A Gratitude Exercise for Couples

Parnell, Kenneth J.; Wood, Nathan D.; Scheel, Michael

doi:10.1080/15332691.2019.1687385

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…By examining these expressions in a more nuanced manner, our work makes an important contribution to translating these findings into practically meaningful information. Indeed, there is a growing interest in incorporating gratitude into interventions to improve couples’ well-being (Jacobs Bao & Lyubomirsky, 2013; Parnell et al, 2019) in which such an in-depth investigation into gratitude expressions will be particularly useful. Further, our research is unique from the existing work in speaking to the benefits of perceiving oneself as a responsive partner as opposed to perceiving a partner as responsive (Algoe et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How can I thank you? Highlighting the benefactor’s responsiveness or costs when expressing gratitude

Park

Visserman

Sisson

et al. 2020

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite growing evidence that showing gratitude plays a powerful role in building social connections, little is known about how to best express gratitude to maximize its relational benefits. In this research, we examined how two key ways of expressing gratitude—conveying that the benefactor’s kind action met one’s needs (responsiveness-highlighting) and acknowledging how costly the action was (cost-highlighting)—impact benefactors’ reactions to the gratitude and feelings about their relationship. Using observer ratings of gratitude expressions during couples’ live interactions ( N = 111 couples), and benefactors’ self-reports across a 14-day experience sampling study ( N = 463 daily reports), we found that responsiveness-highlighting was associated with benefactors’ positive feelings about the gratitude expression and the relationship. In contrast, cost-highlighting had no such effect. These findings suggest that expressing gratitude in a way that highlights how responsive benefactors were may be critical to reaping the relational benefits of gratitude and have practical implications for improving couples’ well-being.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How can I thank you? Highlighting the benefactor’s responsiveness or costs when expressing gratitude

Park

Visserman

Sisson

et al. 2020

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These findings might have clinical implications for individuals high in attachment avoidance-seeking professional support for relationship problems. As gratitude interventions provided to couples and close friends were found to have positive effects on relationship outcomes, such as relationship satisfaction, perception of the other, and comfort in voicing relationship concerns (Algoe & Zhaoyang, 2016; Lambert & Ficham, 2011; Parnell, 2015), it might be valuable incorporating them in the frequently used and proven effective emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT; Johnson & Zuccarini, 2010). On the other hand, it could be argued that gratitude interventions may not work on individuals with higher levels of avoidant attachment, because, given their preference for independence, they may not be motivated to engage in gratitude interventions (Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Boehm, & Sheldon, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult attachment and relationship satisfaction: The mediating role of gratitude toward the partner

Vollmann

Sprang

Brink

2019

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous research indicated that insecure attachment, that is, higher levels of attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety, is negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. The present study investigated the mediating role of gratitude toward the partner in this association. In a cross-sectional design, 362 participants (84% female, age range 18–70 years) involved in a romantic relationship completed an online questionnaire assessing attachment avoidance and anxiety, gratitude toward the partner, and relationship satisfaction. Data were analyzed by means of regression and bootstrap analyses. The regression analysis revealed significant negative total and direct effects of both avoidance and anxiety on relationship satisfaction. The bootstrap analyses revealed a significant negative indirect effect of avoidance, but not anxiety, on relationship satisfaction via gratitude toward the partner. Specifically, higher levels of avoidant attachment were related to less gratitude toward the partner, which in turn was associated with lower relationship satisfaction. These findings suggest that it might be valuable applying gratitude interventions to clients high in attachment avoidance attending couples therapy.

show abstract

“…These studies mainly focus on the enhancement of interpersonal strengths, such as forgiveness, gratitude, love, and kindness, and found that forgiveness interventions lead to higher levels of relationship effort and satisfaction, and lower levels of negative conflict strategies and interpersonal behaviors in healthy relationships rather than the troubled ones (Aalgaard et al, 2016;Zichnali et al, 2019). Also, gratitude interventions build positive relationships, since they increase trust, connectedness with others, the likelihood one will engage in prosocial behavior, empathy, intimacy, relationship satisfaction, and perceived quality of friendships (Kerr et al, 2015;O'Connell et al, 2018;Parnell et al, 2020). In addition, love and kindness interventions increase the levels of trust, social skills, acceptance of others, positive social interactions, social support, and sense of connectedness (Hutcherson et al, 2008;Kerr et al, 2015;Symeonidou et al, 2019).…”

Section: Do Character Strengths-based Interventions Build Positive Re...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Character Strengths as a Predictor of Adult Friendship Quality and Satisfaction: Implications for Psychological Interventions

Pezirkianidis

Stalikas

Μoraitou

2022

The European Journal of Counselling Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since the birth of positive psychology, character strengths-based interventions aiming at promoting wellbeing have become very popular. However, there are only a few previous studies focusing on the associations of character strengths with social wellbeing, e.g., positive outcomes in close relationships. The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations between character strengths and positive adult friendship outcomes (i.e., friendship quality, satisfaction, and number of friends). The effects of age and gender were also examined. A total of 3051 adults aged from 18 to 65 years participated in the study. The Values-In-Action Inventory of Strengths-120 and the McGill Friendship Questionnaires (measuring friendship quality and satisfaction) were used. The results indicated that all character strengths positively correlated with friendship variables, while specific strengths predicted adult friendship quality (love, kindness, honesty, and curiosity), satisfaction (kindness, honesty, modesty, spirituality, love, and bravery), and number of friends (curiosity and persistence). Age, gender, and gender of the friend dyad (same and opposite-sex friendships) moderated only three of these effects. Practical implications for designing and implementing strengths-based positive friendship interventions in several contexts, such as university, workplace, and counselling are discussed.

show abstract

A Gratitude Exercise for Couples

Cited by 9 publications

References 50 publications

How can I thank you? Highlighting the benefactor’s responsiveness or costs when expressing gratitude

How can I thank you? Highlighting the benefactor’s responsiveness or costs when expressing gratitude

Adult attachment and relationship satisfaction: The mediating role of gratitude toward the partner

Character Strengths as a Predictor of Adult Friendship Quality and Satisfaction: Implications for Psychological Interventions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About