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Does Gratitude Prevent Negative Affectivity?

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Gratitude and the Good Life

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Abstract

In this chapter I argue that gratitude counteracts negative affectivity. Specifically, I argue that gratitude contravenes depression and other emotional disorders. I first show that trait gratitude and depression are negatively associated in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Furthermore, several experimental studies have shown that gratitude interventions reduce depression symptoms. I then explore how gratitude contravenes depression. I suggest several mechanisms whereby gratitude might counteract the maladaptive processes in depression such as enhancing the enjoyment of activities, enhancing the awareness of pleasant events, counteracting rumination, encouraging positive reappraisal of negative events, and enhancing relationships. I go on to argue that Crocker’s motivational orientation theory provides a parsimonious account of how gratitude contravenes depression: gratitude moves one from egosystem to ecosystem.

Self-pity, a shabby historian, considers and remembers the past only to feed the injustice of the moment and to avoid doing anything about it.

–Eugene Peterson (1996, p. 102)

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  1. Department of Psychology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA, USA

    Philip C. Watkins

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Watkins, P.C. (2014). Does Gratitude Prevent Negative Affectivity?. In: Gratitude and the Good Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7253-3_10

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