Receiving a gift from God in times of trouble: links between gratitude to God, the affective circumplex, and perceived closeness to God

Buchroithner, Manfred F.

doi:10.1080/13674676.2022.2033710

Cited by 19 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…7 Furthermore, Wilt and Exline, compiled responses from 142 undergraduate students in the Great Lakes region of the United States on mental health and gratitude and perceived closeness to God. 10 Participants from this study felt a greater gratitude to God for a benefit following a stressful event, rather than eliminating the stressful event; for instance, attaining a good grade from a stressful tertiary education examination, rather than easing the stress throughout the examination process. 10 In this case, it was highlighted that God would journey alongside an individual during stressful life events, thus enabling the individual to be mentally resilient and trusting God would support them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…10 Participants from this study felt a greater gratitude to God for a benefit following a stressful event, rather than eliminating the stressful event; for instance, attaining a good grade from a stressful tertiary education examination, rather than easing the stress throughout the examination process. 10 In this case, it was highlighted that God would journey alongside an individual during stressful life events, thus enabling the individual to be mentally resilient and trusting God would support them. The study also found that higher levels of gratitude to God strongly correlated with less experiences of depression, increased hope and a greater overall sense of positive wellbeing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Despite either negative or positive life events occurring, study participants maintained that mental wellbeing would not be negatively impacted, as it was believed, that all situations ultimately leads to positive psychological, social and spiritual outcomes, given that God is ubiquitous and purposeful. 10 Naming and perceiving God as a Father was the preference of 13 of the research participants.…”

Section: Personal Images Of Godmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of religious faith on the mental wellbeing of young, multi-ethnic Pacific women in Aotearoa

Lautua

Tiatia‐Seath²

2022

PacHealthDialog

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Aim: By employing a multi-faceted approach in the disciplines of Theology and Pacific Studies; three key areas of investigation were examined and included: how young Pacific women perceived images of God and faith; how it impacted upon their mental resilience and their responses to mundane and significant life events; and their personal constructs of mental wellbeing. Method: Qualitative group interviews (talanoa) were conducted with participants aged between 17-24 years old; identified with multiple ethnicities, with at least one being Pacific; identified as Roman Catholic, with varying degrees of faith practice; and were based in Auckland, Aotearoa. The Praxis Model methodology was employed throughout the research process and speaks to the interdisciplinary nature of the project. The theory of Intersectionality was utilized as the lens to view each research participants’ multi-layered self-identities. Findings: There were a total of 64 research participants. Out of the 64 participants, 82% (n=52), generally agreed that their image of God aided a positive state of mental wellbeing, five women were unsure and six stated, that it was something else in their faith practice which primarily supported their mental wellbeing. Part of the reason women felt their image of God offered hope for their future, derived from their belief in an afterlife beyond physical death, which they felt, reduced anxiety about their family members who had died or experienced sickness and trauma throughout their lives Conclusions: There is a need for more denomination-specific and culturally responsive foci around mental wellbeing, therefore recognising the unique experiences of faith traditions and the challenges faced, particularly, by multi-ethnic young Pacific women. Key words: Mental wellbeing, Pacific, Theology

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Personal Images Of Godmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of religious faith on the mental wellbeing of young, multi-ethnic Pacific women in Aotearoa

Lautua

Tiatia‐Seath²

2022

PacHealthDialog

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“…We predicted that feelings of gratitude, thankfulness, indebtedness, and admiration are likely responses when good fortune is attributed to a personified God-perhaps especially in cases of undeserved grace. Although gratitude toward God is empirically distinct from interpersonal gratitude (e.g., Aghababaei & Tabik, 2013;Emmons & Kneezel, 2005;Krause, 2006;Krause & Hayward, 2015, 2015Nelson et al, 2023;Roberts, 2014;Rosmarin et al, 2011;Wilt & Exline, 2022), many of the precursors of gratitude to God are likely to overlap with the predictors of interpersonal gratitude. For example, found that those with more benevolent views of God reported greater feelings of gratitude to God, in the same way that greater gratitude is felt to more benevolent human benefactors.…”

Section: Mental Representations Of God and Karmamentioning

confidence: 99%

Varieties of Gratitude: Identifying Patterns of Emotional Responses to Positive Experiences Attributed to God, Karma, and Human Benefactors

White¹,

Johnson²,

Mirbozorgi³

2023

Preprint

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Good fortune can be attributed to many sources, including other people, personal efforts, and various theistic and non-theistic supernatural forces (e.g., karma). Three studies (total N = 3,315) of religiously-diverse samples from the U.S. and U.K. investigated the distinct emotional reactions to recalled positive experiences attributed to natural and supernatural benefactors. We found that the hallmarks of interpersonal gratitude (e.g., thankfulness, admiration, indebtedness) were reported when believers attributed their good fortune to a personal, benevolent God. However, a distinct emotional profile arose when participants attributed good fortune to the process of karmic payback, which was associated with relatively less gratitude but with higher scores for feelings of pride and deservingness. These results were partially explained by participants’ attributions of positive experiences to an external agent (e.g., God) versus a universal law or internal factors as in the case of karma. We conclude that diverse beliefs about supernatural entities influence causal attributions for good fortune which, in turn, predict distinct emotional responses.

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“…Many theists view God as a benevolent, personified being (Johnson et al, 2013(Johnson et al, , 2015 who gives abundant gifts to his people (e.g., Matthew 7:11). Religious people regularly report feeling grateful to God, an individual difference that is empirically distinct from general gratitude toward human benefactors (Aghababaei & Tabik, 2013;Emmons & Kneezel, 2005;Krause, 2006;Krause & Hayward, 2015Nelson et al, 2022;Rosmarin et al, 2011;Wilt & Exline, 2022). The representation of God as a benevolent benefactor fits well within the to-for model of interpersonal gratitude: Insofar as many believers view God as a person, these experiences of gratitude to God may have much the same psychological structure as more mundane interpersonal gratitude (Roberts, 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

Unique Cognitive and Emotional Profiles of Interpersonal Gratitude and Spiritual Gratitude

White¹,

Johnson²,

Mirbozorgi³

2022

Preprint

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Gratitude is a prototypical emotional response when life’s blessings come from the intentional goodwill of other people, but many also attribute good experiences to the intervention of God, gods, a Higher Power, or other benevolent spiritual forces. This study investigated the differences between how United States participants (N = 610) experience interpersonal gratitude and spiritual gratitude. Compared to interpersonal gratitude, spiritual gratitude experiences were less often attributed to human action, more often attributed to supernatural beings and circumstances beyond human control, and elicited significantly less feelings of gratitude, indebtedness, and admiration, but greater awe. Participants reported the highest feelings of gratitude when they also believed in a personal God with a benevolent mind. These findings demonstrate the importance of perceiving benevolent agency in evoking feelings of gratitude, whereas experiences that are attributed to more abstract, less personified, or less external entities elicit a different profile of positive emotional responses.

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Receiving a gift from God in times of trouble: links between gratitude to God, the affective circumplex, and perceived closeness to God

Cited by 19 publications

References 40 publications

Impacts of religious faith on the mental wellbeing of young, multi-ethnic Pacific women in Aotearoa

Impacts of religious faith on the mental wellbeing of young, multi-ethnic Pacific women in Aotearoa

Varieties of Gratitude: Identifying Patterns of Emotional Responses to Positive Experiences Attributed to God, Karma, and Human Benefactors

Unique Cognitive and Emotional Profiles of Interpersonal Gratitude and Spiritual Gratitude

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