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Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, (Ahead of Print)
https://doi.org/10.1123/jcsp.2018-0068
© 2019 Human Kinetics, Inc. ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Examining the Relationships Between
Gratitude and Spiritual and Religious
Identification Among Collegiate Athletes
Nicole T. Gabana, Aaron D’Addario, Matteo Luzzeri, and
Stinne Soendergaard
Florida State University
Y. Joel Wong
Indiana University Bloomington
Salient aspects of an athlete’s identity hold implications for how sport psychology
practitioners conceptualize and intervene on both the mental health and perfor-
mance realms of the athlete person. Given that spirituality, religiosity, and
gratitude have been associated in previous literature, the current study examined
whether athletes differed in dispositional gratitude based on their spiritual and
religious identification. Results indicated that among 331 NCAA Division I-III
athletes, those who identified as both spiritual and religious scored significantly
higher in dispositional gratitude than self-identified spiritual/non-religious and
non-spiritual/non-religious athletes. Non-spiritual/non-religious and spiritual/
non-religious athletes did not significantly differ in levels of gratitude. Findings
and limitations of the current study warrant further investigation on this topic, and
recommendations for future research and practice are provided.
Keywords:holistic, mental health, multicultural, student-athlete, well-being
A multidimensional approach to wellness has called for increased attention
to spiritual well-being, given its association with improved quality of life, coping,
and factors related to mental and physical health such as depression and injury
rehabilitation (Beauchemin, Gabana, Ketelsen, & McGrath, 2019;Wilson,
Forchheimer, Heinemann, Warren, & McCullumsmith, 2017). Similarly, sport
psychology literature has emphasized the importance of taking a holistic approach
to the athlete performer, advocating for an integration of the physical, psychologi-
cal, social, emotional, and cultural aspects of the individual. While some researchers
Gabana is with the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Florida State
University, Tallahassee, FL. D’Addario, Luzzeri, and Soendergaard are with Florida State University,
Tallahassee, FL. Wong is with Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN. Address author
correspondence to Nicole T. Gabana at ngabana@fsu.edu.
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have examined spirituality among athletes, the spiritual realm tends to be neglected
in sport psychology research (Nesti, 2007) even despite the established relationship
between spirituality, mental health, and well-being (Sarkar, Hill, & Parker, 2014). A
greater understanding of the spiritual and religious dimensions of an athlete’s
identity may provide insight into important factors such as where the athlete derives
meaning, core values and belief systems, and mechanisms for coping with adversity
(Egli, Fisher, & Gentner, 2014;Nesti, 2011). Researchers have also suggested that
spirituality can play a valuable role in sport performance enhancement (Watson &
Nesti, 2005) and athlete mental health.Amrhein, Barkhoff, and Keiby (2016) found
that greater levels of spirituality were associated with less depressive symptoms
and more spiritual sport experiences among surfers. Since the majority of college
students in the U.S. have reported being spiritual and/or religious (Higher Education
Research Institute, 2003), more research is needed to understand how this aspect
of an athlete’s identity impacts their experience in sport, as well as other variables
which may be linked to mental health, well-being, and performance. This informa-
tion would provide sport psychology researchers and practitioners with a greater
understanding of these relationships, while using this knowledge to inform
approaches aimed at promoting optimal well-being and performance through faith-
based interventions, when appropriate.
A Positive Psychological Approach
to Athlete Well-Being
In recent decades, the positive psychology movement has focused its efforts on
studying contributing factors to human flourishing (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi,
2000). Positive psychology literature has demonstrated numerous mental and
physical health benefits derived from gratitude, as well as through the intentional
cultivation of gratefulness through applied interventions (Bono, Krakauer, & Froh,
2015;Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010). Supplemental interventions such as writing
a gratitude letter can have significant positive effects on psychotherapy outcomes
(i.e., better mental health), as well as greater neural modulation by gratitude in the
pre-frontal cortex (Kini, Wong, McInnis, Gabana, & Brown, 2017;Wong, Gabana,
Zounlome, Goodrich Mitts, & Lucas, 2017). Since athlete gratitude has been
associated with higher levels of well-being such as life and sport satisfaction,
perceived social support, and lower levels of burnout (Chen, 2013;Chen & Kee,
2008;Gabana, Steinfeldt, Wong, & Chung, 2017), investigating factors that may
predispose an athlete to be grateful (e.g., spiritual identification, religious practice)
would inform the body of knowledge in both the positive psychology and sport
psychology literature. Recent research has demonstrated initial support for the
use of gratitude interventions in sport, as Gabana, Steinfeldt, Wong, Chung, and
Svetina (2019) found increases in psychological well-being (state gratitude, sport
satisfaction, and perceived social support) and decreases in ill-being (psychologi-
cal distress and athlete burnout) following a 90-minute “Attitude of Gratitude”
workshop with NCAA Division I athletes. More research in this area is needed to
substantiate these findings and implications.
