Definition
Gratitude is cognitive and emotional reaction arising from noticing and appreciating the benefits that one has received. The sources of the perceived benefits that lead to gratitude are diverse and include (a) direct help, (b) tangible possessions, (c) positive relationships, (d) the positive in a given moment, and (e) doing well compared to others (Wood, Maltby, Stewart, & Joseph, 2008). This implies that gratitude arises from both appreciating actions of specific others and a more general appreciation of the positive aspects in one’s life. Gratitude can be considered both as a state, defined as a reaction at a given single time point, or as a personality trait, defined according to individual differences in how frequently and intensely a person feels the state of gratitude. In recent years gratitude has emerged as a key clinically relevant personality trait due to a strong link with well-being (Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010).
Description
Throughout history gratitude has...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Emmons, R. A. (2007). Thanks! How the new science of gratitude can make you happier. New York: Houghton-Mifflin.
Emmons, R. A., & Crumpler, C. A. (2000). Gratitude as a human strength: Appraising the evidence. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 56–69.
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, 377–389.
Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2004). The psychology of gratitude. New York: Oxford University Press.
Geraghty, A. W. A., Wood, A. M., & Hyland, M. E. (2010a). Attrition from self-directed interventions: Investigating the relationship between psychological predictors, interventional content and dropout from a body image intervention. Social Science & Medicine, 71, 31–37.
Geraghty, A. W. A., Wood, A. M., & Hyland, M. E. (2010b). Dissociating the facets of hope: Agency and pathways predict attrition from unguided self-help in opposite directions. Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 155–158.
McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. A. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 112–127.
McCullough, M. E., Kilpatrick, S. D., Emmons, R. A., & Larson, D. B. (2001). Is gratitude a moral affect? Psychological Bulletin, 127, 249–266.
Rind, B., & Bordia, P. (1995). Effect of servers thank-you and personalization on restaurant tipping. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 745–751.
Tsang, J.-A. (2006). Gratitude and prosocial behaviour: An experimental test of gratitude. Cognition & Emotion, 20, 138–148.
Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. A. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 890–905. http://www.alexwoodpsychology.comandhttp://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/PWT/index.cfm.
Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2007). Coping style as a psychological resource of grateful people. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26, 1108–1125. http://www.alexwoodpsychology.comand http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/PWT/index.cfm.
Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., Lloyd, J., & Atkins, S. (2009). Gratitude influences sleep through the mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 66, 43–48. http://www.alexwoodpsychology.com and http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/PWT/index.cfm.
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, 49–54.http://www.alexwoodpsychology.comand http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/PWT/index.cfm.
Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., & Maltby, J. (2009). Gratitude predicts psychological well-being above the big five facets. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 443–447. http://www.alexwoodpsychology.comand http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/PWT/index.cfm.
Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Gillett, R., Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2008). The role of gratitude in the development of social support, stress, and depression: Two longitudinal studies. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 854–871. http://www.alexwoodpsychology.com.and http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/PWT/index.cfm.
Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Stewart, N., & Joseph, S. (2008a). Conceptualizing gratitude and appreciation as a unitary personality trait. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 619–630. http://www.alexwoodpsychology.comand http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/PWT/index.cfm.
Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Stewart, N., Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2008b). A social-cognitive model of trait and state levels of gratitude. Emotion, 8, 281–290. http://www.alexwoodpsychology.comand http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/PWT/index.cfm.
Wood, A. M., & Tarrier, N. (2010). Positive clinical psychology: A new vision and strategy for integrated research and practice. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 819–829.http://www.alexwoodpsychology.com.and http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/PWT/index.cfm.
Wood, A. M., Brown, G. D. A., & Maltby, J. (2011). A relative rank model of gratitude. Emotion, 11, 175–180.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
M. Wood, A. (2014). Gratitude. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_3313
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_3313
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0752-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0753-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law