Este estudo examinou, a partir da abordagem construtivista sobre o desenvolvimento moral, como as crianças avaliam: sentimentos do beneficiário diante de uma ação generosa, tipo de relação estabelecida entre esses sentimentos e o benfeitor e a obrigatoriedade ou não de se retribuir um favor. Analisaram-se também suas justificativas sobre a necessidade de se retribuir. Participaram 89 crianças de 5 a 12 anos, distribuídas em três grupos etários. Utilizaram-se duas histórias e, após cada história ser contada, realizou-se uma entrevista clínica. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo e examinou-se a variação na frequência dos tipos de resposta nos três grupos. As crianças, de modo geral, atribuíram sentimentos positivos ao beneficiário da ação generosa. A maioria das crianças estabeleceu uma relação entre o sentimento positivo do beneficiário e a ação do benfeitor e afirmou que o beneficiário deve retribuir o favor. Todavia, constataram-se diferentes tipos de justificativas para essa obrigatoriedade. / Based on a constructivist approach to moral development, this research examined how children evaluate: recipients’ feelings for the benefactor after having received a generous action; the type of relation established between those feelings and the benefactor; and the obligation (or not) to return the favor. Children’s justifications about whether it was necessary to return the favor were also analyzed. Eighty-nine children, aged from 5 to 12, divided into three age groups, participated in this study. We used two vignettes and, after each vignette was read, the children participated in a clinical interview. The data were subsequently content-analyzed in order to examine variations in the frequency of response types across the three age groups. The children generally attributed positive feelings to the beneficiary of the generous action. It was clear that most children established a relation between the beneficiary’s positive feeling and the benefactor’s beneficial action. Results indicated that most children said that the beneficiary should return a favor to the benefactor. However, there were different types of justification provided for this requirement.

abstract: Family caregivers are a quickly growing population in American society and are potentially vulnerable to a number of risks to well-being. High stress and little support can combine to cause difficulties in personal and professional relationships, physical health, and emotional health. Siblings are, however, a possible source of protection for the at-risk caregiver. This study examines the relational and health outcomes of gratitude exchange between caregivers and their siblings as they attend to the issue of caring for aging parents. Dyadic data was collected through an online survey and was analyzed using a series of Actor-Partner Interdependence Models. Intimacy and care conflict both closely relate to gratitude exchange, but the most significant variable influencing gratitude was role. Specifically, caregivers are neither experiencing nor expressing gratitude on the same level as their siblings. Expressed gratitude did not relate strongly or consistently to well-being variables, though it did relate to diminished negative affect. Implications for theory, the caregiver, the sibling, the elder, the practitioner, and the researcher are addressed in the discussion. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication 2014

Este estudo examinou, a partir da abordagem construtivista sobre o desenvolvimento moral, como as crianças avaliam: sentimentos do beneficiário diante de uma ação generosa, tipo de relação estabelecida entre esses sentimentos e o benfeitor e a obrigatoriedade ou não de se retribuir um favor. Analisaram-se também suas justificativas sobre a necessidade de se retribuir. Participaram 89 crianças de 5 a 12 anos, distribuídas em três grupos etários. Utilizaram-se duas histórias e, após cada história ser contada, realizou-se uma entrevista clínica. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo e examinou-se a variação na frequência dos tipos de resposta nos três grupos. As crianças, de modo geral, atribuíram sentimentos positivos ao beneficiário da ação generosa. A maioria das crianças estabeleceu uma relação entre o sentimento positivo do beneficiário e a ação do benfeitor e afirmou que o beneficiário deve retribuir o favor. Todavia, constataram-se diferentes tipos de justificativas para essa obrigatoriedade. / Based on a constructivist approach to moral development, this research examined how children evaluate: recipients’ feelings for the benefactor after having received a generous action; the type of relation established between those feelings and the benefactor; and the obligation (or not) to return the favor. Children’s justifications about whether it was necessary to return the favor were also analyzed. Eighty-nine children, aged from 5 to 12, divided into three age groups, participated in this study. We used two vignettes and, after each vignette was read, the children participated in a clinical interview. The data were subsequently content-analyzed in order to examine variations in the frequency of response types across the three age groups. The children generally attributed positive feelings to the beneficiary of the generous action. It was clear that most children established a relation between the beneficiary’s positive feeling and the benefactor’s beneficial action. Results indicated that most children said that the beneficiary should return a favor to the benefactor. However, there were different types of justification provided for this requirement.

