Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Promise of Gratitude

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Spectrum of Gratitude Experience

  • 650 Accesses

Abstract

In order to better understand the dynamic role of gratitude in human functioning, theories of subjective wellbeing, eudaimonic happiness, and psychological wellbeing are contrasted. The measures used to quantify these constructs are presented with the goal of identifying them as distinct constructs. Examples from the current research on gratitude are presented to highlight some of the influence of the cultivation of gratitude on coping, trauma and resilience, aggression and violence, materialism, forgiveness, depression, and spirituality. The major strategies used to cultivate gratitude are presented along with descriptions of some of the practices and interventions used in gratitude research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 24.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Aristotle. 2004. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. F.H. Peters. New York: Barnes and Noble.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthaud-Day, Marne L., Joseph C. Rode, Christine H. Mooney, and Janet P. Near. 2005. The Subjective Well-Being Construct: A Test of Its Convergent, Discriminant, and Factorial Validity. Social Indicators Research 74: 445–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breen, William E., Todd B. Kashdan, Monica L. Lenser, and Frank D. Fincham. 2010. Gratitude and Forgiveness: Convergence and Divergence on Self-Report and Informant Ratings. Personality and Individual Differences 49(8): 932–937.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, Joseph. 2008. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Novato, CA: New World Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carver, Charles S., Michael F. Scheier, and Jagdish Kumari Weintraub. 1989. Assessing Coping Strategies: A Theoretically Based Approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 56(2): 267–283.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Souza, Alvita, and Shanmukh V. Kamble. 2016. Spirituality and Gratitude as Predictors of the Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Patients. The International Journal of Indian Psychology 3(2): 40–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeWall, C. Nathan, Nathaniel M. Lambert, Richard S. Pond Jr., Todd B. Kashdan, and Frank D. Fincham. 2012. A Grateful Heart Is a Nonviolent Heart: Cross-Sectional, Experience Sampling, Longitudinal, and Experimental Evidence. Social Psychological and Personality Science 3(2): 232–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, Ed, Robert A. Emmons, Randy J. Larsen, and Sharon Griffin. 1985. The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment 49: 71–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, Ed, Shigehiro Oishi, and Richard E. Lucas. 2003. Personality, Culture, and Subjective Well-Being: Emotional and Cognitive Evaluations of Life. Annual Review of Psychology 54: 403–425.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, Ed, Eunkook M. Suh, Richard E. Lucas, and Heidi L. Smith. 1999. Subjective Well-Being: Three Decades of Progress. Psychological Bulletin 125(2): 276–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, Robert A. 2008. Gratitude: The Science and Spirit of Thankfulness. In Measuring the Immeasurable: The Scientific Case for Spirituality. Boulder, CO: Sounds True, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, Erik. 1959/1994. Identity and the Life Cycle. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fordyce, Michael W. 1988. A Review of Research on the Happiness Measures: A Sixty Second Index of Happiness and Mental Health. Social Indicators Research 20: 63–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2004. Gratitude, Like Other Positive Emotions, Broadens and Builds. In The Psychology of Gratitude, ed. Robert A. Emmons, and Michael E. McCullough, 145–166. Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, Barbara, and C. Branigan. 2005. Positive Emotions Broaden the Scope of Attention and Thought-Action Repertoires. Cognition & Emotion 19: 313–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Froh, Jeffrey J., Giacomo Bono, Jinyan Fan, Robert A. Emmons, Katherine Henderson, Cheray Harris, Heather Leggio, and Alex M. Wood. 2014. Nice Thinking! An Educational Intervention That Teaches Children To Think Gratefully. School Psychology Review 43(2): 132–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Froh, Jeffrey J., Robert A. Emmons, Noel A. Card, Giacomo Bono, and Jennifer A. Wilson. 2011a. Gratitude and the Reduced Costs of Materialism in Adolescents. Journal of Happiness Studies 12: 289–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geraghty, Adam W.A., Alex M. Wood, and Michael E. Hyland. 2010. Attrition from Self-Directed Interventions: Investigating the Relationship Between Psychology Predictors, Intervention Content, and Dropout from a Body Dissatisfaction Intervention. Social Science and Medicine 71: 30–37.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, Brandon J., Rachel C. Garthe, Everett L. Worthington Jr., Terri N. Sullivan, Ross Larsen, Caroline R. Lavelock, and Don E. Davis. 2015, November. How Positive Processes Function in Negative Relationships: Dispositional Gratitude Moderates the Association between Affective Need and Frequency of Dating Violence Victimization. Journal of Positive Psychology. Online.

