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Gratitude
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness is the proper, fitting

or called-for response to benefits or beneficence from a
benefactor. The experience of gratitude has historically been a
focus of several world religions.[1] It has also been a topic of
interest to ancient, medieval and modern philosophers, and
continues to engage contemporary western philosophers
today.[2] The systematic study of gratitude within psychology
only began around the year 2000, possibly because psychology
has traditionally been focused more on understanding distress
rather than understanding positive emotions. The study of
gratitude within psychology has focused on the understanding
of the short term experience of the emotion of gratitude (state
gratitude), individual differences in how frequently people feel American flag with "merci", the
gratitude (trait gratitude), and the relationship between these French word for "thank you",
two aspects.[3][4] written on it, planted in front of a
cross in the Normandy American
Cemetery and Memorial
Contents
Wikiquote has
1 Comparison with indebtedness quotations related to:
2 As a motivator of behavior gratitude
3 Religious approaches
3.1 Jewish conceptions
3.2 Christian conceptions
3.3 Islamic conceptions
4 Individual differences
5 Empirical findings
5.1 Association with well-being
5.2 Relationship to altruism
5.3 Psychological interventions
6 Conclusions
7 Further reading
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Comparison with indebtedness

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Gratitude is not the same as indebtedness. While both emotions occur following help, indebtedness
occurs when a person perceives that they are under an obligation to make some repayment of
compensation for the aid.[5] The emotions lead to different actions; indebtedness can motivate the
recipient of the aid to avoid the person who has helped them, whereas gratitude can motivate the
recipient to seek out their benefactor and to improve their relationship with them.[6][7]

As a motivator of behavior
Gratitude may also serve to reinforce future prosocial behavior in benefactors. For example, one
experiment found that customers of a jewelry store who were called and thanked showed a
subsequent 70% increase in purchases. In comparison, customers who were called and told about a
sale showed only a 30% increase in purchases, and customers who were not called at all did not
show an increase.[8] In another study, regular patrons of a restaurant gave bigger tips when servers
wrote "Thank you" on their checks.[9]

Religious approaches
The link between spirituality and gratitude has recently become a popular subject of study. While
these two characteristics are certainly not dependent on each other, studies have found that
spirituality is capable of enhancing a persons ability to be grateful and therefore, those who
regularly attend religious services or engage in religious activities are more likely to have a greater
sense of gratitude in all areas of life.[10][11] Gratitude is viewed as a prized human propensity in the
Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Baha'i, and Hindu traditions.[1] Worship with gratitude to God
is a common theme in such religions and therefore, the concept of gratitude permeates religious
texts, teachings, and traditions. For this reason, it is one of the most common emotions that
religions aim to provoke and maintain in followers and is regarded as a universal religious
sentiment.[12]

Jewish conceptions

In Judaism, gratitude is an essential part of the act of worship and a part of every aspect of a
worshipers life. According to the Hebrew worldview, all things come from God and because of
this, gratitude is extremely important to the followers of Judaism. The Hebrew Scriptures are filled
with the idea of gratitude. Two examples included in the psalms are "O Lord my God, I will give
thanks to you forever," and "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart" (Ps. 30:12; Ps.
9:1). The Jewish prayers also often incorporate gratitude beginning with the Shema, where the
worshiper states that out of gratitude, "You shall love the Eternal, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). One of the crucial blessings in the central
thrice-daily prayer, the "Amidah", is called "Modim" - "We give thanks to You"; this is also the
only blessing which is recited by the congregation together with the leader during their repetition of
the Amidah. The concluding prayer, the Alenu, also speaks of gratitude by thanking God for the
particular destiny of the Jewish people. Along with these prayers, faithful worshipers recite more

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than one hundred blessings called berachot throughout the day.[1] In Judaism there is also a major
emphasis on gratitude for acts of human kindness and goodness.