Spirituality and/or religiosity may be relevant to the generation or expression
of gratitude since many religions promote gratitude as part of their practice
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(Emmons & Crumpler, 2000) and religiosity has been shown to be related to
prosocial behaviors such as gratitude expression (Li & Chow, 2015). Gabana et al.
(2017) recommended that examining demographic variables such as self-reported
spirituality and religiosity may be informative in learning whether certain athletes
are predisposed to higher levels of trait gratitude, or more responsive to gratitude
interventions. Grateful people (i.e., those with higher levels of dispositional
gratitude) have reported higher levels of optimism, vitality, life satisfaction, and
positive emotions, and concordantly lower levels of stress, depression, resentment,
envy, and negative affect (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002).
Gratitude, Spirituality, Religiosity, and Mental Health
Spirituality has been associated with many positive characteristics such as courage,
love, gratitude, selflessness, altruism, and coping (Pieper, 1995). These qualities
may be advantageous to the spiritual athlete both on and off the field, as research
has demonstrated positive connections between spirituality, mental health, and
well-being (Sarkar et al., 2014). Both religion and spirituality have been repeatedly
correlated with gratitude (Adler & Fagley, 2005;Emmons & Kneezel, 2005;
McCullough et al., 2002;Watkins, Woodward, Stone, & Kolts, 2003), with
research revealing that individuals who scored higher on measures of spirituality,
general religiousness, religious interest, and intrinsic religiousness also reported
higher levels of gratitude (McCullough et al., 2002;Watkins et al., 2003).
Furthermore, Emmons and Kneezel (2005) found that frequency of religious
practices, importance of religion, and one’s personal relationship with God were
significantly associated with higher dispositional gratitude. In regard to mental
health outcomes, an epidemiological study by Kendler et al. (2003) found that
among 2,621 participants, those who scored higher in religiously orientated
“thankfulness”were at significantly lower risk for major depression, generalized
anxiety disorder, alcohol and drug dependence, bulimia nervosa, and phobia, as
assessed by a diagnostic interview. Furthermore, results revealed that the “thank-
fulness”variable predicted psychopathology most consistently and strongly, as
compared to other aspects of religiosity.
These findings were further supported by Rosmarin, Krumrei, and Pargament
(2010), who reported that increased levels of gratitude and spirituality were
negatively correlated with anxiety and depression among Christian and Jewish
participants. Researchers suggested that cultivating a greater sense of gratitude
may benefit the treatment of depression and anxiety, further stating that spirituality
and gratitude would be “well suited for combination”in both empirical and applied
endeavors, given the empirical and theoretical links between these two constructs
(Rosmarin et al., 2010, p. 4). Recently, the directionality of this relationship was
examined and spiritual well-being predicted higher levels of gratitude above
and beyond participants’personality and affect in both intensity and valence
(Tudder, Buettner, & Brelsford, 2017). Tudder et al. concluded that the way people
experience gratitude in their lives is uniquely influenced by their religious and/or
spiritual experiences.
There are several mechanisms that may explain the relationship between
gratitude, spirituality, and religiosity. As mentioned earlier, both spirituality and
gratitude have been associated with measures of well-being such as lower
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depressive symptoms and a greater sense of hope (Laird, Snyder, Rapoff, & Green,
2004;Wood et al., 2010). Specifically, prayers of thanksgiving which are inherent
to many prominent western religious traditions (e.g., Christianity, Judaism, Islam)
have been negatively correlated with anxiety and depression (Laird et al., 2004).
Interestingly, prayers of thanksgiving were found to be the second most common
type of prayer among college students in the U.S. after prayers of petition
(McKinney & McKinney, 1999). Prayer may function as a type of ritual reminding
individuals to focus on gratitude (Adler & Fagley, 2005). Yet even prayer that is
not aimed toward gratitude or thanksgiving has been shown to increase disposi-
tional gratitude over a period of four weeks. Lambert, Fincham, Braithwaite,
Graham, and Beach (2009) not only found a correlation between prayer frequency
and gratitude, but determined that prayer frequency predicted gratitude even after
controlling for gratitude and religiosity. In an experimental portion of the same
study, participants who were randomly assigned to pray daily (either general
prayer or praying for a partner) reported higher levels of gratitude than those in a
control group, even when social desirability and religious inclination were
controlled for (Lambert et al., 2009). Findings have shown that prayer may
directly increase gratitude, even when gratitude is not a direct focus of the
condition. In another randomized, waitlist-controlled study, 12 sessions of spiritual
group therapy improved cancer patients’spiritual well-being and quality of life
scores (Zamaniyan, Bolhari, Naziri, Akrami, & Hosseini, 2016). Notably, the topic
of the eleventh session was titled “Gratitude and Thanksgiving.”Results supported
previous studies which found that spiritual interventions can be used as a potential
prevention, treatment, and/or coping method for a range of physical problems
including disease, pain, and death (Richards & Bergin, 2005). Findings may hold
implications for athletic populations who are susceptible to injury and adversity,
the combination of spiritual and gratitude elements may complement one another
well in applied interventions.
