Gratitude and Happiness: The Causes and Consequences of Gratitude

*Philip C. Watkins, Michael Frederick and Alexander W. Dodson*

## **Abstract**

In this chapter, we review recent research on the relationship between gratitude and happiness. First, we show how gratitude is a critical component of the good life. Because gratitude is vital to wellbeing, it is important to establish the causes of state and trait gratitude. We explain an appraisal approach to grateful emotion and show how certain benefit interpretations are critical to the experience of gratitude. In this context, we describe an encouraging new paradigm that has been applied to the study of gratitude: cognitive bias modification. This experimental approach has helped to establish the causal status of interpretations to gratitude, and we describe how this methodology should help to understand gratitude in future research. Recent research on the cognitive antecedents of gratitude has shown that the nature of the benefactor matters to experiences of gratitude, and in this regard, a divine benefactor may create a unique experience of gratitude. Gratitude scholars have now turned to the question: How does gratitude enhance happiness? We present research and theories that have attempted to speak to this issue. Finally, we explore the question: Who benefits most from gratitude interventions? Research has supplied some surprising answers to this question.

**Keywords:** gratitude, happiness, subjective wellbeing, positive psychology, gratitude to god

### **1. Introduction**

"In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give and that it is with gratitude that life becomes rich." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer ([1], p. 52).

It is worth noting that Bonhoeffer wrote this while he was in a German prison for his involvement in a plot to kill Hitler. In this passage, Bonhoeffer brings out several important truths that are relevant to this chapter. First, that most humans experience far more good than bad in their life, and second, that gratitude enhances our experience of the good in life. Indeed, the theme of this chapter is that gratitude enhances subjective well-being (SWB) because it amplifies the good in life.