    Google Scholar 

  • Held, Barbara S. 2004. The Negative Side of Positive Psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 44(1): 9–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ilbay, Azmi Bayram, and Hakan Sarıçam. 2015. The Predictor Role of Gratitude and Psychological Vulnerability on Forgiveness. International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology 4(4): 61–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jun, Won-Hee, Eun-Seon Lee, and Kee-Lyong Lee. 2015. Relationships among Gratitude, Depression, and Psychological Well-Being in Clinical Nurses. The Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 24(2): 136–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jung, C.G. 1933. Modern Man in Search of a Soul. Trans. W.S. Dell and C.F. Baynes. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kashdan, Todd B., and William E. Breen. 2007. Materialism and Diminished Wellbeing: Experiential Avoidance as a Mediating Mechanism. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 26(5): 521–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khanna, Pulkit, and Kamlesh Singh. 2016. Effect of Gratitude Educational Intervention on Well-Being Indicators among North Indian Adolescents. Contemporary School Psychologist.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambert, Nathaniel M., Frank D. Fincham, Scott R. Braithwaite, Steven M. Graham, and Steven R.H. Beach. 2009a. Can Prayer Increase Gratitude? Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 1(3): 139–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambert, Nathaniel M., Frank D. Fincham, Tyler F. Stillman, and Lukas R. Dean. 2009b. More Gratitude, Less Materialism: The Mediating Role of Life Satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology 4(1): 32–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lau, Bobo Hi-Po, and Cecilia Cheng. 2015. Gratitude and Coping among Familial Caregivers of Persons with Dementia. Aging and Mental Health http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1114588.

