Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gratitude Reduces Regret: The Mediating Role of Temporal Focus

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Happiness Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although gratitude has received increasing attention from positive psychology researchers in recent years, few studies have examined the benefits of gratitude in decision making. In the present research we explored the effect of gratitude on regret, a decision-making-specific negative emotion. Across five studies (N = 738), the results revealed that gratitude reduced regret in decision-making, and past-focus was the underlying mechanism. The results of Studies 1, 2 and 3 consistently showed that gratitude reduced regret in decision-making. Studies 4 and 5 provided a potential explanation, demonstrating that temporal focus was the mechanism underlying the effect of gratitude on regret. These results indicate the benefits of gratitude in decision-making, suggesting a need to investigate why gratitude enhances well-being.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in data at https://osf.io/jbdvp/.

References

  • Algoe, S. B. (2012). Find, remind, and bind: The functions of gratitude in everyday relationships. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6, 455–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C. J. (2003). The psychology of doing nothing: Forms of decision avoidance result from reason and emotion. Psychological Bulletin, 129(1), 139–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armenta, C. N., Fritz, M. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2017). Functions of positive emotions: Gratitude as a motivator of self-improvement and positive change. Emotion Review, 9(3), 183–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boggio, P. S., Giglio, A. C. A., Nakao, C. K., Wingenbach, T. S. H., Marques, L. M., Koller, S., & Gruber, J. (2020). Writing about gratitude increases emotion-regulation efficacy. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(6), 783–794.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bracha, A., & Brown, D. J. (2012). Affective decision making: A theory of optimism bias. Games and Economic Behavior, 75(1), 67–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, L. H., & Kee, Y. H. (2008). Gratitude and adolescent athletes’ well-being. Social Indicators Research, 89(2), 361–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeSteno, D., Li, Y., Dickens, L., & Lerner, J. S. (2014). Gratitude: A tool for reducing economic impatience. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1262–1267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickens, L., & DeSteno, D. (2016). The grateful are patient: Heightened daily gratitude is associated with attenuated temporal discounting. Emotion, 16(4), 421–425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, R. A., & Mishra, A. (2011). Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know and what we need to know. In K. M. Emmons, T. B. Kashdan, & M. F. Steger (Eds.), Designing positive psychology. Taking stock and moving forward (pp. 248–262). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Froh, J. J., Sefick, W. J., & Emmons, R. A. (2008). Counting blessings in early adolescents: An experimental study of gratitude and subjective well-being. Journal of School Psychology, 46(2), 213–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hafenbrack, A. C., Kinias, Z., & Barsade, S. G. (2014). Debiasing the mind through meditation: Mindfulness and the sunk-cost bias. Psychological Science, 25(2), 369–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassan, L. M., Shiu, E., & McGowan, M. (2019). Relieving the regret for maximizers: The role of construal level across comparable and non-comparable choice sets. European Journal of Marketing, 54(2), 282–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isenberg, C. (2007). An examination of regret as expressed in the life reflections of older adults: Predictors of regret intensity and frequency, and association with well-being. Concordia University.

  • Jans-Beken, L., Jacobs, N., Janssens, M., Peeters, S., Reijnders, J., Lechner, L., & Lataster, J. (2019). Gratitude and health: An updated review. The Journal of Positive Psychology., 15(6), 743–782.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jans-Beken, L., Lataster, J., Peels, D., Lechner, L., & Jacobs, N. (2018). Gratitude, psychopathology and subjective well-being: Results from a 7.5-month prospective general population study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(6), 1673–1689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemp, E., Min, K. S., & Joint, E. (2015). Selling hope: The role of affect-laden health care advertising in consumer decision making. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 23(4), 434–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr, S. L., O’Donovan, A., & Pepping, C. A. (2015). Can gratitude and kindness interventions enhance well-being in a clinical sample? Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(1), 17–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kong, F., Ding, K., & Zhao, J. (2015). The relationships among gratitude, self-esteem, social support and life satisfaction among undergraduate students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(2), 477–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kong, F., Yang, K., Yan, W., & Li, X. (2021). How does trait gratitude relate to subjective well-being in Chinese adolescents? The mediating role of resilience and social support. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22(4), 1611–1622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kong, F., Zhao, J., You, X., & Xiang, Y. (2020). Gratitude and the brain: Trait gratitude mediates the association between structural variations in the medial prefrontal cortex and life satisfaction. Emotion, 20(6), 917–926.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambert, N. M., Graham, S. M., Fincham, F. D., & Stillman, T. F. (2009). A changed perspective: How gratitude can affect sense of coherence through positive reframing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(6), 461–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, T. (2017). How does happiness relate to economic behaviour? A review of the literature. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 68, 62–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Layous, K., Sweeny, K., Armenta, C., Na, S., Choi, I., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2017). The proximal experience of gratitude. PLoS ONE, 12(7), e0179123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, J. G., Liu, X. L., Liao, H., & Wang, L. (2020). Disentangling stereotypes from social reality: Astrological stereotypes and discrimination in China. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(6), 1359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luan, M., & Li, H. (2017). Maximization paradox: Result of believing in an objective best. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(5), 652–661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luan, M., & Li, H. *. (2020). How do people construe objects when being observed? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology., 119(4), 808–823.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(1), 112–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miao, M., Zheng, L., & Gan, Y. (2021). Future-oriented function of meaning in life: Promoting hope via future temporal focus. Personality and Individual Differences, 179, 110897.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, S. K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2016). Gratitude. In H. S. Friedman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of mental health (2nd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 277–280). Academic Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Peng, L., & Xie, T. (2016). Making similarity versus difference comparison affects perceptions after bicultural exposure and consumer reactions to culturally mixed products. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47, 1380–1394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrocchi, N., & Couyoumdjian, A. (2016). The impact of gratitude on depression and anxiety: The mediating role of criticizing, attacking, and reassuring the self. Self and Identity, 15(2), 191–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Przepiorka, A., & Sobol-Kwapinska, M. (2021). People with positive time perspective are more grateful and happier: Gratitude mediates the relationship between time perspective and life satisfaction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22(1), 113–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu, T., Bai, Y., & Lu, J. (2020). Taking risks for the best: Maximizing and risk-taking tendencies. Judgment and Decision Making, 15(4), 499–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, R. C. (2004). The blessings of gratitude: A conceptual analysis. In R. A. Emmons & M. E. McCullough (Eds.), The psychology of gratitude (pp. 58–78). New York: Oxford University Press.

