Does gratitude always work? Ambivalence over emotional expression inhibits the beneficial effect of gratitude on well‐being

Abstract

The psychological benefit of gratitude has been well demonstrated in previous studies. However, when we examined these studies closely, we found that the moderators were rarely investigated, suggesting that further work is needed to explore the boundaries of gratitude In this regard, the authors have proposed that ambivalence over emotional expression might be a potential moderator that would inhibit the beneficial effect of gratitude on well-being. Two studies were conducted to examine our hypothesis. Study 1 consisted of 353 Taiwanese college students who completed the Gratitude Questionnaire-Taiwan version (GQ-T), Ambivalence over Emotional Expression Questionnaire (AEQ), and one question about subjective happiness. We found that ambivalence over emotional expression significantly moderated the effect of gratitude on happiness. To validate our findings in Study 1, 233 Taiwanese college students were recruited for Study 2, and they completed the GQ-T, AEQ, subjective happiness short-form UCLA loneliness scale, as well as the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Both studies demonstrated that ambivalence over emotional expression moderated the relationship between gratitude and well-being indexes. Simply stated, the authors found that across the two independent samples, among students who are high in ambivalence over emotional expression, the beneficial effect of gratitude on subjective happiness was inhibited. However, the moderating pattern for loneliness and depression was contrary to our expectations, indicating that high ambivalence over emotional expression does not inhibit gratitude. Possible explanations and implications for social relationships and emotional expression are discussed.

Gratitude and Athletes’ Life Satisfaction: A Intra-individual Analysis on the Moderation of Ambivalence over Emotional Expression

“…This incongruent behavior or interpretation will undermine interpersonal interaction and thus may weaken the mechanisms evoked by gratitude that lead to greater well-being. Indeed, Chen et al (2012) found that the impact of gratitude on well-being is weaker among individuals with higher ambivalence over emotional expression than those are low in such characteristic.…”

“…Several studies have supported this idea. For example, Chen, Chen, and Tsai (2012) found that in those college students who possess high ambivalence over emotional expression, the positive relationship between gratitude and happiness was inhibited. This finding indicates that not all individuals can benefit from gratitude to enhance their well-being.…”

“…Below, we first review past findings and reasoning on the role of ambivalence over emotional expression in shaping the link between gratitude and well-being at the between-individual level when individual differences are considered, and we 8 then theorize why the same findings can be observed at the within-individual level when intraindividual differences are considered. At the between-individual level, Chen et al (2012) theorized that ambivalence over emotional expression can weaken the positive effect of trait gratitude on well-being based on two reasons. First, it is presumed that gratitude motivates people to become involved in reciprocal interaction (McCullough et al, 2001).…”

“…However, this uniformity-of-nature assumption limits our ability to examine theoretical mechanisms specific to each level and also limits the possibility of our discovering potentially different psychological mechanisms across levels. As the theoretical reasoning for the role of ambivalence over emotional expression in shaping the link between gratitude and wellbeing provided by Chen et al (2012) is at the within-individual level, it is ideal to test such role of ambivalence over emotional expression in the within-individual context. Second, our investigation also contributes to literature on ambivalence over emotional expression.…”

“…In brief, 4 consistent with Chen et al (2012), we focus on the role of ambivalence over emotional expression in moderating the link between gratitude and well-being. However, in this study, we focus our analysis at the within-individual level, rather than choosing the between-individual level as did Chen et al Specifically, Chen et al indicated that gratitude can not contribute to an individual's happiness for those who have higher difficulties in expressing their emotions.…”