Grateful Expectations: Cultural Differences in the Curvilinear Association between Age and Gratitude

Abstract

Recent research suggests that the association between age and gratitude might be curvilinear—despite gratitude ostensibly being higher in middle-age, it might be lower in older adulthood. It is unclear if this curvilinear pattern of age differences in gratitude is found in other samples and whether its manifestation depends on contextual (i.e., national/cultural) characteristics. The current study examined cultural variation in the curvilinear effect of age on gratitude in a sample of over 4.5 million participants from 88 countries. Participants from countries with lower levels of human development, a shorter-term orientation, and higher levels of indulgence reported higher levels of gratitude. Cultural moderation effects were very small, suggesting that curvilinear effects of age on gratitude may be relatively comparable across cultures.

Introduction to the special issue: Nonlinear effects and dynamics in close relationships

“…The literature on the association between age and gratitude is mixed: Different studies have produced contrary evidence that gratitude peaks either in younger age, middle age, or older age, with some studies revealing null associations (see Chopik et al, 2019). Chopik et al (2022) report a cubic effect of age (age 3 ) that is consistent across cultures, with gratitude levels being low and stable among adolescence, then gradually increasing across middle age, and finally stabilizing in older age. This pattern reflects nonlinear changes in gratitude across the lifespan that has never been captured by previous studies examining linear associations.…”

“…We construe “nonlinear” effects and dynamics broadly, and the papers in this special issue demonstrate a range of statistical techniques designed to capture different relationship processes that can change in tumultuous and variable ways across time, situations, and partners. For example, nonlinearity can be defined as a function of patterns between variables (e.g., curvilinear effects, Chopik et al, 2022, Lafit et al, 2022; also see correlated intercepts, slopes or residuals, Dugan et al, 2022), within variables over time (e.g., within-person variation, Eller et al, 2022), and/or within variables between dyads (e.g., time-series analyses, Ogolsky et al, 2021). More complex models can reveal the dynamic ways in which partners’ emotions (e.g., change point detection, Sels et al, 2022), behaviors (e.g., sequence analysis, Solomon et al, 2022), or physiological responses (e.g., couple-oscillator model, Kuelz et al, 2022), unfold or shift abruptly across time.…”

“…Nonlinear applications can reconcile inconsistencies in associations that occur at different levels and can sometimes reveal novel effects that may be missed when simply modelling linear effects. In this special issue, Chopik et al (2022) provide one such example. The literature on the association between age and gratitude is mixed: Different studies have produced contrary evidence that gratitude peaks either in younger age, middle age, or older age, with some studies revealing null associations (see Chopik et al, 2019).…”

How much cultural variation around the globe is explained by ecology?

“…Around the world, people change their behaviour to fit in with the group, but such conformity effects are weaker in North America and Western Europe than in other world regions [5]. Indeed, societies and individuals vary in many ways including their rules for behaviour [6][7][8][9][10], behavioural tendencies [11,12], preferences [3,[13][14][15], values [16][17][18][19], motivations [20,21] and political institutions [22,23].…”

How much cultural variation around the globe is explained by ecology?

“…People around the world may be susceptible to conformity, but such effects are weaker in North America and Western Europe than in other world regions 5 . Indeed, human societies vary in myriad ways including their rules for behavior [6][7][8][9][10] , behavioral tendencies 11,12 , preferences 3,[13][14][15] , values [16][17][18][19] , motivations 20,21 , and political institutions 22,23 .…”