The perks of being grateful to partners: Expressing gratitude in relationships predicts relational self‐efficacy and life satisfaction during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Being grateful to one's partner matters for a diverse range of interpersonal and individual well‐being outcomes. However, there is little investigation on the psychological benefits of expressing gratitude to partners during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. Using a short‐term longitudinal design, this study of undergraduate students (Mage = 20.31; SDage = 1.81; n = 268) in the United States explores the link between expressing gratitude in romantic relationships, subsequent relationship self‐efficacy, life satisfaction, psychological well‐being, and the COVID‐19 anxiety. Results demonstrated that expressing gratitude in relationships positively predicted subsequent relationship self‐efficacy and life satisfaction even after controlling for age, gender, ethnic background, trait gratitude, and auto‐regressor effects. These findings show that relational gratitude had incremental validity in predicting relational self‐efficacy and subjective well‐being above and beyond the effects of demographic factors and dispositional gratitude. This research emphasizes the psychological payoffs of cultivating gratitude in relational contexts.