The DOI matches its Crossref record; 61 of the 61 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
A little thanks goes a long way: explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior
Abstract
Although research has established that receiving expressions of gratitude increases prosocial behavior, little is known about the psychological mechanisms that mediate this effect. We propose that gratitude expressions can enhance prosocial behavior through both agentic and communal mechanisms, such that when helpers are thanked for their efforts, they experience stronger feelings of self-efficacy and social worth, which motivate them to engage in prosocial behavior. In Experiments 1 and 2, receiving a brief written expression of gratitude motivated helpers to assist both the beneficiary who expressed gratitude and a different beneficiary. These effects of gratitude expressions were mediated by perceptions of social worth and not by self-efficacy or affect. In Experiment 3, we constructively replicated these effects in a field experiment: A manager's gratitude expression increased the number of calls made by university fundraisers, which was mediated by social worth but not self-efficacy. In Experiment 4, a different measure of social worth mediated the effects of an interpersonal gratitude expression. Our results support the communal perspective rather than the agentic perspective: Gratitude expressions increase prosocial behavior by enabling individuals to feel socially valued.
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“For example, social relational emotions including compassion, gratitude and awe support an individual's capacity to connect with others and are powerful determinants of prosocial behavior (Bartlett and DeSteno, 2005; Grant and Gino, 2010; Lindsay and Creswell, 2014; Stellar et al., 2017).”
From The Complex Construct of Wellbeing and the Role of Vagal Function (2022) · cites this paper as Grant and Gino, 2010
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Two-condition within-participant statistical mediation analysis: A path-analytic framework.
Montoya, A. K., & Hayes, A. F. (2016) · Psychological Methods · doi:10.1037/met0000086 · Cited by 1,004
Find, Remind, and Bind: The Functions of Gratitude in Everyday Relationships
Algoe, S. B. (2012) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2012.00439.x · Cited by 897
Stellar, J. E., Gordon, A. M., Piff, P. K., Cordaro, D., Anderson, C. L., Bai, Y., Maruskin, L. A., & Keltner, D. (2017) · Emotion Review · doi:10.1177/1754073916684557 · Cited by 696
Bolino, M. C., & Grant, A. M. (2016) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/19416520.2016.1153260 · Cited by 682
Self-citationToo Much of a Good Thing: The Challenge and Opportunity of the Inverted U
Grant, A. M., & Schwartz, B. (2011) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691610393523 · Cited by 668
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Metadata
- Authors
- Grant, A. M., & Gino, F.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- ORCID
- Grant, Adam M.
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2010-06
- Volume
- 98
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 946-955
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2112504820
- Cited by
- 870
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 67 · 2025: 86 · 2024: 82 · 2023: 69 · 2022: 78 · 2021: 77 · 2020: 76 · 2019: 75 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 28.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychology of Social Influence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- gratitude expression, prosocial behavior, social worth, self-efficacy, helping behavior, social values
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Communication, Emotions, Female, Helping Behavior, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Motivation, Reinforcement, Psychology, Social Behavior, Social Identification, Social Values, Self Efficacy, Young Adult
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