Christian conceptions

Gratitude has been said to mold and shape the entire Christian
life. Martin Luther referred to gratitude as "The basic Christian
attitude" and today it is still referred to as "the heart of the
gospel."[12] As each Christian believes they were created by a
personal God, Christians are strongly encouraged to praise and
give gratitude to their creator. In Christian gratitude, God is
seen as the selfless giver of all good things and because of this,
there is a deep sense of gratefulness which enables Christians to
share a common bond, shaping all aspects of a followers life. New Orleans: Thank you
Gratitude in Christianity is an acknowledgment of Gods message in the grotto of Our
generosity that inspires Christians to shape their own thoughts Lady of Guadalupe Church;
and actions around such ideals.[1] Instead of simply a added by those for whom prayer
sentimental feeling, Christian gratitude is regarded as a virtue or miracles were granted
that shapes not only emotions and thoughts but also actions and
deeds.[12] Jonathan Edwards writes in his A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections that gratitude
and thankfulness toward God are among the signs of true religion. Because of this interpretation,
modern measures of religious spirituality include assessments of thankfulness and gratitude
towards God. Allport (1950) suggested that mature religious intentions come from feelings of
profound gratitude and Edwards (1746/1959) claimed that the "affection" of gratitude is one of the
most accurate ways of finding the presence of God in a persons life. In a study done by Samuels
and Lester (1985) it was contended that in a small sample of Catholic nuns and priests, out of 50
emotions, love and gratitude were the most experienced emotion towards God.[1]

In the Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican churches, the most important rite is called the Eucharist;
the name derives from the Greek word eucharistia for thanksgiving.

Islamic conceptions

The Islamic sacred text, The Quran, is filled with the idea of gratitude. Islam encourages its
followers to be grateful and express thanks to God in all circumstances. Islamic teaching
emphasizes the idea that those who are grateful will be rewarded with more. A traditional Islamic
saying states that, "The first who will be summoned to paradise are those who have praised God in
every circumstance"[13] In the Quran it is also stated in Sura 14 that those who are grateful will be
given more by God. The prophet Muhammad also said, "Gratitude for the abundance you have
received is the best insurance that the abundance will continue." Many practices of the Islamic faith
also encourage gratitude. The Pillar of Islam calling for daily prayer encourages believers to pray to
God five times a day in order to thank him for his goodness. The pillar of fasting during the month
of Ramadan is for the purpose of putting the believer in a state of gratitude.[1]

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Individual differences
Much of the recent work psychological research into gratitude has focused on the nature of
individual difference in gratitude, and the consequences of being a more or less grateful person.[13]
Three scales have been developed to measure individual differences in gratitude, each of which
assesses somewhat different conceptions.[14] The GQ6[15] measures individual differences in how
frequently and intensely people feel gratitude. The Appreciation Scale[16] measures 8 different
aspects of gratitude: appreciation of people, possessions, the present moment, rituals, feeling of
awe, social comparisons, existential concerns, and behaviour which expresses gratitude. The
GRAT[17] assesses gratitude towards other people, gratitude towards the world in general, and a
lack of resentment for what you do not have. A recent study showed that each of these scales are
actually all measuring the same way of approaching life; this suggests that individual differences in
gratitude include all of these components.[14]

Empirical findings
Association with well-being

A large body of recent work has suggested that people who are more grateful have higher levels of
subjective well-being. Grateful people are happier, less depressed, less stressed, and more satisfied
with their lives and social relationships.[15][18][19] Specifically, in terms of depression, gratitude
may serve as a buffer by enhancing the coding and retrievability of positive experiences.[20]
Grateful people also have higher levels of control of their environments, personal growth, purpose
in life, and self acceptance.[21] Grateful people have more positive ways of coping with the
difficulties they experience in life, being more likely to seek support from other people, reinterpret
and grow from experiences, and spend more time planning how to deal with the problem.[22]
Grateful people also have less negative coping strategies, being less likely to try to avoid the
problem, deny there is a problem, blame themselves, or cope through substance use.[22] Grateful
people sleep better, and this seems to be because they think less negative and more positive
thoughts just before going to sleep.[23]

Gratitude has been said to have one of the strongest links with mental health of any character trait.
Numerous studies suggest that grateful people are more likely to have higher levels of happiness
and lower levels of stress and depression.[13][24][25]

While many emotions and personality traits are important to well-being, there is evidence that
gratitude may be uniquely important. First, a longitudinal study showed that people who were more
grateful coped better with a life transition. Specifically, people who were more grateful before the
transition were less stressed, less depressed, and more satisfied with their relationships three
months later.[26] Second, two recent studies have suggested that gratitude may have a unique
relationship with well-being, and can explain aspects of well-being that other personality traits

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cannot. Both studies showed that gratitude was able to explain more well-being than the Big Five
and 30 of the most commonly studied personality traits.[18][21]

