Gratitude and Meaning in Life

Abstract

This chapter distinguishes two attitudes often referred to as ‘gratitude’—prepositional gratitude and appreciation—and it explores the ways that each of these attitudes influences meaning in life. It argues that prepositional gratitude, the fitting response to benevolence, enhances meaning in life by bolstering one’s sense of self-worth, motivating altruistic behaviour, fostering deep social relationships, and integrating individuals into communities. But it can also leave individuals burdened with commitments, in the form of debts of gratitude; and if one owes gratitude but fails to respond appropriately or fails to balance gratitude against other virtues, one risks the sort of immoral behaviour that could undermine meaningfulness in a life. Appreciation, like prepositional gratitude, can bring meaning to life in several ways. It can motivate meaningful projects, for instance, and connect individuals to value. But appreciating the wrong things, or appreciating the right things too little or too much, can undermine meaning in life as well.

Assessing the role of materialism and gratitude in life satisfaction through IPMA: the mediating role of meaningfulness in life

“…Moreover, later on, few studies found a positive relationship between gratitude and meaningfulness in life (Disabato et al , 2016; Oriol et al , 2020). Manela (2022) affirmed that prepositional gratitude can enhance meaningfulness in life in various ways. For e.g.…”

“…For e.g. someone is showing benevolence towards us, this experience boosts our self-esteem and self-respect, though in case the benefactor may reveal that they trust us to help them in the same way when needed (Manela, 2022). However, the beneficiary will feel gratitude and be inspired to help the benefactor in the future.…”

Reciprocity, Inequality, and Unsuccessful Rescues

“…It is enough to know that reciprocal duties are incurred in response to what I call morally outstanding beneficial acts. 28 Berger (1975), Manela (2015, 2019), and McConnell (1993: ch. 1, 2017.…”

“…paying one's employees a minimal wage) do not call for gratitude, I prefer "morally outstanding" or "morally exceptional". 25 Manela (2019). 26 See, for instance, Berger (1975), Camenisch (1981), Manela (2015), and Simmons (1979: 163-83).…”

Can there be overly meaningful lives? Conflicts between meaning in life and other values

“…We also want them to be, among other things, autonomous, authentic, interesting, happy, and moral, and to include love, knowledge, friendship, aesthetic experiences, and many other positive values. Several philosophical works have already focused on the relations between objective and/or subjective (henceforth just “objective or subjective”) meaning and a specific value such as morality ( Thomas, 2005 ), happiness ( Metz, 2009 ), creativity ( Matheson, 2016 ), love ( Kronqvist, 2017 ), wonder ( Schinkel, 2019 ), forgiveness ( Allais, 2022 ), or gratitude ( Manela, 2022 ). Likewise, several psychological works have already focused on the relation between (mostly subjective) meaning and a specific value such as happiness (subjective wellbeing) ( Baumeister et al, 2013 ), creativity ( Kaufman, 2018 ), optimism ( Yu and Chang, 2019 ), gratitude ( Kleiman et al, 2013 ), self-compassion ( Suh and Chong, 2022 ), empathy ( Komisar and McFarland, 2017 ), or authenticity ( Lutz et al, 2022 ).…”