Exploring the cognitive context of gratitude to God: emotional impact and appraisals of benefits from God

Watkins, Philip C.; Frederick, Michael; Davis, Don E.; Emmons, Robert A.

doi:10.1080/17439760.2023.2230458

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…What is the distinct cognitive context of GTG? Other research has found that spiritual benefit appraisals predict GTG in response to a positive event (P. C. Watkins et al, 2023). In the present study, we found that spiritual benefit appraisals of a negative event also predict GTG.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…Our results suggest that we cannot make this interpretation because while controlling for general gratitude, one is also controlling for GTG. Indeed, when one compares the relationship of GTG to gratitude for a specific benefactor, the relationships are comparable, and GTG is even more strongly related to global happiness than gratitude to a specific human benefactor (P. C. Watkins et al, 2023). Thus, in some research designs investigating GTG, gratitude toward a significant human benefactor may be a better comparison variable than general gratitude.…”

Section: Exploring Relationships With Gtgmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, covarying out general gratitude likely also removes variance associated with GTG, limiting the unique predictive power of GTG. In a recent study, when GTG was compared to gratitude toward a specific human benefactor, the correlations with subjective well-being measures were comparable and GTG was more strongly associated with global happiness than was gratitude to human benefactors (P. C. Watkins et al, 2023). Thus, in GTG research, it is important to have appropriate comparison conditions when investigating the unique aspects of GTG.…”

Section: Gratitude To Godmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Study 1 of P. C. Watkins et al (2023), participants recalled a positive event from their past and then judged various appraisals related to the event. This study used appraisals derived from the emotion appraisal literature and appraisals that have been found to be characteristic of general gratitude.…”

Section: Gratitude To Godmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A few studies have attempted to investigate the appraisal structure of GTG. In Study 1 of P. C. Watkins et al (2023), participants recalled a positive event from their past and then judged various appraisals related to the event.…”

Section: Gratitude To Godmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meaning making enhances gratitude to God: The importance of spiritual appraisals.

Watkins,

Frederick,

Davis

et al. 2024

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

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We sought to investigate whether making meaning from the COVID-19 pandemic might enhance positive spiritual and nonspiritual interpretations of the pandemic and in turn whether these appraisals would enhance gratitude to God. Participants (N = 272) were randomly allocated to one of three writing conditions: control, writing about their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, or writing about finding meaning (i.e., how they have grown, what they learned) from the pandemic. After writing, respondents reported current emotions and pandemic-relevant appraisals, followed by several exploratory measures. A two-way interaction between writing condition and emotion (F[4, 524] = 2.54, p = .04) indicated that both general gratitude and gratitude to God were enhanced in the meaning condition, but gratitude to humans was not. Both spiritual and nonspiritual benefit appraisals were greater in the meaning condition (F[2, 261] = 7.85, p < .001), and spiritual appraisals mediated enhanced gratitude to God. Analyses also indicated that spiritual benefit appraisals were unique to gratitude to God. Furthermore, gratitude to God was uniquely associated with variables related to spiritual well-being such as nearness to God and one's heartfelt experience of a loving God. Making meaning from the pandemic enhanced gratitude to God, and spiritual benefit appraisals uniquely predicted gratitude to God.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Exploring Relationships With Gtgmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gratitude To Godmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gratitude To Godmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gratitude To Godmentioning

confidence: 99%

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