Perspectives on Gratitude

An interdisciplinary approach

David Carr

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780815372516
• eBook ISBN: 9781317568421
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Psychologists, philosophers, theologians and educationalists have all lately explored various conceptual, moral, psychological and pedagogical dimensions of gratitude in a rapidly expanding academic and popular literature. However, while the distinguished contributors to this work hail from these distinct disciplines, they have been brought together in this volume precisely in recognition of the need for a more interdisciplinary perspective on the topic.

While further developing such more familiar debates in the field as whether it is appropriate to feel grateful in circumstances in which there is no obvious benefactor, whether it is proper to feel grateful to those who have benefited one only from a sense of duty and whether it makes sense to be grateful if so doing colludes with injustice, the essays in this collection explore a wide variety of fresh conceptual, psychological and moral issues. For example, in addition to identifying some new moral paradoxes about gratitude and seeking a generally more morally discriminating approach to gratitude education, relations are explored between gratitude and humility, forgiveness and appreciation and the religious and spiritual dimensions of the concept are also given much overdue attention.

By drawing together serious academic engagement with the study of gratitude and a serious attempt to undertake this within an interdisciplinary perspective, Perspectives on Gratitude will be of value to academics and graduate students in the fields of philosophy, psychology and theology, as well as other research-based disciplines.

Part I

Gratitude and flourishing

Psychology and morality

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Chapter 1

Gratitude’s value

Terrance McConnell

Gratitude was once the province of philosophers and theologians. During the past decade, or so, however, psychologists have produced an impressive body of work on this topic. These contributions have generally fallen under the guise of what is called “positive psychology.” Common assumptions in the positive psychology literature are: (i) some traits/attitudes, including gratitude, are positive or healthy; (ii) some traits/attitudes, including ungratefulness, are negative or unhealthy; and (iii) there are things individuals can do to cultivate positive traits/attitudes and to extinguish negative ones. The capacities to cultivate and extinguish traits are important for various reasons, one of which is that some endorse what is called the principle of emotional incompatibility. According to this principle, positive emotions are incompatible with negative emotions; each works against the other.

Leading psychological researchers have identified two broad kinds of benefits associated with the cultivation of gratitude: benefits to the individual and social benefits. In addition, these researchers have identified activities that promote the cultivation of gratitude. The value ascribed to gratitude by philosophers is different from what psychologists emphasize, and this essay will examine those differences and see how the two disciplines might complement each other. I shall begin with the benefits identified in the psychological literature.

Individual benefits

In the best-known study of the impact of gratitude on subjective well-being, Emmons and McCullough (2003) divided subjects into three groups, determined by random assignment. Once a week, for ten weeks, subjects in one group (the gratitude condition) reported events that had prompted them to experience gratitude; this is sometimes referred to as “counting one’s blessings.” A second group (the hassles condition) reported events that they had found burdensome or annoying. The third group (the events condition) were instructed to report events that they had experienced in the previous week. Prior to beginning this ten-week reporting, all participants completed an extensive journal and questionnaire. These were designed to measure how happy people were; they were self-report instruments designed to measure subjective well-being. At the end of the study, this same questionnaire was repeated to determine what changes, if any, had occurred. The assumption was that those in the gratitude condition, because of their focus and reflections, would experience more gratitude than those in the other groups.¹ This study and many that followed demonstrated significant individual benefits for those randomized to the gratitude condition.²

In multiple studies, those randomized to the gratitude condition experience significant improvement in emotional well-being, based on the self-report instruments. Positive reports about general emotional well-being were the norm (Emmons, 2007, pp. 30–31; Watkins, 2014, p. 7). Moreover, prospective studies suggest that trait gratitude predicts greater emotional well-being over time (Watkins, 2014, p. 58). An impressive array of studies shows that trait gratitude predicts less anxiety and depression (Emmons, 2007, p. 38; Watkins, 2014, pp. 178–179); and counting one’s blessings seems to be an effective coping mechanism to deal with panic disorder and agoraphobia (Emmons, 2007, p. 174). Better physical health is associated with gratitude, including longevity and reduced risk of substance abuse.³ Research indicates that grateful people are more optimistic and hopeful than others, and this seems to help them adapt to difficult situations (Watkins, 2014, pp. 83 and 160). Trait gratitude seems to enhance the frequency of pleasant experiences and the quality of the enjoyment of them. This may be because grateful people are more attentive to positive experiences, or that they are more likely to hold their attention. Grateful people may enjoy simple pleasures more than others, and the very experience of gratitude seems itself to be pleasant. Yet another factor is that grateful people focus on what they have, not what they lack (Watkins, 2014, pp. 103–107). Philip Watkins has argued that gratitude “amplifies” the good from a person’s past. This is because grateful people are more likely to notice and appreciate benefits, and in turn they have increased accessibility to these pleasant experiences because of more frequent and deeper encoding of these memories (Watkins, 2014, pp. 122–123).

