Post-traumatic Growth: The Roles of the Sense of Entitlement, Gratitude and hope

Abstract

People believe that they are entitled to well-being and safety, and their responses to unexpected traumatic events reveal individual differences. Their reactions vary, from feeling blocked and distressed to feeling proactive towards new growth, depending on their personal resources. The current study sought to identify the role of entitlement in explaining post-traumatic growth (PTG) while considering the role of gratitude and hope as personal resources. We used a community-based sample of Israeli adults (n = 182) who reported experiencing a traumatic event during the preceding year. The relationships between PTG and their sense of entitlement, gratitude, and hope were examined. A stepwise multiple hierarchical regression revealed that all the three variables were associated with PTG. However, the effect of hope turned insignificant with the inclusion of sense of entitlement and gratitude in the regression. Sense of entitlement and gratitude were independently associated with PTG. The theoretical contribution of these findings is discussed, as well as their interventional implications and future directions. Keywords Post-traumatic growth • Sense of entitlement • Hope • GratitudeThroughout their lives, most individuals experience some traumatic events, such as the unexpected death of a relative, a life-threatening disease, or an injury (Benjet et al., 2016). There is a high prevalence of lifetime exposure to potentially traumatic events, estimated at nearly 70% in community samples (

Teachers’ Burnout – The Role of Social Support, Gratitude, Hope, Entitlement and Loneliness

“…Out of the three, active entitlement seems to be a proactive and an agentic aspect of psychological wellbeing, and thus regarded as a resilience factor. Research has confirmed this hypothesis, establishing a positive relationship between active entitlement and subjective wellbeing (Żemojtel-Piotrowska et al, 2017), hope and satisfaction with life (George-Levi and Laslo-Roth, 2021), and growth after suffering a trauma (Confino et al, 2023).…”

“…Indeed, research has indicated that cultivating a sense of gratitude can help shift one's focus away from negativity and pessimism and promote a more positive and contented mindset (Portocarrero et al, 2020). Accordingly, practicing gratitude has been linked to various psychological, emotional, and even physical benefits, including improved affect, a sense that one's life is meaningful, a reduction in stress, and better overall wellbeing (Confino et al, 2023;Deichert et al, 2021).…”

“…These studies maintain that such feelings promote self-advocacy, efficacy, and assertiveness, encouraging a more balanced perspective on personal rights and responsibilities. They concluded that a sense of entitlement can be an important coping resource (Brant & Castro, 2019;Confino et al, 2023;George-Levi & Laslo-Roth, 2021). Piotrowski and Żemojtel-Piotrowska (2009) proposed a model of the sense of entitlement consisting of three forms: active entitlement, based on the protection of one's self-interests; passive entitlement, which focuses on the conviction that institutions and organizations are obligated to satisfy one's needs, and revenge entitlement, based on the protection of one's self-interests when they are threatened or violated.…”

“…To assess participants' beliefs regarding their sense of entitlement, we used The Entitlement Questionnaire -Short Form (Żemojtel-Piotrowska et al, 2017). Although the original scale consists of 15 items, we included only the active sense of entitlement subscale in its Hebrew version (Confino et al, 2023) whose five items deal with one's self-interests and self-reliance in achieving life's goals (e.g., "I deserve the best"). The items are ranked on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree).…”

Gratitude, academic self-efficacy, and well-being outcomes among Filipino undergraduate students

“…Online gratitude interventions have also enhanced Filipino students' positive affect (Datu, Buenconsejo, et al, 2022) and their academic motivation and engagement (Valdez et al, 2022). Recent investigations have shown promising results about the importance of gratitude in facilitating post-traumatic growth among individuals who have experienced psychological trauma (Confino et al, 2023). As such, it would be interesting to examine how gratitude may be incorporated into psychotherapeutic interventions that cater to students with trauma-related cases.…”