidents. This might be one reason that grateful people tend to be happy people.
We conducted two studies investigating the relationship of gratitude to autobiographical memory of positive and negative life
events. Gratitude was assessed with an attitudinal measure and college students were asked to recall both positive and negative
events from their past. In both studies, a significant positive relationship was found between trait gratitude and a positive
memory bias. In Study 2 it was found that gratitude still reliably predicted positive memory bias after controlling for depression.
Further, it was found that a positive intrusive memory bias was associated with gratitude in both studies. Thus, an important
component of gratitude may be an enhanced tendency to recall positive events from one's life.
Four hundred and fiftynine students from 20 different high school classrooms in Michigan participated in focus group discussions about the character strengths included in the Values in Action Classification. Students were interested in the subject of good character and able to discuss with candor and sophistication instances of each strength. They were especially drawn to the positive traits of leadership, practical intelligence, wisdom, social intelligence, love of learning, spirituality, and the capacity to love and be loved. Students believed that strengths were largely acquired rather than innate and that these strengths developed through ongoing life experience as opposed to formal instruction. They cited an almost complete lack of contemporary role models exemplifying different strengths of character. Implications of these findings for the quantitative assessment of positive traits were discussed, as were implications for designing character education programs for adolescents. We suggest that peers can be an especially important force in encouraging the development and display of good character among youth. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45293/1/10964_2004_Article_379439.pdf
The authors hypothesized that thinking about the absence of a positive event from one's life would improve affective states more than thinking about the presence of a positive event but that people would not predict this when making affective forecasts. In Studies 1 and 2, college students wrote about the ways in which a positive event might never have happened and was surprising or how it became part of their life and was unsurprising. As predicted, people in the former condition reported more positive affective states. In Study 3, college student forecasters failed to anticipate this effect. In Study 4, Internet respondents and university staff members who wrote about how they might never have met their romantic partner were more satisfied with their relationship than were those who wrote about how they did meet their partner. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for the literatures on gratitude induction and counterfactual reasoning.
Research has shown that transplantation improves quality of life for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD), although it does not return to pre-kidney failure levels. This study used focus groups to explore the experience of living with a transplanted kidney. The data were analysed, using thematic analysis, and the following themes were identified: medicalization; fear; gratitude; and coping. These may necessitate constant vigilance, reduced spontaneity and preoccupation with self-care to maintain the kidney's health; being treated differently from others; pressure not to let themselves and others down; and the urge to increase their knowledge about their condition. It was found that these themes pervade the lives of the recipients and that the psychosocial effects of transplantation are long-lasting.
This paper discusses the discourses of motherhood among Thai women from Northern Thailand. It is based on in-depth interviews with 30 women who live in Chiang Mai province. Motherhood has several meanings among Thai women in this study. Common to all women is the perception that motherhood is not an easy task. Some women believe that motherhood means self-sacrifice and endless concern; for others, motherhood brings joy and pleasure to their lives. Women also mention that becoming a mother makes them appreciate the love and sacrifice that their mothers have had for them. This perception is linked with the Thai cultural concept of bun khun (gratitude). Some women believe the processes of being a mother deplete their health. Low satisfaction with motherhood and its consequent unhappiness found in several studies with women from Western societies does not exist in this study. This may be due to the societal expectation of motherhood in Thai culture and family support women received when they become mothers. Women are different in their meanings and experiences of motherhood. These differences must be recognised so that a clearer understanding of motherhood can be achieved. Only then can health services and care be made more meaningful to many women who have decided to become a mother.
This study investigated whether positive emotion is differentially prescribed for men and women in self-and other-oriented contexts. Subjects read a scene in which the main character either did or did not express positive emotion toward either the self or another person. After imagining themselves as the main character, subjects rated on a rewards/costs scale how others would respond to them if they had behaved as depicted. Females expected more rewards/fewer costs when positive emotion was expressed toward another person than when it was not, whereas expected rewards/costs did not differ when females expressed and did not express self-directed positive emotion. Males expected more rewards/fewer costs when positive emotion was expressed than when it was not expressed in both self-and other-oriented contexts. Findings indicate that norms for expression of positive emotion are gender differentiated in that women are particularly required to express positive emotion toward others.
The current study examined the validity of a happiness Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a measure of SWB. One hundred and fifty participants (75 pairs of friends) completed a newly developed happiness IAT and a standard self-esteem IAT. Participants also made self and informant ratings of life satisfaction and happy and sad affect. The results revealed convergent validity among the explicit measures, and among the implicit measures. Explicit–implicit correlations were lower. Self-ratings (.88) and informant ratings (.78) were more highly related with a common SWB factor than the implicit measures (.31). This finding suggests that implicit measures of well-being and happiness assess a different construct that overlaps only modestly with SWB. As a result, these implicit measures have limited utility to control for response styles in self-ratings of SWB.
When under conditions of high demand and allostatic load, are happiness and satisfaction in four domains (family, friends, academics, recreation) influenced more by external or internal factors? Do student-athletes who lead exceedingly complicated lives report happiness as a function of athletic achievement or internal disposition? Stanford student-athletes (N=140) were studied with a standardized questionnaire which examined internal factors ((1) locus of control, (2) mindfulness, (3) self-restraint, and (4) self-esteem) to see whether they better account for happiness than external factors (playing time, scholarship). As predicted, internal factors were more powerful correlates of happiness when holding constant demographics. Regression models differed for different aspects of happiness, but the main postulated result of internal versus external was maintained throughout. These findings have implications for how well athletes cope with adversity which, in turn, could shed light on the development of traits that may provide a buffer against adversity and build resilience.