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

Content 1.Introduction 2.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.Conclusion 5.Q & A

Introduction What 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 gratitude Trait gratitude Relationship 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 Scale Measure 8 different aspects of gratitude: Appreciation of people Possessions Present moment Rituals Feeling of awe Social comparisons Existential concerns Behaviour 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 purchases Customers who were thanked and told about a sale showed only a 30% increase in purchases Customers 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 Facts Fun 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),

Gratitude and Happiness Claims 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 study To 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?

Hypothesis Exercises designed to induce a state of gratitude  heightened well-being over time relative to a focus on: hassles downward social comparisons neutral life events Those in the gratitude-focused group will show enhanced psychosocial functioning relative to persons in the other groups.

Method Studies 1 and 2 - undergraduate student participants randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental conditions: gratitude listing hassles 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

Results Analyses 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.

Discussion There 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 research This 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,

Introduction How 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 Research Previous 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).

Method 201 participants (128 female), all undergraduate students. PWB measured with the 18 items scales of PWB Items 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

Results Overall, 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.

Discussion Gratitude 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 Implications Reliance on self-report measures The 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 Challenge

“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), 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), Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Stewart, N., & Joseph, S. (2008). Conceptualizing gratitude and appreciation as a unitary personality trait. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, Wood, A. M., Joseph, S. & Maltby, J. (2009). Gratitude predicts psychological well-being above the Big Five facets. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 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, McWilliams, N & Lependorf, S. (1990) Narcissistic pathology of everyday life: The denial of remorse and gratitude. Contemporary Psychology, 26,

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