Cited by 1,698Emotions and Moral BehaviorPsychological Well-being and Life SatisfactionPsychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment

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Is gratitude a moral affect?

McCullough, Michael E., Kilpatrick, Shelley D., Emmons, Robert A., Larson, David B.·2001·Psychological Bulletin

DOI 10.1037/0033-2909.127.2.249

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Abstract

Gratitude is conceptualized as a moral affect that is analogous to other moral emotions such as empathy and guilt. Gratitude has 3 functions that can be conceptualized as morally relevant: (a) a moral barometer function (i.e., it is a response to the perception that one has been the beneficiary of another person's moral actions); (b) a moral motive function (i.e., it motivates the grateful person to behave prosocially toward the benefactor and other people); and (c) a moral reinforcer function (i.e., when expressed, it encourages benefactors to behave morally in the future). The personality and social factors that are associated with gratitude are also consistent with a conceptualization of gratitude as an affect that is relevant to people's cognitions and behaviors in the moral domain.

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“Gratitude is defined as a cognitive-emotional state of appreciation that is aroused by receiving help from others, or as a personality disposition that leads some people to notice, appreciate, and respond to positive occurrences in life (McCullough et al., 2001, 2002; Wood et al., 2008, 2010).”
Meta‐analysis of the association between gratitude and loneliness
Hittner, J. B., & Widholm, C. D. (2024) · Applied Psychology Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1111/aphw.12549 · Cited by 8
Leader generosity and employee knowledge sharing: an episodic perspective of generalized reciprocity
Yu, W., Qin, X., & Li, M. (2024) · Leadership & Organization Development Journal · doi:10.1108/lodj-02-2024-0142 · Cited by 5
What Is Gratitude and How Can It Be Measured?
Watkins, P. C. (2013) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-7253-3_2 · Cited by 5
Is energy expenditure in emotion regulation dependent on individual differences and the specific emotion in question?
Chow, P. I., Berenbaum, H., & Flores, L. E. (2013) · Motivation and Emotion · doi:10.1007/s11031-013-9357-2 · Cited by 5
“Appreciation (or gratitude) is theorized to facilitate interpersonal relationships and lead to positive appraisals and behaviors (e.g., Adler and Fagley 2005; McCullough et al. 2001).”
Background
Relações entre Desenvolvimento da Gratidão e Tipos de Valores em Jovens
Freitas, L. B. D. L., Tudge, J. R. H., Palhares, F., & Prestes, A. C. (2016) · Psico-USF · doi:10.1590/1413-82712016210102 · Cited by 5
“…a explicitar a importância de se examinar relações entre o desenvolvimento da gratidão – uma virtude moral (Comte-Sponville, 2007; McConnell, 1993; McCullough et al., 2001) – e diferentes tipos de valores em crianças e adolescentes (e.g., La Taille, 2006; Piaget, 1954; 1965/1977), não se…”
Background
Cognitive Appraisal Basis of Gratitude
Ding, R., Zhou, H., & Ma, L. I. N. (2014) · Acta Psychologica Sinica · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1041.2014.01463 · Cited by 5
“…= 0.36X 0.08 3.32*** 回归二 M3 = 0.34X 0.09 3.12** 回归三 Y = 1.55X 0.06 1.55 +0.66 M3 0.08 7.65*** 注：*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 本研究使用故事情境法进一步明确感激情绪体验与不同的认知评价维度之间的关系。在为被试呈现标准的助人故事情境后, 被试的感激情绪体验与受关怀感、道德规范(标准)、他人负责 3 个认知评价维度存在显著正相关关系, 这与我们研究 1 和研究 2 结果一致。本研究还表明感激特质得分越高, 在感受到的关心、道德规范、他人负责 3…”
Influential
Relaciones de género y diferencias entre gratitud y personalidad en estudiantes universitarios de Lima-Perú
Roa-Meggo, Y. (2017) · Psychologia · doi:10.21500/19002386.3101 · Cited by 5
Effect Of Job Satisfaction And Gratitude On Organizational Citizenship Behavior
Fauziyyah, A., & Luzvinda, L. (2018) · Tazkiya Journal of Psychology · doi:10.15408/tazkiya.v22i1.8145 · Cited by 5
Longitudinal development of adolescent academic engagement following the Wenchuan earthquake: Domain-specific trajectories
Zhen, R., Wu, X., & Zhou, X. (2019) · School Psychology International · doi:10.1177/0143034319884615 · Cited by 6
Water the flowers you want to grow? Evidence on private recognition and donor loyalty
Bittschi, B., Dwenger, N., & Rincke, J. (2020) · European Economic Review · doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2020.103624 · Cited by 5
Inapt gratitude: against expansionist views
McConnell, T. (2020) · Zeitschrift für Ethik und Moralphilosophie · doi:10.1007/s42048-020-00086-0 · Cited by 5
Gratitude influences happiness through mindfulness in Korean high school students: the moderated mediation model of grit
Lee, C. S. (2020) · Perspectives of science and education · doi:10.32744/pse.2020.6.26 · Cited by 7
“On the other hand, gratitude is the joyful emotion that comes from recognizing that you have received favor or help from another person, or a positive emotion that you feel after recognizing the value of a particular situation in life, from a person, received from an action, or gained from an object [2; 13].”
Beliren ve Orta Yetişkinlik Dönemindeki Bireylerin Minnettarlık ile İlgili Görüşleri
Uzun, K., & Karataş, Z. (2021) · Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi · doi:10.16953/deusosbil.811831 · Cited by 5