  • Rude, S. S., Maestas, K. L., & Neff, K. (2007). Paying attention to distress: What’s wrong with rumination? Cognition and Emotion, 21, 843–864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudert, S. C., Reutner, L., Walker, M., & Greifeneder, R. (2015). An unscathed past in the face of death: Mortality salience reduces individuals’ regrets. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 58, 34–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, B., Ward, A., Monterosso, J., Lyubomirsky, S., White, K., & Lehman, D. R. (2002). Maximizing versus satisficing: Happiness is a matter of choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(5), 1178–1197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, L. J., Armenta, C. N., Kamble, S. V., Chang, S.-L., Wu, H.-Y., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2020). Gratitude in collectivist and individualist cultures. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(5), 598–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, R. C. (2004). Forward. In R. A. Emmons & M. E. McCullough (Eds.), The psychology of gratitude. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Southwell, S., & Gould, E. (2017). A randomised wait list-controlled pre–post–follow-up trial of a gratitude diary with a distressed sample. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(6), 579–593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, S. J., Zanna, M. P., & Fong, G. T. (2005). Establishing a causal chain: Why experiments are often more effective than mediational analyses in examining psychological processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6), 845–851.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tachon, G., Rouibah, A., Morgan, B., & Shankland, R. (2022). A prototype analysis of self-gratitude: towards a broadening of the concept of gratitude. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23(5), 1867–1885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsang, J.-A., & Martin, S. R. (2019). Four experiments on the relational dynamics and prosocial consequences of gratitude. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(2), 188–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van de Calseyde, P. P., Zeelenberg, M., & Evers, E. R. (2018). The impact of doubt on the experience of regret. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 149, 97–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dijk, E., & Zeelenberg, M. (2005). On the psychology of ‘if only’: Regret and the comparison between factual and counterfactual outcomes. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97(2), 152–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dijk, E., & Zeelenberg, M. (2007). When curiosity killed regret: Avoiding or seeking the unknown in decision-making under uncertainty. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(4), 656–662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2006.06.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • vanOyen Witvliet, C., Richie, F. J., Root Luna, L. M., & Van Tongeren, D. R. (2019). Gratitude predicts hope and happiness: A two-study assessment of traits and states. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(3), 271–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker, J., Kumar, A., & Gilovich, T. (2016). Cultivating gratitude and giving through experiential consumption. Emotion, 16(8), 1126–1136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., & Maltby, J. (2008). Gratitude uniquely predicts satisfaction with life: Incremental validity above the domains and facets of the five factor model. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(1), 49–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, K., Yan, W., Jia, N., Wang, Q., & Kong, F. (2021). Longitudinal relationship between trait gratitude and subjective well-being in adolescents: Evidence from the bi-factor model. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(6), 802–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeelenberg, M., & Pieters, R. (2007). A theory of regret regulation 1.0. Journal of Consumer psychology, 17(1), 3–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeelenberg, M., Van Dijk, W. W., Van der Pligt, J., Manstead, A. S., Van Empelen, P., & Reinderman, D. (1998). Emotional reactions to the outcomes of decisions: The role of counterfactual thought in the experience of regret and disappointment. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 75(2), 117–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y., Chen, Z. J., & Ni, S. (2020). The security of being grateful: Gratitude promotes risk aversion in decision-making. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(3), 285–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was supported by National Social Science Foundation of China (20AZD085).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China

    Mo Luan

  2. Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Yufeng Zhang & Xiaoyu Wang

Authors
  1. Mo Luan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yufeng Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiaoyu Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yufeng Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Luan, M., Zhang, Y. & Wang, X. Gratitude Reduces Regret: The Mediating Role of Temporal Focus. J Happiness Stud 24, 1–15 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00597-0

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00597-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation