1
|
Yu H, Zhou Y, Nussberger AM. Gratitude Is Morally Sensitive. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2024; 50:406-422. [PMID: 35532002 PMCID: PMC10878006 DOI: 10.1177/01461672221092273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
Helping acts, however well intended and beneficial, sometimes involve immoral means or immoral helpers. Here, we explore whether help recipients consider moral evaluations in their appraisals of gratitude, a possibility that has been neglected by existing accounts of gratitude. Participants felt less grateful and more uneasy when offered immoral help (Study 1, N = 150), and when offered morally neutral help by an immoral helper (Study 2, N = 172). In response to immoral help or helpers, participants were less likely to accept the help and less willing to strengthen their relationship with the helper even when they accepted it. Study 3 (N = 276) showed that recipients who felt grateful when offered immoral help were perceived as less likable, less moral, and less suitable as close relationship partners than those who felt uneasy by observers. Our results demonstrate that gratitude is morally sensitive and suggest this might be socially adaptive.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hongbo Yu
- University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
| | - Yubo Zhou
- University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Anne-Marie Nussberger
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Algoe SB, Chandler KR. Experienced gratitude is a catalyst for upward spirals of perceived partner responsiveness. Curr Opin Psychol 2024; 55:101764. [PMID: 38096781 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Revised: 11/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
Considering the role of responsiveness in interpersonal processes has opened new frontiers for the science of gratitude. This article focuses on how responsive behavior feeds into experiences of gratitude, and how the emotion of gratitude provides fuel to catalyze perceptions of the grateful person's responsiveness, not only to the kind benefactor but also to incidental witnesses. We discuss the implications of a likely growth cycle of mutual responsiveness for dyads and groups. Then we turn to critical next steps for theory and application regarding gratitude, based on understanding of responsiveness in relationships.
Collapse
|
3
|
Delton AW, Jaeggi AV, Lim J, Sznycer D, Gurven M, Robertson TE, Sugiyama LS, Cosmides L, Tooby J. Cognitive foundations for helping and harming others: Making welfare tradeoffs in industrialized and small-scale societies. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2023.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
|
4
|
|
5
|
Forster DE, Pedersen EJ, McCullough ME, Lieberman D. Evaluating Benefits, Costs, and Social Value as Predictors of Gratitude. Psychol Sci 2022; 33:538-549. [PMID: 35286815 DOI: 10.1177/09567976211031215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Although much is known about cooperation, the internal decision rules that regulate motivations to initiate and maintain cooperative relationships have not been thoroughly explored. Here, we focus on how acts of benefit delivery and perceptions of social value inform gratitude, an emotion that promotes cooperation. We evaluated alternate information-processing models to determine which inputs and internal representations best account for the intensity with which people report experiencing gratitude. Across two experiments (Ns = 257 and 208), we tested 10 models that consider multiple variables: the magnitude of benefits conferred on beneficiaries, the magnitude of costs incurred by benefactors, beneficiaries' perception of how much benefactors value their welfare, and beneficiaries' value for the welfare of their benefactors. Across both studies, only beneficiaries' change in social valuation for their benefactors consistently predicted gratitude. Results point to the need for further research and contribute to the growing literature linking cooperation, social emotions, and social valuation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E Forster
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami.,U.S. Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, Maryland
| | - Eric J Pedersen
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
6
|
Tsang J, Schnitker SA, Emmons RA, Hill PC. Feeling the intangible: antecedents of gratitude toward intangible benefactors. THE JOURNAL OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2021.1952480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- JoAnn Tsang
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University Waco United States
| | - Sarah A. Schnitker
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University Waco United States
| | - Robert A. Emmons
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States
| | - Peter C. Hill
- Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University La Mirada United States
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Sznycer D, Sell A, Lieberman D. Forms and Functions of the Social Emotions. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1177/09637214211007451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In engineering, form follows function. It is therefore difficult to understand an engineered object if one does not examine it in light of its function. Just as understanding the structure of a lock requires understanding the desire to secure valuables, understanding structures engineered by natural selection, including emotion systems, requires hypotheses about adaptive function. Social emotions reliably solved adaptive problems of human sociality. A central function of these emotions appears to be the recalibration of social evaluations in the minds of self and others. For example, the anger system functions to incentivize another individual to value your welfare more highly when you deem the current valuation insufficient; gratitude functions to consolidate a cooperative relationship with another individual when there are indications that the other values your welfare; shame functions to minimize the spread of discrediting information about yourself and the threat of being devalued by others; and pride functions to capitalize on opportunities to become more highly valued by others. Using the lens of social valuation, researchers are now mapping these and other social emotions at a rapid pace, finding striking regularities across industrial and small-scale societies and throughout history.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Aaron Sell
- Department of Psychology, Heidelberg University
- Department of Criminology, Heidelberg University
| | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Peperkoorn LS, Becker DV, Balliet D, Columbus S, Molho C, Van Lange PAM. The prevalence of dyads in social life. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0244188. [PMID: 33370332 PMCID: PMC7769262 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A salient objective feature of the social environment in which people find themselves is group size. Knowledge of group size is highly relevant to behavioural scientists given that humans spend considerable time in social settings and the number of others influences much of human behaviour. What size of group do people actually look for and encounter in everyday life? Here we report four survey studies and one experience-sampling study (total N = 4,398) which provide evidence for the predominance of the dyad in daily life. Relative to larger group sizes, dyads are most common across a wide range of activities (e.g., conversations, projects, holidays, movies, sports, bars) obtained from three time moments (past activities, present, and future activities), sampling both mixed-sex and same-sex groups, with three different methodological approaches (retrospective reports, real-time data capture, and preference measures) in the United States and the Netherlands. We offer four mechanisms that may help explain this finding: reciprocity, coordination, social exclusion, and reproduction. The present findings advance our understanding of how individuals organize themselves in everyday life.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Leonard S. Peperkoorn
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - D. Vaughn Becker
- Human Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Mesa, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Daniel Balliet
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Simon Columbus
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Catherine Molho
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Paul A. M. Van Lange
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Yamamoto A, Higuchi M. Expectation Regarding Benefit Does Not Determine Gratitude: Implications From an Anchoring Paradigm. JAPANESE PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/jpr.12317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
|
10
|
Szcześniak M, Rodzeń W, Malinowska A, Kroplewski Z. Big Five Personality Traits and Gratitude: The Role of Emotional Intelligence. Psychol Res Behav Manag 2020; 13:977-988. [PMID: 33204190 PMCID: PMC7667173 DOI: 10.2147/prbm.s268643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Among many possible variables that can be associated with gratitude, researchers list personality traits. Considering that these relationships are not always consistent, the first purpose of the present study was to verify how the Big Five factors connect to dispositional gratitude in a sample of Polish participants. The second purpose was to assess the unique contribution of personality traits on gratitude with multiple regression analyses. Moreover, because much remains to be learned about whether these associations are indirectly influenced by different personal or social variables, the third goal was to explore the role of emotional intelligence as a potential mediational mechanism implicated in the relationship between personality traits and gratitude. Participants Methods and Data Collection The sample consisted of 712 Polish respondents who were aged between 17 and 88. Most of them were women (64.3%). They answered questionnaires concerning their personality traits, emotional intelligence, and gratitude. The research was conducted using the paper-and-pencil method through convenience sampling. Results The results showed that both gratitude and emotional intelligence correlated positively and significantly with extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Gratitude and emotional intelligence correlated negatively and significantly with neuroticism. The personality predictor of gratitude with the highest and positive standardized regression value was agreeableness, followed by openness to experience and extraversion. Neuroticism had a negative impact on gratitude. Conscientiousness was the only statistically insignificant predictor in the tested multiple regression model. Moreover, emotional intelligence mediated the relationship between four dimensions of personality (extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and gratitude and acted as a suppressor between neuroticism and gratitude. Conclusion The current study broadens our comprehension of the interaction among personality traits, emotional intelligence, and a grateful disposition. Moreover, it imparts a noteworthy foundation not only for the mediatory role of emotional intelligence between four dimensions of personality and gratitude but also for its suppressor effect between neuroticism and being grateful.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Wojciech Rodzeń
- Institute of Psychology, University of Szczecin, Szczecin 71-017, Poland
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
11
|
Zhu R, Xu Z, Tang H, Wang H, Zhang S, Zhang Z, Mai X, Liu C. The dark side of gratitude: Gratitude could lead to moral violation. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2020.104048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
|
12
|