These are a few of the many individual benefits uncovered by psychologists researching the phenomenon of gratitude. Overall, the results are consistent; people who regularly count their blessings are happier and more contented (Kristjansson, 2013, p. 198).

Social benefits

Not only do individuals who experience gratitude reap benefits, but those around them do too. It is commonplace to claim that gratitude promotes pro-social behavior (Watkins, 2014, p. 65). Some say that gratitude is one of the building blocks of a civil and humane society; gratitude fosters community and binds us together (Harpham, 2004, p. 21; Komter, 2004, p. 196; Roberts, 2004, p. 68). There is a strong relationship between trait gratitude and agreeableness (Watkins, 2014, p. 75). Grateful individuals have more empathy for others and are more likely to forgive offenses committed against them (Watkins, 2014, p. 84). When a person appreciates what another has done for her, she is more likely to want to form a closer relationship with that individual and more likely to feel trust (Watkins, 2014, pp. 142–143). Gratitude can thus be the starting point of lasting friendships (Emmons, 2007, pp. 10–11 and 45).

There is an even bigger social payoff, however. When a beneficiary not only experiences but also expresses gratitude, the original benefactor will feel appreciated and more valued (Watkins, 2014, pp. 146–147 and 154). Related to this, when benefactors are thanked by their beneficiaries, they are more likely to provide benefits to others (besides the original beneficiaries: McCullough and Tsang, 2004, p. 29). In addition, the beneficiary is more likely to help the original benefactor in the future, and is also more likely to treat strangers altruistically (Watkins, 2014, pp. 144 and 150–151). In some sense, this is another confirmation of Richard Titmuss’s claim that altruism generates more altruism (Titmuss, 1998/1970). There is a kind of cycle of beneficence; thus gratitude promotes mutually beneficial exchanges (McAdams and Bauer, 2004, p. 87; Harpham, 2004, p. 24).

There are even profession-specific studies that suggest that both being grateful and receiving expressions of gratitude create social benefits. Robert Emmons reports on research which indicates that grateful physicians have more satisfied patients. Apparently it is satisfying to be served by grateful people. And it goes the other way. “After having been given a small gift (a common procedure in mood induction research), internists made a more accurate diagnosis of liver disease in a hypothetical case than did doctors in a control group, who received no gift” (Emmons, 2007, p. 84).

More generally, if humans are social animals that can flourish only in groups, gratitude can play a valuable role. Kristin Bonnie and Frans de Waal report on evidence of gratitude among chimpanzees, a species with highly evolved cooperative schemes. They conclude, “The functional context of feelings of gratitude is mutual dependence” (Bonnie and de Waal, 2004, p. 216). Emmons sees gratitude functioning in the same way for human beings. “Gratitude takes us outside ourselves where we see ourselves as part of a larger, intricate network of sustaining relationships, relationships that are mutually reciprocal” (Emmons, 2007, p. 54).

From the brief accounts given here, it is easy to see why positive psychologists are so enthusiastic about gratitude; it promotes individual and social well-being. Emmons says that the “central thesis” of his book is that “those who live under an aura of pervasive thankfulness … reap the rewards of grateful living” (Emmons, 2007, p. 114). Philip Watkins puts it this way: “I propose that gratitude enhances well-being because psychologically it amplifies the good in one’s life.” This is because gratitude “magnifies the good that it is focused on” and “helps people live well because it clearly identifies who and what is good for individuals.” Moreover, “When individuals feel grateful, I propose that they should be more likely to be good to others; i.e., gratitude promotes prosocial behaviors” (Watkins, 2014, p. 8).

