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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Prosocial Behavior
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“Gratitude is a complex emotion that generates a pleasant experience for individuals when they receive benefits from others (McCullough et al., 2001).”
Childhood Maltreatment and Gratitude: A Multilevel, Meta-Analytic Review
Zhu, N., Ye, Y., Li, C., Wang, R., & Kong, F. (2023) · Trauma Violence & Abuse · doi:10.1177/15248380231185305 · Cited by 10
“Gratitude is a moral emotion that arises from recognizing the benevolent intentions of others (McCullough et al., 2001; Tsang et al., 2006).”
Background
What Do We Know About the Influence of Believers’ Religiosity on Happiness and Gratitude? – A Perspective for Clinical Practice
Huynh, V.-S., Tran-Thien, G.-P., Nguyen, T.-B., Nguyen, X., Nguyen, V. H. A., & Tran-Chi, V.-L. (2024) · Psychology Research and Behavior Management · doi:10.2147/prbm.s465729 · Cited by 13
“26 Many earlier theories and studies have underlined the intimate relationship between gratitude and religiosity.”
Gratitude promotes prosocial behavior even in uncertain situation
Oguni, R., & Ishii, C. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-65460-z · Cited by 15
From fury to forgiveness: Exploring the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between crisis type, corporate social responsibility fit, and organizational outcomes
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Watkins, P. C., Emmons, R. A., Davis, D. E., & Frederick, M. (2024) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel15101246 · Cited by 19
“In their seminal review of gratitude, McCullough et al. (2001) argued that gratitude was essentially a “moral affect”.”
Self-citation
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“Other scholars (e.g., Fredrickson, 1998, 2001; Keltner & Bonanno, 1997; McCullough et al., 2001) have suggested that expressing positivity in daily life aids in the development of social ties, which people can then draw on in times of need.”
BackgroundResult
Psychometric Evaluation of the Gratitude Toward the Organization Scale
Wnuk, M. (2020) · Central European Management Journal · doi:10.7206/cemj.2658-0845.30 · Cited by 10
“Consistent with this theory, research indicates that gratitude increases trust in others and helps to build and reinforce social bonds (Dunn and Schweitzer, 2005; McCullough et al., 2001), but also improve well-being (Watkins et al., 2003; Emmons and McCullough, 2003).”
BackgroundResultInfluential
Gratitude and Turnover Intention in E-Commerce Startups
Garg, N., Gera, S., & Punia, B. K. (2021) · Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations · doi:10.4018/jeco.2021040103 · Cited by 10
The concept of gratitude in philosophy and psychology: an update
Gulliford, L., & Morgan, B. E. (2021) · Zeitschrift für Ethik und Moralphilosophie · doi:10.1007/s42048-021-00103-w · Cited by 11
From gratitude to injustice: Neurocomputational mechanisms of gratitude-induced injustice
Zhu, R., Xu, Z., Su, S., Feng, C., Luo, Y., Tang, H., Zhang, S., Wu, X., Mai, X., & Liu, C. (2021) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118730 · Cited by 9
Returning thanks to God and others: prosocial consequences of transcendent indebtedness
Nelson, J. M., Hardy, S. A., Tice, D. M., & Schnitker, S. A. (2023) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2023.2190926 · Cited by 10
“To explain the association between gratitude and prosocial behavior, scholars have conceptualized gratitude as a moral emotion (e.g. Haidt, 2003; McCullough et al., 2001).”
Background
Can leader gratitude expression improve employee followership behavior? The role of emotional expression authenticity
Yanghao, Z. H. U., Lirong, L. O. N. G., & Wenxing, L. I. U. (2023) · Acta Psychologica Sinica · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1041.2023.01160 · Cited by 11
“…et al., 2012)、更少的自恋、更有道德(Cheng et al., 2010)，此时员工倾向于与领导者进行更多的人际互动(Liu et al., 2012; Mayer et al., 2009)。因此，感知领导声望可能会影响员工后续的追随行为。具体而言，员工可能表现出勇敢、模范、主动的积极追随行为以此来拥护具有高声望的领导者(Hildreth & Anderson, 2016; Hu et al., 2018)。如在面临困境时与领导者共同努力度过难关、在领导者提出观点时大胆支持和拥护、以及主动为领导者分担工作压力和任务等。此外，Sung 和…”
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Futrell, G. D. (2015) · American Journal of Business and Management · doi:10.11634/216837861504549 · Cited by 10
“McCullough et al. (2001) are among researchers arguing that such an upward spiral of altruistic acts fueled by positive feelings can expand to include third parties not involved in the original exchange; this may (at least in part) explain the perpetuation of tipping as a social norm.”
BackgroundInfluential
The Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Dispositional Positive Emotion Scales
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The financial cost of status signaling: Expansive postural displays are associated with a reduction in the receipt of altruistic donations
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Gratitude mediates perceptions of previous generations’ prosocial behaviors and prosocial attitudes toward future generations
Barnett, M. D., Vleet, S. C. V., & Cantu, C. (2019) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2019.1676459 · Cited by 10

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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