Relationship to altruism

Gratitude has also been shown to improve a persons altruistic tendencies. One study conducted by
David DeSteno and Monica Bartlett (2010) found that gratitude is correlated with economic
generosity. In this study, using an economic game, increased gratitude was shown to directly
mediate increased monetary giving. From these results, this study shows that grateful people are
more likely to sacrifice individual gains for communal profit (DeSteno & Bartlett, 2010). A study
conducted by McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, (2002) found similar correlations between gratitude
and empathy, generosity, and helpfulness.[27][28]

Psychological interventions

Given that gratitude appears to be a strong determinant of people's well-being, several

psychological interventions have been developed to increase gratitude.[13][29] For example, Watkins
and colleagues[30] had participants test a number of different gratitude exercises, such as thinking
about a living person for whom they are grateful, writing about someone for whom they are
grateful, and writing a letter to deliver to someone for whom they are grateful. Participants in the
control condition were asked to describe their living room. Participants who engaged in a gratitude
exercise showed increases in their experiences of positive emotion immediately after the exercise,
and this effect was strongest for participants who were asked to think about a person for whom they
are grateful. Participants who had grateful personalities to begin with showed the greatest benefit
from these gratitude exercises. In another study concerning gratitude, participants were randomly
assigned to one of six therapeutic intervention conditions designed to improve the participants'
overall quality of life (Seligman et al., 2005).[31] Out of these conditions, it was found that the
biggest short-term effects came from a "gratitude visit" where participants wrote and delivered a
letter of gratitude to someone in their life. This condition showed a rise in happiness scores by 10
percent and a significant fall in depression scores, results which lasted up to one month after the
visit. Out of the six conditions, the longest lasting effects were associated with the act of writing
"gratitude journals" where participants were asked to write down three things they were grateful for
every day. These participants happiness scores also increased and continued to increase each time
they were tested periodically after the experiment. In fact, the greatest benefits were usually found
to occur around six months after treatment began. This exercise was so successful that although
participants were only asked to continue the journal for a week, many participants continued to
keep the journal long after the study was over. Similar results have been found from studies
conducted by Emmons and McCullough (2003)[10] and Lyubomirsky et. all. (2005). See also
gratitude journal.

Recently (2013), the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, has
been offering awards for dissertation-level research projects with the greatest potential to advance
the science and practice of gratitude.[32]

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Conclusions
According to Cicero, "Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others."
Multiple studies have shown the correlation between gratitude and increased wellbeing not only for
the individual but for all people involved.[24][27] The positive psychology movement has embraced
these studies and in an effort to increase overall well-being, has begun to make an effort to
incorporate exercises to increase gratitude into the movement. Although in the past gratitude has
been neglected by psychology, in recent years much progress has been made in studying gratitude
and its positive effects.

Further reading
"Gratitude," in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries
/gratitude/).
A Network for Grateful Living, founded by Br. (http://www.gratefulness.org/) David
Steindl-Rast.
"How I found Gratitude in a Bowl of Stew by Chad Daniels (http://buildthefire.com/gratitude-
in-a-bowl-of-stew/)

See also
Praise[33]

References
1. Emmons, Robert A., and Cheryl A. Crumpler. "Gratitude as a Human Strength: Appraising the
Evidence." Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 19.1 (2000): 56-69. Print.
2. Manela, Tony. Gratitude. (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/gratitude/) In Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta, 2015. [1] (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/gratitude/)
3. Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Stewart, N., Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2008). A social-cognitive model of
trait and state levels of gratitude (http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood
/state%20and%20trait%20gratitude.pdf).Emotion, 8, 281-290.
4. McCullough, M. E., Tsang, J. & Emmons, R. A. (2004). Gratitude in intermediate affective terrain:
Links of grateful moods to individual differences and daily emotional experience. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 86,295-309. (electronic copy) (http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/mmccullough
/gratitude/Emmons_McCullough_2003_JPSP.pdf)
5. Greenberg, M. S. (1980). A theory of indebtedness. In K. J. Gergen, M. S. Greenberg & R. H. Wills
(Eds.), Social exchange: Advances in theory and research: New York: Plenum.
6. Watkins, P. C., Scheer, J., Ovnicek, M., & Kolts, R. (2006). The debt of gratitude: Dissociating gratitude
and indebtedness. Cognition and Emotion, 20, 217-241, doi:10.1080/02699930500172291
(https://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2F02699930500172291).
7. Tsang, J. A. (2006).