GoGratitude: Using Augmented Reality to Inspire Gratitude
Bunn, B., Colemere, W., Moe, T., Rampton, C., & Hughes, A. (2022) · CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA) · doi:10.1145/3491101.3514491 · Cited by 5
Daily Associations between Helping Behavior, Gratitude, and Selfishness in Members of Alcoholics Anonymous
LaBelle, O. P. (2020) · Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly · doi:10.1080/07347324.2020.1768992 · Cited by 5
Do Social Ties Moderate the Association between Childhood Maltreatment and Gratitude in Older Adults? Results from the NEIGE Study
Doi, S. K., Koyama, Y., Tani, Y., Murayama, H., Inoue, S., Fujiwara, T., & Shobugawa, Y. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph182111082 · Cited by 4
“A previous study reported that some personality traits such as more agreeableness and less narcissism were correlated with higher levels of gratitude [15].”
Result
Gratitud en contextos de riesgo: es posible una relación?
Paludo, S. D. S., & Koller, S. H. (2007) · Psicodebate · doi:10.18682/pd.v7i0.427 · Cited by 6
Gratitude Interventions: Beyond Stress Debriefing and Survivor Therapy in the Aftermath of the Sichuan Earthquake
Chan, D. W. (2008) · Cited by 5
Gratitude et bien-être social : mécanismes explicatifs des effets de la gratitude sur le bien-être individuel et collectif
Shankland, R., & André, C. (2017) · Revue québécoise de psychologie · doi:10.7202/1040770ar · Cited by 9
The Effect of a Gratitude Intervention on Subjective Well-Being in a UK Sample: The Role of Self-Esteem.
Gilek, M. (2010) · ERA · Cited by 5
Understanding older male prisoners' satisfaction with quality of life and wellbeing
de Motte, C. (2015) · Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) · Cited by 5
Offence-related effects and perceptions of forgiveness: Experiences of victims and offenders
Jenkins, T. (2018) · Griffith Research Online · doi:10.25904/1912/1326 · Cited by 6
Psychology of Reciprocal Altruism
Stevens, J. R., & Duque, J. F. (2016) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3051-1 · Cited by 5
The labour of infrastructuring
Smedberg, A. (2022) · doi:10.24834/isbn.9789178773053 · Cited by 7
Utang na loob, perceived parental academic pressure and mental health status among Filipino college students
Dizon, L. J., Abrea, L. M., Cruzada, A. E., Erguiza, S. L., Grape, A. R., & Dela Roca, G. (2025) · Mental Health and Social Inclusion · doi:10.1108/mhsi-11-2024-0206 · Cited by 4
Beyond table manners: Children's gratitude for food and the role of parental socialization
Nguyen, S. P., Seip, I. J., & Longinetti, A. (2024) · Appetite · doi:10.1016/j.appet.2024.107695 · Cited by 4
Gratitude Letters to Natural Places Promote Ecospirituality via Increased Anthropomorphism
Houlihan, A. L., Reed, C. A., & Jacobs, T. P. (2024) · Ecopsychology · doi:10.1089/eco.2024.0036 · Cited by 4
“Receiving benefits from others can evoke feelings of gratitude, as well as indebtedness (McCullough et al., 2001), yet indebtedness differs from gratitude.”
Different feelings make a difference: the daily relationship between feeling trusted, state gratitude and work engagement
Wang, H., Han, Q., & Chen, S. (2025) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-025-07592-7 · Cited by 4
“…positive emo - tion representing the reaction to the benefits or supports that derive from the goodwill and kindness of others (Grant & Gino, 2010 ; McCullough et al., 2001; Spence et al., 2014), which is also called state gratitude (Bartlett & DeSteno, 2006 ; Emmons & Mccullough, 2003) or…”
Influential
Cultural intelligence and pro-environmental behavior: A cross-sectional study on the role of empathy and gratitude
Jin, X., Yong, Z., Yang, X. B., Wang, X. T., & Lin, Z. (2025) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105512 · Cited by 4
Salt in the Wound: A Social Comparison Perspective on Witnessing Coworkers’ Gratitude Expression Toward Supervisors
Hong, S. H., & Thoroughgood, C. N. (2025) · Group & Organization Management · doi:10.1177/10596011251392635 · Cited by 4
Parent-adolescent dyads’ experiences of gratitude activities in a South African context
Ludick, E., & Koen, V. (2021) · Journal of Psychology in Africa · doi:10.1080/14330237.2021.1903693 · Cited by 4

Authors: McCullough, M. E., Kilpatrick, S. D., Emmons, R. A., & Larson, D. B.
Affiliations: Southern Methodist University (US)
University of California, Davis (US)
ORCID: McCullough, Michael E.
Larson, David B.
Venue: Psychological Bulletin
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 2001-03
Volume: 127
Issue: 2
Pages: 249-266
ISSN: 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
1939-1455
DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.127.2.249
OpenAlex: W2014281368
Cited by: 1,698
References: 143
Citations by year: 2026: 76 · 2025: 123 · 2024: 103 · 2023: 117 · 2022: 137 · 2021: 131 · 2020: 125 · 2019: 105 · 2018: 72 · 2017: 82 · 2016: 92 · 2015: 92 · 2014: 90 · 2013: 69 · 2012: 48
FWCI: 15.38
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
Keywords: gratitude, moral emotions, prosocial behavior, empathy, guilt, moral cognition, personality factors
MeSH terms: Affect, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Models, Psychological, Morals, Motivation, Social Behavior

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Is gratitude a moral affect?

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