TY - JOUR
T1 - When Gratitude Evokes Indebtedness
AU - Oishi, Shigehiro
AU - Koo, Minkyung
AU - Lim, Nangyeon
AU - Suh, Eunkook M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The International Association of Applied Psychology
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/7
Y1 - 2019/7
N2 - Background: Research in the US found that gratitude increases happiness. We conducted three studies to examine whether gratitude increases happiness among Koreans, as well. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to a gratitude or a control condition in Studies 1 and 2, and into a gratitude toward someone important or a gratitude toward own health condition in Study 3. Their moods were then measured. Results: Gratitude writing marginally significantly evoked indebtedness among Korean students (Study 1, N = 336) but not among American students (Study 2, N = 219). Equally important, even among Americans, those who wrote about their gratitude toward someone important reported feeling indebtedness marginally more than those who wrote about their gratitude toward something or someone not that important. In Study 3 (N = 181), American participants, randomly assigned to write about their gratitude toward someone important, reported not only more gratitude but also more indebtedness than those assigned to write about their gratitude toward their own health. Conclusions: Taken together, these studies suggest that gratitude evokes indebtedness when gratitude is about someone important.
AB - Background: Research in the US found that gratitude increases happiness. We conducted three studies to examine whether gratitude increases happiness among Koreans, as well. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to a gratitude or a control condition in Studies 1 and 2, and into a gratitude toward someone important or a gratitude toward own health condition in Study 3. Their moods were then measured. Results: Gratitude writing marginally significantly evoked indebtedness among Korean students (Study 1, N = 336) but not among American students (Study 2, N = 219). Equally important, even among Americans, those who wrote about their gratitude toward someone important reported feeling indebtedness marginally more than those who wrote about their gratitude toward something or someone not that important. In Study 3 (N = 181), American participants, randomly assigned to write about their gratitude toward someone important, reported not only more gratitude but also more indebtedness than those assigned to write about their gratitude toward their own health. Conclusions: Taken together, these studies suggest that gratitude evokes indebtedness when gratitude is about someone important.
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U2 - 10.1111/aphw.12155
DO - 10.1111/aphw.12155
M3 - Article
C2 - 30724033
AN - SCOPUS:85061322263
VL - 11
SP - 286
EP - 303
JO - Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being
JF - Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being
SN - 1758-0846
IS - 2
ER -