  • Lin, Chih-Che. 2014. A Higher-Order Gratitude Uniquely Predicts Subjective Well-Being: Incremental Validity above the Personality and a Single Gratitude. Social Indicators Research 119: 909–924.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2015a. Gratitude and Depression in Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem and Well-Being. Personality and Individual Differences 87: 30–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2015b. The Relationships among Gratitude, Self-Esteem, Depression, and Suicidal Ideation among Undergraduate Students. Scandanavian Journal of Psychology 56(6): 700–707.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linley, P. Alex, John Maltby, Alex M. Wood, Gabrielle Osborne, and Robert Hurling. 2009b. Measuring Happiness: The Higher Order Factor Structure of Subjective and Psychological Well-Being Measures. Personality and Individual Differences 47: 878–884.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorr, M., and R.A. Wunderlich. 1988. A Semantic Differential Mood Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology 44(1): 33–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, Sonja. 2008. The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want. New York: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, Sonja, and H.S. Lepper. 1999. A Measure of Subjective Happiness: Preliminary Reliability and Construct Validation. Social Indicators Research 46: 137–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malkki, Kaisu, and Larry Green. 2014. Navigational Aids: The Phenomenology of Transformative Learning. Journal of Transformative Education 12(1): 5–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mary, E. Manchula, and Swati Patra. 2015. Relationship between Forgiveness, Gratitude and Resilience among the Adolescents. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology 6(1): 63–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maslow, Abraham. 1968. Toward a Psychology of Being. 2nd ed. New York: Van Nostrand.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCullough, Michael E., Robert E. Emmons, and Jo-Ann Tsang. 2002. The Grateful Disposition: A Conceptual and Empirical Topography. The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 82(1): 112–127.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mezirow, Jack. 2003. Transformative Learning as Discourse. Journal of Transformative Education 1(1): 58–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills, Paul J., Laura Redwine, Kathleen Wilson, Meredith A. Pung, Kelly Chinh, Barry H. Greenberg, Ottar Lunde, et al. 2015. The Role of Gratitude in Spiritual Well-Being in Asymptomatic Heart Failure Patients. Spirituality in Clinical Practice 2(1): 5–17.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Norrish, Jacolyn M., and Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick. 2008. Is the Study of Happiness a Worthy Scientific Pursuit? Social Indicators Research 87: 393–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, Nansook, Christopher Peterson, and Martin E.P. Seligman. 2004. Strengths of Character and Well-Being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 23(5): 603–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1950/2001. The Psychology of Intelligence. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polak, Emily L., and Michael E. McCullough. 2006. Is Gratitude an Alternative to Materialism? Journal of Happiness Studies 7: 343–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Puente-Díaz, Rogelio, and Gustavo Meixueiro. 2016. An Exploration of the Relationships between Gratitude, Life Satisfaction, and Importance of Helping Others among a Representative Sample of the Adult Population of Mexico. Cogent Psychology 3: 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qin, Yuhui, Shishuo Qu, Jianyuan Yan, and Xiang Wan. 2015. The Role of Life Satisfaction and Coping Style in the Relationship between Gratitude and School Belonging. Paper presented at the International Conference on Economy, Management and Education Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, James A., Jo-Ann Tsang, and Chris Manolis. 2015. Looking for Happiness in All the Wrong Places: The Moderating Role of Gratitude and Affect in the Materialism–Life Satisfaction Relationship. The Journal of Positive Psychology 10(6): 489–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, Carl. 1961. On Becoming a Person: A Therapist’s View of Psychotherapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, Carol D. 1989. Happiness Is Everything, or Is It? Explorations on the Meaning of Psychological Well-Being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 57(6): 1069–1081.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, Martin E. 2002. Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. New York: Atria.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2011. Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, Martin E.P., Tracy A. Steen, Nansook Park, and Christopher Peterson. 2005. Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions. American Psychologist 60(5): 410–421.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sin, Nancy L., and Sonja Lyubomirsky. 2009. Enhancing Well-Being and Alleviating Depressive Symptoms with Positive Psychology Interventions: A Practice-Friendly Meta-Analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session 65(5): 467–487.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tedeschi, Richard G., and Lawrence G. Calhoun. 2004. Posttraumatic Growth: Conceptual Foundations and Empirical Evidence. Psychological Inquiry 15: 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tian, Lili, Du Minmin, and E. Scott Huebner. 2015. The Effect of Gratitude on Elementary School Students’ Subjective Well-Being in Schools: The Mediating Role of Prosocial Behavior. Social Indicators Research 122: 887–904.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, Philip C., Michael Van Gelder, and Araceli Frias. 2009. Furthering the Science of Gratitude. In The Handbook of Positive Psychology, ed. C.R. Snyder, and Shane Lopez, 437–446. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, Phillip, Kathrane Woodward, Tamara Stone, and Russell Kolts. 2003. Gratitude and Happiness: Development of a Measure of Gratitude, and Relationships with Subjective Well-Being. Social Behavior and Personality 31(5): 431–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, David, Lee Anna Clark, and Auke Tellegen. 1988. Development and Validation of Brief Measures of Positive and Negative Affect: The PANAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54(6): 1063–1070.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, Alex M., Jeffrey J. Froh, and Adam W.A. Geraghty. 2010. Gratitude and Well-Being: A Review and Theoretical Integration. Clinical Psychology Review 30(7): 890–905.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, Alex M., and Stephen Joseph. 2010. The Absence of Positive Psychological (Eudemonic) Well-Being as a Risk Factor for Depression: A Ten Year Cohort Study. Journal of Affective Disorders 122(3): 213–217.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, Alex, Stephen Joseph, and P. Alex Linley. 2007. Coping Style as a Psychological Resource of Grateful People. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 26(9): 1076–1093.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, Mark, and Tracy Hutchinson. 2012. The Rediscovery of Gratitude: Implications for Counseling Practice. Journal of Humanistic Counseling 51: 99–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sophia University, Palo Alto, USA

    John Elfers

  2. University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, USA

    Patty Hlava

Authors
  1. John Elfers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patty Hlava
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Elfers, J., Hlava, P. (2016). The Promise of Gratitude. In: The Spectrum of Gratitude Experience. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41030-2_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation