IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i14p8679-d863670.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

More than Merely Positive: The Immediate Affective and Motivational Consequences of Gratitude

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa C. Walsh

    (Department of Psychology, University of California, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA)

  • Christina N. Armenta

    (Department of Psychology, University of California, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA)

  • Guy Itzchakov

    (Department of Human Services, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel)

  • Megan M. Fritz

    (Department of Psychology, University of California, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA)

  • Sonja Lyubomirsky

    (Department of Psychology, University of California, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA)

Abstract

Although gratitude is typically conceptualized as a positive emotion, it may also induce socially oriented negative feelings, such as indebtedness and guilt. Given its mixed emotional experience, we argue that gratitude motivates people to improve themselves in important life domains. Two single-timepoint studies tested the immediate emotional and motivational effects of expressing gratitude. We recruited employees ( n = 224) from French companies in Study 1 and students ( n = 1026) from U.S. high schools in Study 2. Participants in both studies were randomly assigned to either write gratitude letters to benefactors or outline their weekly activities (control condition). Expressing gratitude led to mixed emotional experiences (e.g., greater elevation and indebtedness) for employees and students as compared with the control group. Students also felt more motivated and capable of improving themselves, as well as conveyed stronger intentions to muster effort towards self-improvement endeavors.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa C. Walsh & Christina N. Armenta & Guy Itzchakov & Megan M. Fritz & Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2022. "More than Merely Positive: The Immediate Affective and Motivational Consequences of Gratitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8679-:d:863670
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8679/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8679/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristin Layous & Kate Sweeny & Christina Armenta & Soojung Na & Incheol Choi & Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2017. "The proximal experience of gratitude," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-26, July.
    2. Sonja Lyubomirsky & Heidi Lepper, 1999. "A Measure of Subjective Happiness: Preliminary Reliability and Construct Validation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 137-155, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eli Vinokur & Avinoam Yomtovian & Guy Itzchakov & Marva Shalev Marom & Liat Baron, 2023. "Social-Based Learning and Leadership (SBL): Theory Development and a Qualitative Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-22, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julio Torales & Iván Barrios & Osvaldo Melgarejo & Noelia Ruiz Díaz & Marcelo O’Higgins & Rodrigo Navarro & Diego Amarilla & José Almirón-Santacruz & Israel González-Urbieta & Tomás Caycho-Rod, 2024. "Hope, resilience and subjective happiness among general population of Paraguay in the post COVID-19 pandemic," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 70(3), pages 489-497, May.
    2. GOROVEI Alina-Alexandra, 2020. "Does Work Make You Happy? Job Satisfaction And Happiness In The Modern World," Revista Economica, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 72(1), pages 76-86, April.
    3. Leiv Gabrielsen & Pål Ulleberg & Reidulf Watten, 2012. "The Adolescent Life Goal Profile Scale: Development of a New Scale for Measurements of Life Goals Among Young People," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(6), pages 1053-1072, December.
    4. Zhang, Jing & Chen, Mingliang & Xie, Zhaohan & Zhuang, Jingyi, 2022. "Don't fall into exquisite poverty: The impact of mismatch between consumers and luxury brands on happiness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 298-309.
    5. Câmara, Ester & Pocinho, Margarida & Jesus, Saúl Neves & Agapito, Dora, 2024. "Senior Tourists’ Well-being, Happiness, and Satisfaction with Life: A Systematic Literature Review," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 12(2), pages 87-109.
    6. Robert Weech-Maldonado & Michael J. Miller & Justin C. Lord, 2017. "The Relationships among Socio-Demographics, Perceived Health, and Happiness," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 289-302, June.
    7. Torshizian, Eilya & Mehrara, Mohsen, 2011. "The effects of Economy, Values and Health on Happiness In Iran: the case of the Kish Island," MPRA Paper 30085, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Apr 2011.
    8. Dan K. Hsu & Johan Wiklund & Richard D. Cotton, 2017. "Success, Failure, and Entrepreneurial Reentry: An Experimental Assessment of the Veracity of Self–Efficacy and Prospect Theory," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(1), pages 19-47, January.
    9. Lotta Uusitalo-Malmivaara & Juhani Lehto, 2013. "Social Factors Explaining Children’s Subjective Happiness and Depressive Symptoms," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(2), pages 603-615, April.
    10. Brandon M. Turner & Hye Bin Rim & Nancy E. Betz & Thomas E. Nygren, 2012. "The Maximization Inventory," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 7(1), pages 48-60, January.
    11. Coupe, Tom & Obrizan, Maksym, 2016. "The impact of war on happiness: The case of Ukraine," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 132(PA), pages 228-242.
    12. Rogie Royce Carandang & Akira Shibanuma & Edward Asis & Dominga Carolina Chavez & Maria Teresa Tuliao & Masamine Jimba, 2020. "“Are Filipinos Aging Well?”: Determinants of Subjective Well-Being among Senior Citizens of the Community-Based ENGAGE Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-13, October.
    13. O. Kjell & D. Daukantaitė & K. Hefferon & S. Sikström, 2016. "The Harmony in Life Scale Complements the Satisfaction with Life Scale: Expanding the Conceptualization of the Cognitive Component of Subjective Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 893-919, March.
    14. Joey Man Yee KWOK & Douglas Kei Shing NG, 2016. "A Study of the Perceived Stress Level of University Students in Hong Kong," International Journal of Psychological Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(4), pages 1-91, December.
    15. Jadie Allen & Mark Holder, 2014. "Marijuana Use and Well-Being in University Students," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 301-321, April.
    16. Lange, Florian & Dewitte, Siegfried, 2020. "Positive affect and pro-environmental behavior: A preregistered experiment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    17. Alison Pritchard & Miles Richardson & David Sheffield & Kirsten McEwan, 2020. "The Relationship Between Nature Connectedness and Eudaimonic Well-Being: A Meta-analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1145-1167, March.
    18. Prus, Steven G., 2011. "Comparing social determinants of self-rated health across the United States and Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 50-59, July.
    19. Mostafa E. Shahen & Shibly Shahrier & Koji Kotani, 2019. "Happiness, Generativity and Social Preferences in a Developing Country: A Possibility of Future Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-17, September.
    20. Mary Pang & Ming-Ming Lai & Lee-Lee Chong & Yvonne Lee & Siok-Hwa Lau, 2024. "Modelling retirement resources, home environment and quality of marriage for greater well-being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 19(5), pages 2933-2966, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8679-:d:863670. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.