Kerby (2010) found that when asked to describe the meaning of surfing, some
surfers described it as a form of spiritual practice, making several references to the
importance of gratitude in relation to this practice (e.g., giving thanks to the ocean).
This suggests a unique concept that is often connected and intertwined with athlete
spirituality: a sense of gratitude. Researchers have suggested that gratitude may
promote positive emotions such as happiness, which may facilitate flow experiences
(Mosley, Frierson, Cheng, & Aoyagi, 2015;Toepfer, Cichy, & Peters, 2012). Having
a religious background may also promote gratitude practice, thereby cultivating a
more grateful disposition over time. An athlete who identifies as religious may have
participated in a faith tradition which placed an emphasis on being thankful for one’s
blessings, and in turn may view his or her sport experience as a gift; thereby
promoting humility and minimizing a sense of entitlement. While this scenario is
speculative, more research is needed to tease apart these relationships in order to
understand how spiritual and/or religious beliefs and values may contribute to an
athlete’s mental health, well-being, and performance through gratitude.
Given that both spirituality/religiosity and gratitude have been associated with
mental health benefits, and both constructs have been studied separately in athletic
populations, testing whether these two constructs are related to one another among
athletes warrants further investigation. The relationship between gratitude, spiri-
tuality, and religiosity in sport has not yet been examined, specifically among
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college athletes. Further exploration would advance our knowledge of whether
gratitude interventions may be particularly well-suited for spiritual and religious
athletes by illuminating possible connections among these constructs. Since
gratitude, spirituality, and religiosity have been associated with psychological
well-being and enhanced coping skills, having a better understanding of the
interaction of these variables would advance sport psychology interventions
aimed at mental health promotion and treatment efforts at the collegiate level
and beyond.
Purpose of the Study
In light of recent research examining the relationship between gratitude and
spirituality/religiosity in regard to mental health (e.g., Li & Chow, 2015;Rosmarin
et al., 2010;Tudder et al., 2017), as well as a growing charge for empirical
examination of athlete gratitude (e.g., Chen & Chang, 2017;Chen & Wu, 2016;
Chen, Wu, & Chang, 2017) and athlete spirituality (e.g., Amrhein et al., 2016;Egli
et al., 2014;Mosley et al., 2015;Sarkar et al., 2014), we drew from two existing
data sets to examine new variables of interest. Guided by recent developments in
the athlete spirituality, gratitude, and mental health literature, we sought to revisit
these data sets to examine the relationship between spirituality, religiosity, and
dispositional gratitude in conjunction with one another, so as to provide further
insight into this intersection of variables. By investigating possible trends among
empirically related positive psychological constructs within the athletic popula-
tion, we aimed to contribute to the sparse body of literature in sport psychology to
inform and guide future research and applied endeavors related to athlete mental
health and well-being.
The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between
athletes’levels of dispositional gratitude and their spiritual and religious identifi-
cation, so as to investigate the connection between these constructs within the sport
context. Our focal research question was: Are there group differences in disposi-
tional gratitude among athletes who identify as (1) non-spiritual and non-religious,
(2) spiritual and non-religious, and (3) both spiritual and religious? We hypothe-
sized that athletes who identified as both spiritual and religious would report higher
dispositional gratitude than athletes who identified as solely spiritual or non-
spiritual/non-religious, given their participation in organized services which may
promote a grateful mindset or foster gratitude practice (Adler & Fagley, 2005;
Emmons & Kneezel, 2005;Lambert et al., 2009). We also hypothesized that
athletes who identified as spiritual only would report higher levels of dispositional
gratitude than athletes who identified as non-spiritual and non-religious.