Philosophical accounts

We can now see that the recent work of psychologists emphasizes gratitude’s instrumental value. Something has instrumental value if it is good as a means to something else. Psychologists reasonably assume that happiness and subjective well-being are good things, and that those who experience and express gratitude will be better off on these measures. And a society in which many experience and express gratitude will be one in which most individuals are happier than they would be in a society that lacked these things. The extent to which psychologists emphasize gratitude’s instrumental value is driven home when one sees that each of the main singly-authored texts on the topic contains an entire chapter detailing exercises that will enhance individual well-being (Emmons, 2007, Chapter 7; Watkins, 2014, Chapter 13).

Some philosophical accounts of gratitude also emphasize its instrumental value. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist moral theory. Such theories hold that the rightness or wrongness of actions (or social policies) is determined solely by the value of the consequences that those actions (or policies) produce. Utilitarianism says that an action is right just in case it produces the best balance of good to evil of any alternative act available to the agent. Utilitarianism can be applied only if one has account of what goodness is, and there is broad agreement that at least one obvious good is human happiness. Thus, if an action (or policy) promotes human happiness better than any alternative, it is right. Particular actions are right, then, because they are a means to the desired end.

At least one utilitarian moral theorist, Henry Sidgwick, has given an account of gratitude that fits with the work of psychologists. Sidgwick believes that what he calls “Common Sense” morality recognizes a duty of gratitude, understood as a requirement to repay a benefit when a fitting opportunity arises. Sidgwick thinks that utilitarianism can account for such a duty. People will be more likely to benefit another if they believe that the favor will be returned, and a disposition to benefit others is conducive to promoting human happiness (Sidgwick, 1981/1907, pp. 437–438). Moreover, the original beneficiary is the person who should return the benefit because he knows who the benefactor was, is more likely to be motivated to help that person, and assigning him the duty makes it more likely that the benefactor will actually receive an appropriate return (McConnell, 1993, pp. 158–159). So Sidgwick held that altruism is likely to be more widespread if gratitude is operative as a norm in society. If in addition to this those who experience and express gratitude are happier, that only makes the utilitarian argument for gratitude stronger.

But many philosophers who affirm the moral importance of gratitude are not consequentialists. They hold instead that the rightness or wrongness of actions is determined by factors other than or in addition to the value of the consequences that act produces. Eighteenth-century British intuitionist Richard Price is one example. He writes, “The next head of virtue proper is Gratitude. The consideration that we have received benefits, lays us under peculiar obligations to the persons who have conferred them…” He continues, “With respect to this part of virtue, it is proper to observe, that it is but one out of a great variety of instances, wherein particular facts and circumstances constitute a fitness of a different behavior to different persons, independently of its consequences” (Price, 1974/1787, p. 152). According to this view, ordinary human beings are capable of seeing that it is “fitting” that one who received certain benefits from another reciprocates on a suitable occasion; and this fittingness is independent of the consequences. Two centuries later, W.D. Ross defended a similar view (Ross, 1930, Chapter II, especially pp. 21–23 and 27), holding that the duty of gratitude was based on the relationship between the benefactor and beneficiary, not on the consequences of so acting. Benefiting a prior benefactor has value in itself; it is a response to a particular kind of moral merit and that is why such action is fitting.

Within what is broadly called “virtue ethics,” non-consequentialist considerations are emphasized. Though virtue ethicists emphasize the cultivation of character traits, they also have an account of right action. They typically hold that an action is right if and only if it is what a virtuous agent would characteristically do in the circumstances (Hursthouse, 1999, Chapter 1, especially pp. 28–31). This, of course, requires much elaboration. The theorist must explain what virtue is, what traits are plausibly viewed as virtues, and what it means to say that someone characteristically acts on those traits. But many have worked on these issues, and they broadly agree that it is not only the agent’s actions, but also his reasons and motives for acting, that are morally important. We can put it this way: “Truly virtuous persons do not only perform the right actions, but they perform them for the right reasons and from the right motives: knowing them, taking intrinsic pleasure in them, and deciding that they are worthwhile” (Kristjansson, 2013, p. 202).

If gratitude is taken as a virtue – and it usually is – then intuitionists and virtue ethicists agree that gratitude is valuable for its own sake, not merely as a means to an end; gratitude has intrinsic val...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Contributors
• Introduction
• Part 1 Gratitude and flourishing Psychology and morality
• Part 2 Gratitude and related concepts
• Part 3 Problems about gratitude
• Part 4 Spiritual and religious dimensions of gratitude
• Part 5 Gratitude interventions in education and research
• Index