García-Vázquez FI, Valdés-Cuervo AA, Martínez-Ferrer B, Parra-Pérez LG. Forgiveness, Gratitude, Happiness, and Prosocial Bystander Behavior in Bullying. Front Psychol 2020; 10:2827. [PMID: 31969844 PMCID: PMC6960178 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 11/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The relationships among character strengths (forgiveness and gratitude), happiness, and prosocial bystander behavior in bullying were analyzed. The sample includes 500 (early adolescents) and 500 (middle adolescents) of both genders, between 12 and 18 years old (M age = 14.70, SD = 1.58). Two structural equation models were calculated. Results of the first model indicated that forgiveness, gratitude, and happiness had a direct positive relation with prosocial bystander behavior. Furthermore, human strengths were indirectly related to prosocial behavior in bullying for this effect in happiness. The second model showed that prosocial bystander behavior had a positive effect on human strengths and happiness. Multigroup analyses indicated that gender and stage of adolescence did not moderate the relations found in the model. Overall findings suggest a reciprocal relationship between character strengths, happiness, and prosocial bystander behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Belén Martínez-Ferrer
- Department of Education and Social Psychology, Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain
| | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Sparks AM, Fessler DMT, Holbrook C. Elevation, an emotion for prosocial contagion, is experienced more strongly by those with greater expectations of the cooperativeness of others. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0226071. [PMID: 31800639 PMCID: PMC6892489 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A unique emotion, elevation, is thought to underlie prosocial contagion, a process whereby witnessing a prosocial act leads to acting prosocially. Individuals differ in their propensity to experience elevation, and thus their proneness to prosocial contagion, but little is known about the causes of such variation. We introduce an adaptationist model wherein elevation marks immediate circumstances in which generalized prosociality is advantageous, with this evaluation of circumstances hinging in part on prior expectations of others' prosociality. In 15 studies, we add to evidence that elevation can reliably be elicited and mediates prosocial contagion. Importantly, we confirm a novel prediction-generated by our adaptationist account-that an idealistic attitude, which indexes others' expected degree of prosociality, moderates the relationship between exposure to prosocial cues and experiencing elevation. We discuss how our findings inform both basic theorizing in the affective sciences and translational efforts to engineer a more harmonious world, and we offer future research directions to further test and extend our model.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Maxwell Sparks
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Daniel M. T. Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Bedari Kindness Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Colin Holbrook
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, California, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Hall J, Kahn DT. Exposure to Wartime Trauma Decreases Positive Emotions and Altruism Toward Rival Out-Groups (But Not Nonrival Out-Groups): A Survey Experiment in a Field Setting Among Syrian Refugees. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PERSONALITY SCIENCE 2019. [DOI: 10.1177/1948550619876631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
A survey experiment, carried out in a field setting among Sunni Arab Syrian refugees ( N = 2,479), examined the effect of exposure to wartime trauma, ethnoreligious group affiliation, and degree of hostility of intergroup relations on altruism and positive emotional regard. The results showed that in-group targets were met with more positive emotional regard and altruism than relatively neutral out-group targets, which in turn were met with more positive emotional regard and altruism than individuals from a hostile out-group. These tendencies were elevated among participants with a high degree of exposure to wartime trauma. Emotions mediated the effect of ethnoreligious group affiliation on altruism, and this mediating effect was moderated by exposure to wartime trauma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Hall
- Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, Sweden
| | - Dennis T. Kahn
- Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel
- Department of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Leong JLT, Chen SX, Fung HHL, Bond MH, Siu NYF, Zhu JY. Is Gratitude Always Beneficial to Interpersonal Relationships? The Interplay of Grateful Disposition, Grateful Mood, and Grateful Expression Among Married Couples. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2019; 46:64-78. [PMID: 31046594 DOI: 10.1177/0146167219842868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
A growing body of research has documented positive outcomes of gratitude in personal and interpersonal domains. To uncover the dynamic process of gratitude and relational well-being, we examined the interplay of grateful disposition, grateful mood, and grateful expression in ongoing close relationships. Hong Kong Chinese couples (n = 100) participated in a three-wave study across three consecutive weeks. Adopting the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, we found that at Time 1, grateful disposition not only predicted one's own grateful mood but also the perceived grateful mood of one's spouse, both of which predicted marital satisfaction. At Time 2, the couples were randomly assigned to two conditions over 2 weeks: having one spouse keeping a private gratitude journal or overtly expressing gratitude to the other. Couples' grateful mood increased at Time 3, indicating the effectiveness of both interventions. However, the resulting changes in marital satisfaction differed for the beneficiaries (enactors) and benefactors (targets), such that husbands who perceived their wife's expressed gratitude as less sincere declined in their marital satisfaction. The results reveal the boundary conditions in evaluating expressions of gratitude and improvement of relationships and provide implications for social exchange and couple therapy.
Collapse
|
16
|
Robertson TE, Sznycer D, Delton AW, Tooby J, Cosmides L. The true trigger of shame: social devaluation is sufficient, wrongdoing is unnecessary. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
|
17
|
Smith A, Pedersen EJ, Forster DE, McCullough ME, Lieberman D. Cooperation: The roles of interpersonal value and gratitude. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
|