The Development of Gratitude in Guatemalan Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Expressing gratitude is central to the lives of Guatemalan youth. Despite limited empirical evidence on gratitude in Guatemala, anecdotal reports and cultural values point to its importance, providing a rich cultural context to continue Baumgarten-Tramer's work. We have situated the current sample of 104 Guatemalan youth (M = 10.85, SD = 2.28, 53.8% girls) as autonomous and related using Kağıtçıbaşı's framework, given their relatively advantaged socioeconomic status and the cultural importance of family. Participants' responses to the Wishes and Gratitude Scale and the Imaginary Windfall resource distribution activity revealed that older children were more likely than younger children to express connective gratitude. Regardless of age, expressions of verbal gratitude were frequent, while concrete gratitude was extremely rare. Older participants were more likely to spend their hypothetical resources saving for the future; younger children's resources were often allocated to buying gifts for others. These findings reflect both participants' cultural and developmental contexts.

The Development of Gratitude in South Korean Youth

“…Due to its population being vastly understudied in the field, South Korea represents a unique context in which to examine gratitude development. However, similar to work done in other countries, such as China and Guatemala (see Kiang, 2018, andGibbons, 2018), this population also allows us to understand gratitude through a lens characterized by the intertwining of independent and interdependent values. Traditionally, Korean culture has emphasized Confucian values around prioritizing the group's goals and responsibilities of the family over those of the individual (Hyun, 2001).…”

Children’s and Adolescents’ Gratitude Expression and its Association with their Greatest Wishes across Ethnic Groups in the United States

“…For example, in the case of 7-to 14-year-old Brazilians, younger children were more likely to express concrete gratitude than were older youth (Merçon-Vargas et al 2016;Palhares et al 2018). Also, for same aged Guatemalan and Chinese children and adolescents, younger participants were less likely to express connective gratitude than were older ones (Liang and Kiang 2018;Poelker and Gibbons 2018;Wang et al 2015). In the present study, we hypothesize similar trends across ethnic groups (no interaction is expected), in which older children and adolescents will be more likely to express connective and less likely to express concrete gratitude than will younger children.…”

“…Considering both the cross-cultural studies' findings suggesting that cultures placing a greater emphasis on relatedness may foster the expression of connective gratitude and the findings that ethnic and immigrant sociocultural groups in the United States are more likely to value connectedness with others, we can expect differences in gratitude expression of children and adolescents from different ethnic backgrounds in the U. S. Based on that, we hypothesize that participants from underrepresented ethnic groups in the United States, such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Brazilian immigrants, will be more likely to express connective rather than concrete gratitude than will European American children and adolescents. Also, we expect that Hispanic and Brazilian immigrant participants will be more likely to express verbal gratitude than will European and African Americans (see for example, Mendonça et al 2018;Palhares et al 2018;Poelker and Gibbons 2018).…”

The Relation of Perspective-Taking to Gratitude and Envy Among Guatemalan Adolescents

“…These ideas are supported by anecdotal evidence in Guatemala, such that almost all conversations include some reference to gratitude either to God, a friend, or a family or community member (Poelker et al, 2017). Compared with youth from six other cultures, Guatemalan children and adolescents were more likely to express gratitude verbally (Mendonça, Merçon-Vargas, Payir, & Tudge, 2018; Poelker & Gibbons, 2017).…”