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8. Carey, J. R., Clicque, S. H., Leighton, B. A., & Milton, F. (1976). A test of positive reinforcement of
customers. Journal of Marketing, 40, 98-100.
9. Rind, B., & Bordia, P. (1995). Effect of server's "Thank you" and personalization on restaurant tipping.
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 745-751.
10. McCullough, M.E., Emmons, R.A., & Tsang, J. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and
empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 112-127
11. Emmons, Robert A.; Michael E. McCullough. "Highlights from the Research Project of Gratitude and
Thankfulness". Archived from the original on August 11, 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
12. Emmons, Robert A., and Teresa T. Kneezel. "Giving Gratitude: Spiritual and Religious Correlates of
Gratitude." Journal of Psychology and Christianity 24.2 (2005): 140-48. Print.
13. Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2007). Gratitude: The parent of all virtues.
(http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood/gratitude%20psychologist.pdf) The Psychologist,
20, 18-21
14. Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Stewart, N., & Joseph, S. (2008). Conceptualizing gratitude and appreciation
as a unitary personality trait. (http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood
/Gratitude%20and%20appreciation%20factor%20analysis.pdf) Personality and Individual Differences,
44, 619-630.
15. McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and
empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 112-127.
16. Adler, M. G., & Fagley, N. S. (2005). Appreciation: Individual differences in finding value and meaning
as a unique predictor of subjective well-being. Journal of Personality, 73, 79-114.
17. Watkins, P. C., Woodward, K., Stone, T., & Kolts, R. L. (2003). Gratitude and happiness: Development
of a measure of gratitude, and relationships with subjective well-being. Social Behavior and
Personality', 31, 431-451.
18. Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., & Maltby, J. (2008). PersonalPages.Manchester.ac.uk
(http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood/gratitude%20and%20life%20satisfaction.pdf),
Gratitude uniquely predicts satisfaction with life: Incremental validity above the domains and facets of
the Five Factor Model. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 49-54.
19. Kashdan, T.B., Uswatte, G., & Julian, T. (2006). Gratitude and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in
Vietnam War veterans. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 177-199.
20. Watkins, P. C., Woodward, K., Stone, T., & Kolts, R. L. (2003). GRATITUDE AND HAPPINESS:
DEVELOPMENT OF A MEASURE OF GRATITUDE, AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH SUBJECTIVE
WELL-BEING. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 31(5), 431.
21. Wood, A. M., Joseph, S. & Maltby (2009). Gratitude predicts psychological well-being above the Big
Five facets. (http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood
/gratitude%20and%20psychological%20well-being.pdf) Personality and Individual Differences, 45,
655-660.
22. Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2007). Coping style as a psychological resource of grateful
people. (http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood/gratitude%20and%20coping.pdf)
Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26, 11081125.
23. Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., Lloyd, J., & Atkins, S. (2009). Gratitude influences sleep through the
mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions. (http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood
/gratitude_sleep.pdf) Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 66, 43-48
24. McCullough, M. E., Tsang, J., & Emmons, R.A. (2004). Gratitude in Intermediate affective terrain:
Links of grateful moods with individual differences and daily emotional experience. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 295-309.
25. "Grateful individuals tend to experience less depressive symptoms". PsyPost. Retrieved 2016-04-09.

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26. Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Gillett, R., Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2008). The role of gratitude in the
development of social support, stress, and depression: Two longitudinal studies.
(http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood/gratitude%20longitudinal.pdf) Journal of
Research in Personality, 42, 854-871.
27. Desteno, D; Bartlett, M. Y.; Baumann, J; Williams, L. A.; Dickens, L (2010). "Gratitude as moral
sentiment: Emotion-guided cooperation in economic exchange". Emotion. 10 (2): 28993.
doi:10.1037/a0017883. PMID 20364907.
28. Emmons, Robert A.; Michael E. McCullough. "Highlights from the Research Project on Gratitude and
Thankfulness". Archived from the original on August 11, 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
29. Emmons, R. A. & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental
investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 84, 377-389. (electronic copy) (http://psy.miami.edu/faculty/mmccullough/Gratitude-
Related20Stuff/Emmons_McCullough_2003_JPSP.pdf)
30. Watkins, P. C., Woodward, K., Stone, T., & Kolts, R. L. (2003). Gratitude and happiness: Development
of a measure of gratitude, and relationships with subjective well-being. Social Behavior and Personality,
31, 431-452.
31. Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N.,& Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress:
Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410-421.
32. Greater Good Science Center: Research awards (http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/expandinggratitude
/dissertation_research_awards)
33. Gould, Tara. "How being Grateful makes You Healthier, Happier and Richer?". www.HealCity.com.
HealCity. Archived from the original on October 5, 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.

External links

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