In Study 1, 381 students (Sample A) aged 9 to 15 responded to Gratitude and Indebtedness Questionnaire-12 (GIQ-12) developed on the basis of Gratitude Questionnaire-S (McCullough, Emmons & Tsang, 2002). Their responses were used to assess whether gratitude and indebtedness were perceived as distinct dispositions through exploratory factor analysis. The responses of 249 students (Sample B) with the same age range were used to confirm the factor structure derived from the exploratory factor analysis. The construct validity of gratitude and indebtedness was further examined through relating them to subjective well-being and helping tendencies. / In the two experimental studies, separate groups of 123 and 126 students from Sample B responded to questions based on vignettes designed to elicit feelings of gratitude and indebtedness. In Study 2a, three conditions of benefactor expectation for repayment (No-expectation, Expectation, and Ambiguous) were manipulated. In Study 2b, three conditions of locus of help initiation (Request, Offer, and Ambiguous) were manipulated. / The major findings of Study 2a and Study 2b provided general support that feelings of gratitude and indebtedness could be differentiated at the situational level. In Study 2a, different conditions of benefactor's expectation to return were found to be a key factor in differentiating feeling thankful, owing others, and obliged to repay. Students felt more thankful than obliged to repay when not being expected to repay; but they felt more obliged to repay than thankful when being expected for repayment. In Study 2b, different conditions of help initiation were not able to contribute to the differentiation. In predicting prosocial motivation, gratitude trait was consistently found to be a significant predictor under nearly all scenarios in Study 2a and Study 2b. However, in predicting the magnitude of reciprocation, traits and emotions of gratitude and indebtedness were found to be substantially weak predictors. Gratitude trait was found to be the only significant predictor for prosocial motivation under ambiguous conditions. The implications of the present findings for moral education and developing interventions to promote gratitude and well-being among children and adolescents are discussed. / The results of Study 1 revealed that gratitude and indebtedness were perceived to be distinct among Chinese young adolescents in Hong Kong. Grateful students, compared with their less grateful counterparts, reported heightened subjective wellbeing, demonstrated by higher level of life satisfaction, more positive affect but less negative affect experienced in their lives. However, indebted students, compared with less indebted students, reported less satisfaction with life and more negative affect. In predicting helping tendencies, gratitude trait was found to be the strongest predictor but indebtedness trait significantly contributed to less helping tendencies. / This study consisted of one survey study (Study 1) and two experimental studies (Study 2a and Study 2b). Study 1 aimed to examine whether gratitude and indebtedness could be empirically distinguished as two dispositional traits and how they were differentially related to subjective well-being and helping tendencies. Study 2a and Study 2b aimed to investigate whether gratitude and indebtedness could be differentiated as different emotions in specific situations and how gratitude and indebtedness as traits and emotions affected prosocial motivation and reciprocal behaviors. / Zhao, Yongjun. / Adviser: David W. Chan. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-173). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendixes A-D and F-K in Chinese.

This study attempts to extend the existing literature about gratitude in the on-going relationship of married couples, and examined the dynamics thereof involved. N=100 dyads in Hong Kong were interviewed at three time points. T1 measures indicated that dispositional gratitude could predict not only the grateful mood one experienced in the past seven days but also the grateful mood one perceived from his/ her spouse. Both measures of grateful mood had similar actor and partner effects on the husbands' as well as wives' marital satisfaction. Between them, perceived mood of spouse was the stronger predictor, taking up virtually all the shared variance in explaining marital satisfaction. Longitudinal measures across the three time points showed that grateful mood of both spouses could be increased by about equal degrees via one of two interventions: having one of them keeping a private gratitude journal, or overtly expressing gratitude to the other. But the resulting changes in marital satisfaction differed for the actors (who assumed the role of beneficiaries) and their partners. Specifically, two moderators were identified: partners who judged their spouses' gratitude expressions as less sincere declined in their martial satisfaction, whereas, contrary to past research findings, actors who felt more obliged to their spouse became happier about their marriage. The results suggested involvement of different mechanisms for spouses on the two sides of the gratitude equation, and that feelings of obligation could be a protective factor in intimate relationships. The implications for research and counseling were discussed. / Leong, Lai Ting Joyce. / Adviser: Helene Fung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-11, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-81). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.