by F. Bolsover, R. Bell, Z. Clark, M. Saggu, F. Enock,

L. Fraser, A. Grant, E. Wallmen, A. Kossurok

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” Marcel Proust

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others.” Cicero

Content1. Introduction2. Paper 1:

Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life (Emmons and McCullough, 2003)

3. Paper 2: Gratitude predicts psychological well-being above the Big Five facets (Wood, Joseph and Maltby, 2009)

4. Conclusion5. Q & A

IntroductionWhat is Gratitude?A positive emotion or attitude in

acknowledgement of a benefit that one has received or will receive.

Gratitude + Psychology = ?Focused on understanding:

State gratitudeTrait gratitudeRelationship between state and trait gratitude

aspects.

How to measure individual differences in gratitude?Gratitude Questionnaire – 6 (GQ-6)Measures frequency and intensity of gratitude of an

individual

The Appreciation ScaleMeasure 8 different aspects of gratitude:

Appreciation of peoplePossessionsPresent momentRitualsFeeling of aweSocial comparisonsExistential concernsBehaviour which expresses gratitude

How to measure individual differences in gratitude?Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation

Test (GRAT)Assesses gratitude towards other people,

gratitude towards the world in general, and a lack of resentment for what you don’t have.

Each scale has been shown to be measuring the same approach to life – suggesting that individual differences in gratitude include all of these components (Wood et al., 2008)

What can gratitude do for you?Experiment on satisfaction of customers of a

jewellery store. Customers who were called and thanked showed

a 70% increase in purchasesCustomers who were thanked and told about a

sale showed only a 30% increase in purchasesCustomers who were not called at all did not

show an increase.

In another study, it was found that regular customers of a restaurant gave bigger tips when waiters wrote “Thank you” on their bills.

Fun FactsFun Fact #1:The white bell flower is the flower

that symbolises gratitude.

Fun Fact #2:Gratitude is one of the few social

psychology concepts that has a related national holiday – GUESS WHICH ONE!

THANKSGIVING

Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377-389.

Gratitude and HappinessClaims that grateful responses to life can

lead to happiness, physical health, well-being and overall positive functioning are intuitively compelling …

But, are largely speculative and scientifically untested.

Purpose of this studyTo experimentally investigate the effects

of a ‘grateful outlook’ on psychological and physical well-being.

Does ‘counting one’s blessings’ lead to enhanced psychological and physical functioning?

HypothesisExercises designed to induce a state of

gratitude heightened well-being over timerelative to a focus on:

hasslesdownward social comparisonsneutral life events

Those in the gratitude-focused group will show enhanced psychosocial functioning relative to persons in the other groups.

MethodStudies 1 and 2 - undergraduate student

participants randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental conditions:gratitude listinghassles neutral life events/social comparisons

Study 3 – persons with neuromuscular disease randomly assigned to either the gratitude condition or a control condition.

Results - Participants in the gratitude condition:Study 1: felt better about their lives more optimistic fewer physical complaints spent more time exercising

Study 2: higher levels of positive affect more helpful and emotionally supportive to others

Study 3: improved subjective life appraisals increased positive affect reduced negative affect effects on well-being apparent to participants’ partner

ResultsAnalyses showed that gratitude was uniquely

responsible for the effect of the intervention on positive affect.

The intervention did have a general effect on positive affect.

However; analyses revealed that the effects of the intervention on gratitude were specifically as a result of the gratitude induction.

There do appear to exist benefits to regularly focusing on one’s blessings.

DiscussionThere are many influences on well-being:

including personality factors, genetic influences and life events.

Thus, one factor by itself would not be expected to be particularly potent.

Although gratefulness was not instilled in participants as a result of this brief manipulation:an intentional grateful focus could have the

ability to impact long-term levels of well-being.

Implications for future researchThis study has treated gratitude as a

malleable characteristic. Yet it may also possess trait-like qualities …

To what degree would dispositional gratefulness interact with a gratitude manipulation to either strengthen or weaken the effect?

Gratitude Predicts Psychological well-being above the Big Five facets. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 443-447.

IntroductionHow important is gratitude for our

psychological well-being (PWB)?

This study aims to find whether gratitude is linked to psychological well-being after removing the effects of the facets of the Big Five.

Previous ResearchPrevious studies have found that grateful people

feel more frequent and intense grateful affect have more positive views of their social environments, utilise productive coping strategies, have more positive traits, better sleep and continually focus on the positive in their environment with a greater appreciation of their life and their possessions.

With one exception, research has focussed on subjective well-being (SWB – i.e., hedonistic momentary pleasure) and has ignored a potential relationship between gratitude and psychological well-being (PWB – i.e., personal positive relationships with self and others).

Method201 participants (128 female), all

undergraduate students.PWB measured with the 18 items scales of

PWBItems assessed included self acceptance,

positive relationships with others, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery and autonomy and were rated on a scale from 1 to 7.

The domains and facets of the Big Five were measured with the NEO-PI-R

ResultsOverall, gratitude was positively correlated with

certain facets form the extraversion, openness agreeableness, and conscientiousness domains and negatively correlated with certain neuroticism facets.

The Big Five facets strongly correlated with PWB, highlighting the importance of covarying the facets when examining the relationship between gratitude and PWB.

Gratitude improved the prediction of personal growth, positive relationships with others, purpose in life and self-acceptance

However, gratitude did not uniquely predict autonomy or environmental mastery.

DiscussionGratitude is related to a life that is

meaningful rather than hedonistically pleasant.

The relationship between gratitude and several PWB variables was independent of the effects of the 30 facets of the Five Factor model, suggesting that gratitude may be uniquely important to PWB.

The question of whether gratitude is a predictor of well-being or actually a fundamental aspect of well-being itself remains unanswered.

Limitations and ImplicationsReliance on self-report measuresThe methodology can only show incremental validity

with regard to the particular variables included in the study.

Future research should develop a theory as to which other variables should be studied along side gratitude, to see whether gratitude has a direct, confounded, or mediated relationship with PWB and other variables.

Future research should also concentrate ion the direction of the relationship between gratitude and PWB, the conditions under which both constructs develop and how gratitude and PWB operate in diverse life contexts.

How can we relate this to everyday life?

Grateful people tend to…• Be happier• Be less depressed• Be less stressed• Be more satisfied with their life and social

relationships• Have stronger social bonds and friendships • Have more positive ways of coping with

difficulties • Are more likely to seek support from others

and also help others • Sleep better• Have an increased long-term happiness

How to increase well-being through gratitude• Thinking about a living person for whom you are

grateful (Watkins et al)• Thank everyone for everything practice (Michael

Frisch)• Gratitude Visit (Martin Seligman)• Gratitude Journals (Martin Seligman)• The Gratitude Prayer (Catherine Pratt)

The Gratitude Challengehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=OHxlXLDMG0Q

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are needed to see this picture.

“In our daily lives we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful but the gratefulness that makes us happy.” Albert Clarke

Further Reading 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(2), 377-389.

McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. (2002). The Grateful Disposition: A Conceptual and Empirical Topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(1), 112-127.

Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Stewart, N., & Joseph, S. (2008). Conceptualizing gratitude and appreciation as a unitary personality trait. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 619-630.

Wood, A. M., Joseph, S. & Maltby, J. (2009). Gratitude predicts psychological well-being above the Big Five facets. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 655-660.

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. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 854-871.

McWilliams, N & Lependorf, S. (1990) Narcissistic pathology of everyday life: The denial of remorse and gratitude. Contemporary Psychology, 26, 430-451.

Are there any questions?

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are needed to see this picture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHxlXLDMG0Q