Unique cognitive and emotional profiles of interpersonal gratitude and spiritual gratitude

White, Cindel; Johnson, Kathryn A.; Mirbozorgi, Behnam

doi:10.1080/17439760.2023.2239781

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, authentic pride and hubristic pride both arise from internal attributions for success but have distinct personality correlates, antecedents, and consequences (Tracy & Robins, 2007). Varieties of gratitude and indebtedness are also likely to depend on many features beyond the externality of the benefactor, such as the tangibility, proximity, responsiveness, and dispositions of the benefactor (Nelson et al, 2023; Tsang et al, 2022; White et al, 2024). Further research, examining a wider array of life experiences, is likely to reveal important nuance in why people experience particular feelings in response to good and bad fortune.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Varieties of gratitude: Identifying patterns of emotional responses to positive experiences attributed to God, karma, and human benefactors.

White,

Johnson,

Mirbozorgi

et al. 2024

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Good fortune can be attributed to many sources, including other people, personal efforts, and various theistic and nontheistic supernatural forces (e.g., God, karma). Four studies (total N = 4,579) of religiously diverse samples from the United States and the United Kingdom investigated the distinct emotional reactions to recalled positive experiences attributed to natural and supernatural benefactors. We found that the hallmarks of interpersonal gratitude (e.g., thankfulness, admiration, indebtedness) were reported when believers attributed their good fortune to a personal, benevolent God. However, a distinct emotional profile arose when participants attributed good fortune to the process of karmic payback, which was associated with relatively less gratitude but with higher scores for feelings of pride and deservingness. These results were partially explained by participants’ attributions of positive experiences to an external agent (e.g., God) versus a universal law or internal factors as in the case of karma. We conclude that diverse spiritual beliefs influence causal attributions for good fortune, which, in turn, predict distinct emotional responses.

show abstract