The proximal experience of gratitude

Abstract

Although a great deal of research has tested the longitudinal effects of regularly practicing gratitude, much less attention has been paid to the emotional landscape directly following engagement in gratitude exercises. In three studies, we explored the array of discrete emotions people experience after being prompted to express or recall gratitude. In Studies 1 and 2, two different gratitude exercises produced not only greater feelings of gratitude relative to two positive emotion control conditions (i.e., recalling relief), but also higher levels of other socially relevant states like elevation, connectedness, and indebtedness. In a third study, conducted in both the U.S. and S. Korea, we compared a gratitude exercise to another positive emotion elicitation (i.e., recalling a kind act) and to a neutral task, and again found that the gratitude exercise prompted greater gratitude, elevation, indebtedness, and guilt, but no more embarrassment or shame, than the two comparison conditions. Additionally, in all three studies, emodiversity and cluster analyses revealed that gratitude exercises led to the simultaneous experience of both pleasant and unpleasant socially-relevant states. In sum, although it may seem obvious that gratitude exercises would evoke grateful, positive states, a meta-analysis of our three studies revealed that gratitude exercises actually elicit a mixed emotional experience—one that simultaneously leads individuals to feel uplifted and indebted.

The proximal experience of awe

“…Our findings suggest that awe experiences (including experimental inductions of awe) are not only awe-inspiring, but that they may also give rise to a range of positive states, including several discrete self-transcendent emotions and positive emotions in general, as well as self-relevant thoughts and connectedness to others. Much like Layous and colleagues [39] found that gratitude is not the only or strongest outcome of a gratitude induction, we found that awe is not the only or strongest outcome of an awe induction. Indeed, in both of our studies, we found that compassion was the strongest emotion elicited in response to our manipulation, and compassion was elicited more strongly than awe in our second study.…”

It does matter who we are grateful to: A latent profile analysis

“…According to Kashdan et al (2009), gratitude is a simple construct for people to grasp; thus, it can be measured successfully with one or two items. This assumption has been also confirmed by the results of studies on gratitude in which very short measures were used instead of multiple-item scales (Graham 1988;Jans-Beken et al 2018;Layous et al 2017;Visserman et al 2018). Taking into consideration these premises and the fact that in this study the respondents were asked about levels of gratitude toward specific, well-defined persons from their lives, measurement using single items was found to be adequate and sufficient.…”

Good for self or good for others? The well-being benefits of kindness in two cultures depend on how the kindness is framed

“…Positive activity interventions experimentally test the practice of simple, self-administered cognitive and behavioral strategies that can increase subjective well-being by promoting positive feelings, positive thoughts, and positive behaviors . For example, activities such as counting one's blessings (Chancellor, Layous, & Lyubomirsky, 2015;Emmons & McCullough, 2003;Froh, Sefick, & Emmons, 2008;Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005), writing letters of gratitude Layous, Lee, Choi, & Lyubomirsky, 2013;Layous et al, 2017;Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Boehm, & Sheldon, 2011;Seligman et al, 2005), and performing acts of kindness (Chancellor, Margolis, Jacobs Bao, & Lyubomirsky, 2018;Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008;Layous et al, 2013;Nelson et al, 2015;Nelson, Layous, Cole, & Lyubomirsky, 2016;Sheldon, Boehm, & Lyubomirsky, 2012) have been shown to reliably boost well-being. If administered optimally, positive activity interventions can also build positive psychological resources such as social connections and meaning in life, as well as ameliorate existing maladaptive symptoms such as anxiety and rumination (Layous, Chancellor, & Lyubomirsky, 2014;Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, 2006;Seligman et al, 2005;Shin & Lyubomirsky, 2016;Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009;Taylor, Lyubomirsky, & Stein, 2017).…”