Este estudo transversal investigou os tipos de gratidão expressos por crianças e adolescentes de Porto Alegre, para verificar se diferentes formas de expressar a gratidão aparecem ao longo do desenvolvimento humano. 430 escolares de 7 a 14 anos, de ambos os sexos, escolhidos por conveniência em 2 escolas públicas e 2 escolas particulares responderam às perguntas de Baumgarten-Tramer: "O que tu mais queres?" e "O que tu farias para a pessoa que te desse o que tu mais queres?". Uma análise de conteúdo das respostas à segunda pergunta indicou que a expressão do sentimento de gratidão varia de acordo com a idade, não sendo encontrada diferença significativa na forma como meninos e meninas expressaram a gratidão. Embora tenha sido fortalecida a hipótese de que a gratidão se desenvolve ao longo da infância, muitos estudos restam ser feitos ainda sobre o assunto. / This cross-sectional study investigated the types of gratitude expressed by school children and adolescents of Porto Alegre, aiming to verify whether different forms of expressing gratitude appear during human development. 430 students aged 7-14, of both sexes, chosen by convenience from 2 public schools and 2 private schools responded to Baumgarten-Tramer's questions: "What is your greatest wish?" and "What would you do for the person who granted you this wish?" A content analysis on the answers to the second question suggested that the expression of the feeling of gratitude varies by age. No significant difference was found in the way boys and girls expressed their gratitude. Although the hypothesis that gratitude develops throughout childhood has been supported, more studies should be conducted on this important topic.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / Increasingly, research studies have revealed that gratitude and psychological well-being are robustly related. In addition gratitude interventions have been successful in increasing facets of well-being in adults and early adolescents. However, less is known about the effects of gratitude on middle adolescent sample groups and their eudaimonic well-being. Further, little is known about the impact that gratitude interventions will have on adolescents living in the South African context. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a four-week gratitude intervention on the psychological well-being (PWB) of a group of middle adolescents in Gauteng, South Africa. Both state and trait gratitude were measured before the intervention as well as their levels of four facets of well-being, namely overall life satisfaction, hedonic well-being, eudaimonic well-being and the absence of pathology. These levels were measured again after the intervention had been completed. Adolescents (N=230) from two high schools were randomly allocated to either an experimental group (n=112) or control group (n=118) based on their assigned class at school. Questionnaires measuring their levels of gratitude and psychological well-being were administered to both groups before and after the intervention. The experimental group received four gratitude exercises consecutively, over a four-week period while the control group received four neutral activities over the same time frame. The data was analysed quantitatively by conducting one-tailed t-tests. In addition, a brief follow-up qualitative study was conducted to assess the participants’ subjective experiences of the intervention. The quantitative results indicated that there were no significant differences in PWB or gratitude between the two groups after the intervention. There were also no significant differences found within the experimental group when the pre- and post-test scores were compared. The qualitative results revealed that the participants found the gratitude intervention to have been enjoyable and helpful, and expressed feeling more grateful and appreciative in general. In addition, many reported that their relationships with others had improved. These findings revealed that the gratitude intervention did not yield statistically significant results however the adolescents’ subjective experience of the intervention was positive. More research is needed to understand the effect of positive psychology interventions among South African adolescents.

Nietzsche frequently mentions gratitude throughout The Gay Science, but there is a lack of critical attention to this theme. The present essay seeks to situate this important theme in relation to other major themes of the work in order to show why gratitude is Nietzsche’s response to the death of god. Ultimately, I show that there are at least three elements to Nietzsche’s gratitude in this work: gratitude for perspectival flexibility, gratefulness to the chaos of existence, and gratefulness that “God is dead!” The essay concludes by highlighting three aphorisms which could extend this analysis further.

For a mother raising a child with special health care needs (CSHCN), maintaining positive feelings of gratitude can become challenging because of the stress associated with caregiving, as well as the consequences of unmanaged stress, which include decreases in both physical and psychological health and well-being. Chronic, unmanaged stress has been associated with various health issues that can be severe and potentially life-threatening. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine how mothers raising a CSHCN experience gratitude. A secondary purpose was to identify possible barriers to experiencing gratitude, which, when implemented as a coping style, may decrease the negative effects of daily stress and improve mental health. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions along with the transactional model of stress and coping provided an optimal conceptual framework for this study. The research questions were centered around the challenges and stressors unique to each mother, coping strategies, and gratitude. The ways in which the combination of factors contributed to quality of life among the mothers were examined specifically. Data from face-to-face interviews with 15 mothers were transcribed, coded, and thoroughly analyzed for themes. The primary themes that emerged were support from family and friends, feelings of gratitude, coping mechanisms, life satisfaction, gratitude for a flexible job, stress related to full dependency, high stress levels over the past 30 days, increased stress when describing the child, and a need to work on eating habits. Findings and recommendations from this study may contribute to positive social change and support the benefits of gratitude, especially in highly stressful situations.

