Secular and Spiritual Gratitude: Impacts on Mood, Stress, Spirituality and Sense of Gratitude

Kendall Clausen; Jalen Denhartog; Tobias Snow; Loren Toussaint

doi:10.21697/fp.2024.1.6

Opublikowane: 2024-07-10

Tom 14 Nr 1 (2024)

Secular and spiritual gratitude writing exercises benefit gratitude, stress, positive mood, and spirituality

Kendall Clausen , Jalen Denhartog , Tobias Snow , Loren Toussaint

Forum Pedagogiczne

Dział: Dział tematyczny

https://doi.org/10.21697/fp.2024.1.6%20%20

Abstrakt

This study examined the hypothesis that writing a secularly- or spiritually-oriented gratitude letter would show benefits for levels of gratitude, stress, mood, and spirituality. Participants (N = 57) wrote a secular or spiritual gratitude letter or wrote about food they ate that day (control condition). Results largely confirmed the hypotheses. Gratitude, positive affect, and spirituality were all enhanced because of either letter-writing exercise. Spiritual gratitude letter writing, however, did not preferentially enhance spirituality, as compared to secular gratitude letter writing. Only secular gratitude letter writing reduced stress levels, as compared to the control group. No group differences were observed on negative affect. Both spiritually- and secularly-based gratitude exercises enhanced gratitude, positive affect, and spirituality. Consequently, tailoring gratitude interventions to suit an individual’s spiritual or secular orientations does not differentially impact outcomes. Practitioners of gratitude for wellness, mood uplift, and spirituality should choose their preferred methods without concern for effectiveness.

Inne teksty tego samego autora

Martyna Czarnecka, Mariola Żelazkowska, Loren Toussaint , Communication Disorders Resulting from School Violence: Challenges in Education for Peace , Forum Pedagogiczne: Tom 13 Nr 2 (2023): Wychowanie do pokoju. Między tradycją, ponowoczesnością a nowymi wyzwaniami

Pobierz pliki

pdf (English)

Zasady cytowania

Clausen, K., Denhartog, J., Snow, T., & Toussaint, L. (2024). Secular and spiritual gratitude writing exercises benefit gratitude, stress, positive mood, and spirituality. Forum Pedagogiczne, 14(1), 75–83. https://doi.org/10.21697/fp.2024.1.6

Cited by / Share

Licencja

Utwór dostępny jest na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa – Bez utworów zależnych 4.0 Międzynarodowe.

Bibliografia

Boehm, J. K., Dickerhoof, R., Lyubomirsky, S., and Sheldon, K. M. (2011). Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: An experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being. Emotion, 11(2), 391-402. DOI: 10.1037/a0022575
Google Scholar

Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404
Google Scholar

Delaney, C. (2005). The Spirituality Scale: Development and Psychometric Testing of a Holistic Instrument to Assess the Human Spiritual Dimension. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 23(2), 145-166. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0898010105276180
Google Scholar

Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377
Google Scholar

Krause, N., Evans, L. A., Powers, G., and Hayward, R. D. (2012). Feeling grateful to god: a qualitative inquiry. Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(2), pp. 119-130. URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17439760.2012.656691
Google Scholar

Llenares, I. I., Deocaris, C. C., Espanolac, M. and Sario, J. A. (2020). Gratitude moderates the relationship between happiness and resilience. International Journal of Emotional Education, 12(2), 103-108. URL: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/65091
Google Scholar

Naser Aghababaei & Mohammad Taghi Tabik (2013) Gratitude and mental health: differences between religious and general gratitude in a muslim context. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 16(8), 761-766, DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2012.718754
Google Scholar

Naser Aghababaei & Farahani, H. (2011). The Role of Trait Gratitude in Predicting Psychological and Subjective Well-being. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285000813
Google Scholar

Nelson, S. K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2016). Gratitude. Encyclopedia of Mental Health, pp. 277-280. DOI:10.1016/B978-0-12-397045-9.00040-9
Google Scholar

Pennebaker, J. (1997). Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Association for Psychological Science, 8(3), 162-166. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40063169
Google Scholar

Rosmarin, D. H., Pirutinsky, S., Cohen, A. B., Galler, Y. and Krumrei, E. J. (2011). Grateful to God or just plain grateful? A comparison of religious and general gratitude. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(5), 389-396. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2011.596557
Google Scholar

Toepfer, S. & Walker, K. (2009). Letters of gratitude: improving well-being through expressive writing. Journal of Writing Research, 1(3), 181-198. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276486329
Google Scholar

Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063-1070. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063
Google Scholar

Kendall Clausen

Afiliacja:

a:1:{s:5:"pl_PL";s:7:"Student";} Stany Zjednoczone

Jalen Denhartog

clauke01@luther.edu