Method
Data Sources
Participant data were taken from two existing data sets (see Gabana et al., 2017,
2019) which included survey responses from NCAA Division I-III collegiate
athletes. Original surveys included a number of variables including state and trait
gratitude, psychological distress, life and sport satisfaction, burnout, and social
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support. For the purpose of the current study, aggregate demographic information
and dispositional gratitude scores were analyzed to examine between-group
differences according to spiritual and religious identification. It should be noted
that in these previous studies, gratitude was found to be positively related to a
number of indicators of student-athlete well-being (e.g., satisfaction, social support)
as well as negatively related to indicators of ill-being (e.g., psychological distress,
burnout). However, while spirituality and religiosity descriptive statistics were
reported in Gabana et al. (2017), between-group differences were not examined in
relation to self-reported dispositional gratitude in either of the previous two studies.
Furthermore, dispositional gratitude data (i.e., GQ-6 scores) were not reported nor
analyzed in Gabana et al. (2019), as the focus of this study was to examine the
effects of a one-time gratitude intervention on state gratitude as indicated by the
Gratitude Adjective Checklist (GAC; McCullough et al., 2002).
Of the original 344 survey responses, three were excluded for missing data and
10 were excluded for what were deemed as incongruent answers on the spirituality
and religiosity measures (see Results for details). This led to a total sample of 331
athletes (203 women and 128 men), ranging from 18 to 23 years of age (M=19.67,
SD =1.24) and of different class years, including freshmen (n=98), sophomores
(n=96), juniors (n=75), seniors (n=60), and graduate students (n=2). The majority
of athletes were Caucasian (87.9%), followed by African American (3.9%), Multi-
racial (3.3%), Asian or Asian-American (2.6%), and Hispanic or Latino/a (2.3%).
The sample included athletes from sixteen dynamic and coactive sports, including
swimming (n=65), wrestling (n=47), rowing (n=47), track and field (n=36),
softball (n=22), and baseball (n=21). The remaining athletes were from tennis,
water polo, golf, basketball, field hockey, volleyball, gymnastics, football, soccer,
and ice hockey.
Measures
The original surveys contained a demographic questionnaire including age, year in
school, gender, race/ethnicity, spiritual and religious identification, and sport type.
For the aim of the current study, spiritual and religious demographic data were
examined in relation to participant levels of dispositional gratitude.
Spirituality. Spiritual identification was assessed by the question: “Do you
consider yourself to be spiritual (e.g., believe in a higher power)?”The example
“believe in a higher power”was selected based on previously used definitions of
spirituality (see Egli et al., 2014) and a general theme of a “higher power”which
emerged in Egli et al.’s qualitative analysis of AASP certified consultants’defini-
tions of spirituality. The main distinction between spiritual and religious identifi-
cation in the current study is that spiritual/non-religious athletes checked “yes”to
being spiritual, defined as believing in a higher power, and “no”to being religious,
defined as attending services. Spiritual/religious athletes answered “yes”to both
questions. Non-spiritual/non-religious athletes answered “no”to both questions.
Religiosity. Religious identification was assessed by the question, “Do you
consider yourself to be religious (e.g., attend services)?”In a study examining
whether prayer increased dispositional gratitude, Lambert et al. (2009) assessed
religiosity by using two questions which included frequency of attending religious
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services; therefore, “attend services”was provided as an example of religious
identification. Since practices such as prayer or meditation can be associated with
both spirituality and religiosity (Egli et al., 2014), these were not given as examples
for either identification in order to distinguish the two constructs.
Gratitude. The Gratitude Questionnaire-6 (GQ-6; McCullough et al., 2002)
is a unidimensional 6-item questionnaire ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to
7 (Strongly agree) which measures dispositional gratitude. A sample item is “I have
so much in life to be thankful for.”Unidimensionality was confirmed via a one-
factor congeneric measurement model that was reported to exhibit adequate fit to the
data and good initial internal consistency (α=.82). The GQ-6 has been moderately
correlated with life satisfaction (r=.53), vitality (r=.46), happiness (r=.50),
optimism (r=.51), and hope (r=.51; McCullough et al., 2002). In the current
analysis, item six of the GQ-6 demonstrated poor factor loading and was therefore
removed (see Results for details). The alpha for the current sample was .72.
Procedure
During original data collection following IRB approval, coaches of NCAA
Division I-III teams in the Midwestern, Northeastern, and Southern regions of
the U.S. were contacted via email; this was a convenience sample based on factors
such as accessibility and previous contact with the primary researcher. Coaches
were asked to disseminate a survey link to their student-athletes using a secure
online database. The survey included demographic questions and various variables
of interest, including dispositional gratitude (GQ-6) and spiritual and religious
identification. Coaches and interested athletes were informed of the voluntary
nature of the study. All participants gave informed consent prior to completing the
survey. We note that a second IRB approval was obtained in order to conduct the
current analysis of aggregate data.
