Why should I be grateful? The morality of gratitude in contexts marked by injustice

Abstract

In philosophical and psychological literature, gratitude has normally been promoted as beneficial to oneself and others and as morally good. Being grateful for what you have is conceived as virtuous, while acts expressing gratefulness to those who have benefited you is often regarded as morally praiseworthy, if not morally expected. However, critical interrogations of the moral status of gratitude should also frame the possible cultivation of gratitude in moral education. This essay focuses on whether gratitude should be regarded as morally ideal, praiseworthy, or expected in contexts marked by social inequity and injustice. It considers competing articulations of gratitude in philosophical and psychological research and how gratitude can be conceived in some cases as praiseworthy and in others as potentially problematic. Finally it considers the implications of a multipronged view of gratitude for teaching for and about gratitude in social justice education.

Nostalgia increases punitiveness by intensifying moral concern

“…The findings enrich the morality literature, as they point to another (besides anger, contempt, disgust, gratitude, shame, guilt, or embarrassment 5 – 7 , 10 , 57 ) discrete emotion, that of nostalgia, as a precursor of moral judgments and punitiveness. The findings also enrich the nostalgia literature, as they demonstrate that nostalgia protects social relationships by endorsing punishment for those who commit moral violations.…”

“…Emotions constitute one such factor. The literature has focused on such discrete emotions as disgust 1 – 6 , anger 4 – 6 , gratitude 7 , 8 , as well as shame, guilt, and embarrassment 9 , 10 . No research, however, has addressed another discrete emotion, nostalgia.…”

A Time for Being Thankful: Balanced Time Perspective and Gratitude

“…Moreover, it denotes a sense of thankfulness and enjoyment in response to obtaining a tangible benefit from another person or to receiving immaterial gifts -for example, in the form of natural beauty, such as awe-inspiring landscape or a work of art (Froh, Miller, & Snyder, 2007;. Being grateful for what one has is regarded as appropriate, and acts of expressing thankfulness to those who have benefited us are usually considered socially desirable (Jackson, 2016).…”

Algılanan Örgütsel Desteğin Bağlamsal Performans Üzerindeki Etkisinde Bireysel Şükranın Aracı Rolü

“…Bu bulguları destekleyen başka bir çalışmada da pozitif duyguların daha fazla işbirlikçi davranışlara sebep olduğu bulunmuştur (Rand vd., 2015). Jackson (2016) ise şükran duymanın ahlaki anlamda iyi olmanın bir göstergesi olduğunu ileri sürmektedir. Bunlara ek olarak Dutton ve Heaphy ( 2003) iş arkadaşları ve yöneticilerine şükran duyan çalışanların çalışma arkadaşlarının görevlerine saygı duyduğu ve önem verdiği, dahası bu kişilerin görevlerini başarmalarına yardımcı oldukları ve çalışanlar arasındaki ilişkileri güçlendirdiğini ileri sürmektedir.…”