Purpose/Objective: Individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) often experience decreased quality of life (QoL), in part attributable to fatigue, depression (Benedict et al., 2005), and cognitive dysfunction (Cutajar et al., 2000). Beyond these well-established predictors, the positive trait of gratitude—attentiveness to positive features in one’s life—has predicted QoL in the context of other chronic illnesses. However, relatively little research has examined the relevance of gratitude as a contributor to QoL in MS. The purpose of the present study was (a) to test whether trait gratitude would predict QoL in MS, above and beyond known predictors (e.g., perceived and objectively assessed cognitive dysfunction, fatigue, and depression symptoms), and (b) to test whether gratitude would buffer (i.e., moderate) the effects of these predictors on QoL. Research Method/Design: This study employed a cross-sectional, single time-point design. Participants formally diagnosed with MS (N = 128) completed a short battery to assess cognitive function and self-report measures of depression, fatigue, perceived cognitive functioning, gratitude, and QoL. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, gratitude uniquely predicted higher QoL beyond other predictors. In addition, gratitude buffered the effect of objective cognitive performance on QoL as expected, but did not interact with other predictors. Conclusions/Implications: These results suggest the need for further research into gratitude as a potential source of resilience for individuals with MS.
Theorists have posited that people experience behavior metaphorically in "social space" as above versus below others (agency), close versus distant (communion), and morally/spiritually pure or near the heavens versus degrading. Recent research suggests that perceived moral virtue accounts for unique variance in social perceptions, but studies have not examined individuals' state-like experiences of themselves as virtuous or pure independent of agentic or communal states; the types of behavior experienced as pure; and incremental prediction of prosocial tendencies, spirituality, and well-being. Participants completed free response tasks or interviews in Study 1 (174 students, 23 homeless men, and 16 sex-trafficked women), completed cross-sectional surveys (Study 2: N = 533), or recorded daily self-perceptions and outcomes (Study 3a: N = 95 students, 860 diary records; Study 3b: 89 anxious/depressed patients, 429 diary records).In Study 1, students and stigmatized community samples spontaneously associated states of purity and dirtiness with morally valenced social behavior and spiritual practices. In Study 2a/b, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that self-perceptions of virtue represented a unique factor not redundant with agency and communion. Last, perceived virtue explained unique variance in selftranscending prosocial tendencies, spirituality, and well-being in cross-sectional (Study 2c) and daily assessments (Studies 3a/b). These findings attest to perceived states of virtue of the self as a unique social cognitive process with potential relevance to personality, well-being, spirituality, and understanding stigmatized groups commonly perceived as physically and morally unclean.
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