Results
In 10 of the original 344 cases, participants endorsed being religious but not
spiritual. Since it is generally understood that religion contains an element of
spirituality (Egli et al., 2014), these cases were deemed outliers and were removed
prior to data analysis. Three additional cases were eliminated due to missing data,
leaving a final sample of 331 athletes. Participants were then divided between those
who identified as non-spiritual/non-religious (NS; n=53), spiritual but not reli-
gious (S; n=94), and both spiritual and religious (R; n=184). To control for
potential demographic differences in gratitude, multiple one-way ANOVAs were
run with gender, age, class year, race/ethnicity, and sport type. All analyses yielded
non-significance, suggesting no demographic differences in gratitude on these
variables. Consequently, the whole sample was retained for the main analysis.
Internal consistency of the GQ-6, as measured by Cronbach’s alpha, was
questionable (α=.67). This was further confirmed by a Confirmatory Factor
Analysis, which showed poor model fit to the data, χ
2
=39.6, p<.001, CFI =
.89, TLI =.81, RMSEA =.1, and SRMR =.05. Looking at path coefficients, item
six (“Long amounts of time can go by before I feel grateful to something or
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someone”, reverse scored) showed the lowest loading on the latent variable of
gratitude (β=.29, R
2
=.08). In a psychometric investigation of various gratitude
scales with a youth population, Froh et al. (2011) suggested dropping this item
due to poor loading and vagueness. Following this suggestion, we adopted a five-
item version of the measure by removing item six, which demonstrated internal
consistency (α=.72) and improved model fit, χ
2
=19.5, p=.002, CFI =.93, TLI =
.86, RMSEA =.09, and SRMR =.04. We note that the five-item measure produced
moderately strong Cronbach alpha values, therefore internal consistency and
reliability standards were sufficient, but not ideal. Therefore, findings should be
interpreted with this caveat in mind.
In order to test the main hypotheses, a one-way ANOVA was employed with
three groups (NS, S, R) and scores on the adapted version of the GQ-6 as the
dependent variable. The assumption of homogeneity of variance was not met, as
shown by Levene’s test, F(2, 328) =8.54, p<.001; therefore, we opted for mean
comparison using an unequal variance F-test (also known as Welch’s ANOVA).
Results from this analysis revealed that groups differed significantly in their levels
of dispositional gratitude, F(2, 112.48) =7.82, p=.001. Games-Howell post-hoc
tests employed for group comparisons supported Hypothesis 1, showing signifi-
cant differences in gratitude between R (M=33.24, SE =.15) and both NS (p=
.009; M=31.66, SE =.50) and S (p=.01; M=32.35, SE =.26) groups. Specifi-
cally, religious athletes reported higher dispositional gratitude than the other two
groups. While dispositional gratitude was higher for spiritual than non-spiritual
athletes, we found no support for Hypothesis 2, as no significant difference was
found in gratitude between NS and S groups (p=.45; See Figure 1).
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between athletes’levels
of dispositional gratitude and their spiritual and religious identification. Athlete
participants who identified as spiritual/religious had higher levels of dispositional
gratitude compared to both spiritual/non-religious and non-spiritual/non-religious
athletes. Identifying as spiritual/non-religious, which in this study was characterized
by believing in a higher power but not attending services, did not predict higher
dispositional gratitude when compared to participants who identified as non-spiritual/
non-religious. This finding is concordant with previous research which found
religious involvement to be associated with positive outcomes, such as being at a
lower risk for depressive symptoms and mental health difficulties (Smith, 2003), and
other religiously-engendered emotions such as hope, love, forgiveness, and gratitude
(Levin, 2000). Results suggest that there may be something unique about identifying
as religious that is related to higher dispositional gratitude among college athletes,
above and beyond spiritual identification.
Since the key characteristics for religiosity in this study included both believing
in a higher power and attending services, it may be that active religious practice is
most related to increased dispositional gratitude. Gratitude is inherent to many
religious practices, most explicitly notable in the practice of prayer and thanks-
giving (Adler & Fagley, 2005;Emmons & Kneezel, 2005;Lambert et al., 2009). In
this way, it is possible that religious practice may provide more gratitude “reps.”
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The social aspect of attending services may also be important (i.e., gathering in
worship within a community on a regular basis), as athlete gratitude and the impact
of a gratitude intervention in sport have been connected to greater perceived social
support (Gabana et al., 2017,2019). Since findings are correlational, athletes who
are higher in dispositional gratitude may also tend to be more attracted to religion
and religious practices.
Practical Implications
The current study aimed to investigate whether athlete spiritual and religious
identification were associated with athlete gratitude, since these three variables
have been linked to indicators of well-being in previous literature. Results provide
useful information for the potential applicability of gratitude interventions in sport,
as well as insight into how an athlete’s spiritual/religious identity may intersect
with other variables related to mental health and performance. Understanding these
relationships can allow sport psychology practitioners to be more intentional when
considering how and for whom gratitude and faith-based interventions may be
incorporated appropriately within counseling and consultation, as well as the
potential benefits of using the two in conjunction with one another (Rosmarin
et al., 2010).
Within the last ten years, greater attention has been paid to the importance of
an athlete’s spiritual and religious identification in regard to mental health and
performance, given that athletic and spiritual identities are often inextricably linked
(Gamble, Hill, & Parker, 2013;Mosley et al., 2015;Nesti, 2011). Spirituality has
been associated with higher quality of life, as well as lower levels of anxiety and
depression (Kandasamy, Chaturvedi, & Desai, 2011). Furthermore, spiritual
interventions and therapies have demonstrated effectiveness in improving quality
of life and spiritual well-being, preventing and coping with physical ailments, and
treating anxiety, depression, and anger management difficulties (Richards &
Bergin, 2005;Richards & Worthington, 2010;Zamaniyan et al., 2016). In this
way, an athlete’s spiritual/religious beliefs and practices may serve as vital coping
Figure 1 —Group means of dispositional gratitude for non-spiritual (NS), spiritual (S),
and religious (R) athletes. Error bars represent one standard error above and below the mean.
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tools during difficult times. Sport psychology practitioners have noted that the
topic of spirituality has been initiated by athletes as a coping mechanism in the face
of adversity (Egli et al., 2014). Previous research has also found that in regard to
depression, religion and spirituality can be both protective factors and recovery
facilitators (Rosmarin et al., 2010). These findings hold implications for sport
psychology practitioners who are often called upon to address the range of
emotions and psychological reactions of athletes, during both life and sport-related
events such as injury (Appaneal, Levine, Perna, & Roh, 2009). For athletes who
may be spiritually or religiously inclined, capitalizing on faith-based coping may
be a valuable tool for sport psychology practitioners in both counseling and
consulting roles.
Findings of the current study indicate that religious identification was related
to higher trait gratitude; thus, sport psychology researchers and practitioners
might similarly find that athletes who identify as religious are more likely to
experience gratitude in the sport domain as well. This grateful mindset may lend
itself to better mental health, well-being, and social relationships in the context of
sport, providing a unique and possibly untapped coping mechanism for religious
athletes. Since religion and spirituality can provide individuals with greater
psychological resilience and serve as a protective factor against stressors and
negative life events (Peres, Moreira-Almedia, Nasello & Koenig, 2007), religi-
osity and/or spirituality might be positively related to resilience among athletes;
furthermore, this association might be mediated by higher levels of gratitude
(Mosley et al., 2015). Thus, clinicians working with athletes are encouraged to
both ask about and explore an athlete’s spiritual and religious identity during the
clinical intake, the same way one would assess topics such as gender identity,
sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or family background from a multi-
cultural approach. Regarding the performer as a person first, with a multifaceted
identity, can aid practitioners in gathering vital information related to the
athlete’s disposition and worldview (e.g., having a propensity toward gratitude;
attributing success to a Creator; directing appreciation toward God). Paying due
attention to these associations may enhance the therapeutic alliance and provide
clinicians with starting points for discussion and interventions, such as gratitude
activities.
Results show significant group differences in dispositional gratitude among
spiritual, religious, and non-religious athletes, which demonstrates the importance
of examining these variables in relation to one another. Demographic and group
characteristics can inform the knowledge and design of clinical sport psychology
interventions to promote athlete mental health and well-being. Religiosity and
spirituality may exert a protective effect on athletes’mental health (Amrhein et al.,
2016); therefore, sport psychology practitioners may consider developing and
evaluating spiritually- or religiously-based individual interventions for athletes
who identify as such. This could include spiritual self-talk (e.g., reflecting on
positive messages from a sacred text during a pre-performance routine) or
thanking God or a higher power for both achievements and challenges during
a post-performance reflection. Meaning-making from a spiritual or religious
perspective might also be used to help athletes process particularly difficult
experiences such as the loss of a loved one, injury, or transition to a new team. It
should be noted that these approaches should not be imposed on athletes, but
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rather explored gently and directed by the athlete’s level of spiritual or religious
identification (i.e., client-driven).
Given the connection between religiosity and gratitude, sport psychology
practitioners may help athletes utilize their religious practice as a way to cultivate
gratitude, which may hold sport-related benefits for mental health and well-being.
In a qualitative study by Mosley et al. (2015), researchers explored the experiences
of five elite Christian athletes. All five athlete participants expressed the sentiment
that their talents and abilities in sport were gifted by God. One participant
commented on how his faith in God allowed him to stay humble (Mosley
et al., 2015). Humility is often associated with gratitude, and may be an important
component of levelheadedness. Austin (2014) purported that humility is inherent
in the virtues of sportspersonship, moral behavior in sport, and sport excellence.
This is in congruence with McCullough, Kilpatrick, Emmons, and Larson (2001)
who proposed that gratitude serves as a “moral barometer”which promotes
prosocial behavior. Therefore, prayerful gratitude may be one way to increase
humility, promote virtue, derive meaning, and maintain perspective among
religiously-identified athletes. Mosley et al. (2015) noted that each athlete inter-
viewed in their study endorsed a grateful attitude toward their sport participation,
referring to it as a “privilege”afforded by God. Mosley and colleagues connected
this grateful mindset to resiliency, and thus recommended that sport psychology
practitioners consider approaches that foster grateful thinking among Christian
athletes. Values-based interventions in which athletes identify “God’s Will”or
“Gratitude”as core values might also be opportune moments for sport psychology
practitioners to capitalize on these types of discussions.
Based on the benefits of gratitude for athletes (e.g., Chen & Chang, 2017),
clinicians and consultants might consider implementing interventions that encour-
age gratitude cultivation and expression, which have demonstrated promising
preliminary results in reducing athlete burnout and psychological distress, and
enhancing gratitude, sport satisfaction, and perceived social support (Gabana et al.,
2019). For example, a gratitude intervention may be well-received by a team on
which the majority of student-athletes identify as religious or spiritual, such as at a
religiously affiliated university where team prayer may already be practiced. That
being said, sport psychology practitioners should be mindful that non-spiritual or
non-religious athletes may feel uncomfortable with existing faith-based elements
within team practices or routines; therefore, it behooves practitioners to thoroughly
assess for and appropriately implement faith-based components into interventions
with awareness and sensitivity to a range of cultural backgrounds. Providing faith-
based elements as an option, included among a range of adaptions, is suggested to
best serve diverse populations.
Lastly, athletes from non-religious backgrounds might benefit, in particular,
from gratitude interventions to boost levels of dispositional gratitude. When
working individually with athletes, sport psychology practitioners might consider
tailoring their gratitude interventions to account for the athlete’s religious or non-
religious orientation. Non-religious athletes could be encouraged to reflect on how
other people (e.g., coaches and teammates) have contributed to their athletic
success, whereas religious athletes from a theistic background might benefit from
thanking God for their athletic abilities and opportunities. In a study comparing the
impact of general and religious gratitude, gratitude toward God uniquely predicted
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well-being beyond general gratitude (Rosmarin, Pirutinsky, Cohen, Galler, &
Krumrei, 2011). This suggests that the interaction between religious gratitude and
religious commitment can enhance the psychological benefits of gratitude. It seems
possible that for athletes with high religious commitment, cultivating gratitude
toward God within the sport context may maximize effects of gratitude interven-
tions on mental health, well-being, and performance.
Strengths and Limitations
A strength of the current study is that we explored the intersection of positive
psychology constructs previously related in empirical studies, with an athlete-
specific population. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether the
relationships among gratitude, spirituality, and religiosity have relevance in the
unique athletic context, informing the body of literature on athlete mental health
and the applicability of positive psychological interventions in sport. Our findings
indicate that athletes’religious and spiritual identification were indeed significant
factors associated with having a more grateful disposition among college athletes.
Furthermore, over half of the sample self-identified as both spiritual and religious,
and nearly a third identified as spiritual only. This finding alone demonstrates the
need for a deeper understanding of how an athlete’s spiritual and/or religious
identity intersects with their experience in both sport and life. Results provide a
small step forward in regard to understanding the various demographic variables
that should be considered when designing gratitude interventions for individual
athletes and teams. While this was a novel endeavor given the paucity of research
in this area, our study has a number of limitations which should be addressed in
future investigations of athlete spirituality, religiosity, and gratitude.
Major limitations of the current study include lack of data on participants’
specific religious affiliation and the homogeneity of the sample (88% of partici-
pants were Caucasian, all residing in the U.S.). In the future, more information
should be gathered to compare possible similarities or differences among faith
traditions and demographic factors in regard to dispositional gratitude and athlete
well-being. Since gratitude is emphasized as a prominent virtue in a variety of
religious traditions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism,
and Native American religions (Emmons & Crumpler, 2000;Emmons & Kneezel,
2005;Wood, Joseph, & Linley, 2007), the relationship between gratitude and
religiosity might be similar regardless of faith tradition. Alternatively, it is possible
that the positive link between religiosity and gratitude might exist only for athletes
with a theistic religion (e.g., Christians, Jews, Muslims) because of a belief that
God or a Higher Power is the source of their success (Mosley et al., 2015),
thus fostering a sense of gratitude toward a supernatural being. Future research
should include athletes from diverse religious affiliations, including those with
non-theistic religions (e.g., Buddhism). Another limitation is that spiritual and
religious identification were measured by two “yes”or “no”items using a valid yet
limited definition of these terms. In addition to gathering data about religious
affiliation, future studies should consider using empirically validated measures of
spirituality and religiosity, given that the current focused solely on identification as
spiritual and religious as “believing in a higher power”and “attending services,”
respectively.
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Future Directions
In the future, it would be interesting to explore the relationship between athlete
religiosity and sport-specific gratitude on a larger scale. While cultural constructs
such as race, gender, and sexual orientation have been brought to light in the past
decade of sport psychology literature, the spiritual aspect of an athlete’scultural
identity has not been paid the same attention (Egli et al., 2014;Nesti, 2007). Egli and
colleagues (2014) asserted that culture is “an integral part of being able to understand
oneself and others”(p. 396), therefore it is imperative that sport psychology
practitioners and researchers consider how spirituality and religiosity intersect
with an athlete’s identity, in relation to both personal and performance excellence.
We also recommend the use of continuous measures of spirituality and religiosity
when examining the link to gratitude. One example is the Religious Commitment
Inventory-10 (Worthington et al., 2003), a brief measure of religious commitment
with well-established psychometric properties. Given that religiosity and spirituality
are multidimensional constructs, researchers should state the specificreligiousor
spiritual construct used in their study (e.g., religious commitment). Indeed, it is
possible that some dimensions of religiosity and spirituality (e.g., prayers) might be
more closely related to gratitude than others (e.g., attendance at religious services).
Furthermore, cultural factors such as race, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic
status may be related to an athlete’s religious or spiritual identity, as well as their
tendency to be grateful. For example, athletes from an Eastern culture, which tends
to be more collectivistic, may value and practice gratitude more than a Western
culture, which emphasizes individualism (Kee, Tsai, & Chen, 2008).
Lastly, qualitative methods exploring the depth and breadth of an athlete’s
religious and spiritual identity, especially related to their culture, faith, and
experience of gratitude, may provide insight into the intersection of these cultural
constructs. Allowing participants to provide their own definitions of spirituality
and religiosity could further illuminate this area. Beyond self-report measures, the
link between faith and gratitude could be tested by analyzing news reports of post-
game interviews, in regard to athletes’references to God or faith-related constructs.
In line with our findings, athletes who identify as religious might be more likely to
express gratitude during their interviews than those who do not, providing insight
into how religiosity and gratitude may intertwine to help athletes cope with a tough
loss, or maintain perspective after a big win.
Conclusion
Many have called for the inclusion of spirituality in a holistic approach to sport
psychology (e.g., Balague, 1999;Mosley et al., 2015;Ravizza, 2002;Watson &
Nesti, 2005). A holistic approach to athlete mental health and well-being regards
the performer as a whole person, with a multifaceted identity. For many athletes,
spiritual and/or religious identification is a salient part of their personhood (Mosley
et al., 2015), and thus becomes an inherent part of their identity as an athlete. As
demonstrated by the results of the current study, an athlete’s faith perspective can
intersect with factors related to mental health (e.g., gratitude), which may also
influence the athlete’s attitude toward sport participation, competition, relation-
ships, and adversity. Thus, the spiritual aspect of an athlete’s identity should not be
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overlooked, and more research is needed to understand the spiritual dimension of
the athlete person and how this may interact with one’s mental, physical, and
relational experience in sport.
Since spiritual and religious beliefs are unique to each individual, sport
psychology practitioners should afford sufficient consideration to exploring and
integrating an athlete’s faith within the counseling and consultation process, when
appropriate. Incorporating spirituality and/or religiosity into clinical sport psychology
should be athlete-driven and practitioners should use an athlete’s own language
when discussing matters of faith (Egli et al., 2014). Egli and colleagues noted that
discussions of spirituality, religiosity, and faith may be particularly applicable in
coping with adversity; therefore, more empirical studies are warranted to test the
potential effects of faith-based approaches to sport psychology counseling and
consultation. While gratitude may also be incorporated with faith-based interventions
(e.g., prayer, meaning-making, values) as a way to develop or reinforce a grateful
mindset, it should be noted that the relationship between gratitude, spirituality, and
religiosity is far more complex than what is suggested by the correlational results of
the present study. In conclusion, future research should explore the mechanisms by
which gratitude, spirituality, and religiosity relate to one another, as well as the
relevance of these concepts for athlete mental health, well-being, and performance.
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