Uppskattning är känslan av att sätta värde på någon eller något. Känslan ger en positiv effekt på individens välbefinnande. Studien inleddes med kunskapssamling av uppskattning i relation till flera forskningsområden inom psykologi, exempelvis uppskattning och personlighetsegenskaper. Studiens syfte var att förstå upplevelsen av uppskattning ur en situation där individer känt sig uppskattade samt uppskattat någon annan. Studien grundades i fenomenologisk utgångspunkt, där deltagarna besvarade en onlineenkät med två öppna frågor utifrån det formulerade syftet, samt fem bakgrundsfrågor. Bland 88 deltagare var 60 kvinnor och genomsnittsåldern var 29.2 år. Med tillämpning av Empirical Phenomenological Psychological Method (Karlsson, 1993) framkom gemensamma mönster i känslan uppskattning – lycka, värme, tacksamhet och reciprocitet. Skälen till känslan av uppskattning var varierande mellan deltagarna. Deltagarna kände sig uppskattade när någon annan bekräftat att de uppskattar dem, men uppskattade någon annan för lättsamma handlingar som de mottagit. Skälen bidrog till positiva känslor vid interaktion och reciprocitet med andra.

Much research testing positive psychological interventions (PPIs) has focused on the outcome of emotion regulation (e.g., increased positive or decreased negative emotions and affect). On the other hand, most research testing the effects of attention bias modification (ABM) has focused on the process of emotion regulation (e.g., reducing biased attention towards threatening faces in those with social anxiety disorder). Evidence is sparse and inconsistent on the process of emotion regulation in PPIs and the outcome of emotion regulation in ABM programs. Furthermore, few studies have examined the combined effects of a positive ABM (PABM) with PPIs, which is the focus of the current investigation. The aim of the study is to examine two relationships: 1) the effects of the gratitude letter PPI on the process of emotion regulation and 2) the combined effects of the PABM program and the gratitude letter PPI on the process and outcome of emotion regulation. The researchers used a dot-probe task to bias attention. The dot-probe task presented positive-neutral stimuli pairs (e.g., babies; geometric pattern). In the train-positive group, the probe appeared behind the positive images 90% of the time, compared to 50% in the control group. The researchers used a gratitude letter PPI, where participants wrote a letter for 15 minutes to someone they have never thanked, compared to the control condition who wrote a letter about their morning routine. The results suggest that the gratitude letter PPI does not affect the process of emotion regulation via attentional biases but does increase positive affect in the short term. Further, the PABM program may not affect the outcome of emotion regulation but did demonstrate a biasing of reaction time to positive pictures. This biasing of reaction times in the dot-probe was not consistent with eye-gaze patterns to positive images, suggesting that the dot-probe task does not measure or manipulate attentional biases. Finally, combining the dot-probe task and gratitude letter PPI did not produce a stronger effect on the process and outcome of emotion regulation than the gratitude letter alone. The findings of the current study suggest that the gratitude letter may be an effective and quick intervention to increase positive affect, but that the intervention is not suitable for long-term changes after a single administration. Further, individuals should not expect the dot-probe task to bias attention and should not except the task to influence the outcome of emotion regulation. Instead, researchers could use the task to measure and manipulate one’s decision-making processing speed.

An abundance of research has investigated well-being as it relates to religiosity and positive traits, with most research indicating that both relate to improvements in well-being. Moreover, several studies provide evidence for statistically significant relationships between religiosity and specific positive traits, including forgiveness and gratitude. However, few research studies have investigated how increases in positive traits might explain why religiosity enhances well-being. In addition, few studies within the religious and positive psychological literature have included adequate sampling from ethnic/racial minority populations residing in the U.S. As a result, investigations on how ethnic identity interacts with religious and positive psychological variables are virtually nonexistent. This study addressed these areas by investigating whether the positive traits of forgiveness and gratitude mediate the relationship between religious commitment and well-being among Polynesian Americans--a fast growing, yet understudied, American population. This study also investigated whether a Polynesian American's ethnic identity moderates the relationship between religious commitment and the positive traits of forgiveness and gratitude. 627 Polynesian-identified individuals residing in the U.S. completed a 40-minute online survey that contained positive trait, ethnic identity, and well-being measures. Data analyses showed that forgiveness and gratitude traits mediated the statistical relationship between religious commitment and self-esteem. Gratitude was also shown to partially mediate the relationship between religious commitment and satisfaction with life. Moreover, data analyses did not support the hypothesis that ethnic identity would moderate the relationship between religious commitment, forgiveness, and gratitude. This study provides specific implications for clinical research among Polynesian Americans.