B3954 - Understanding the Relationship Between Gratitude and Meaning in Life in the ALSPAC Cohort Study - 27/01/2022
This project will investigate the relationship between gratitude and meaning in life. There is a large body of evidence demonstrating a positive association between gratitude and wellbeing (Sansone & Sansone, 2010; Wood et al., 2010). However, research into the relationship between gratitude and specific aspects of wellbeing, namely eudaimonic wellbeing, is lacking. Eudaimonic wellbeing refers to the extent to which someone is fully functioning, focusing on meaning and self-realisation (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Meaning in life is a key indicator of eudaimonic wellbeing, therefore by investigating the predictive relationship between gratitude and meaning in life, this study will enable insights into the relationship between gratitude and eudaimonic wellbeing. In addition, this study aims to investigate whether the relationship between gratitude and meaning in life is stronger in some individuals than others, such that this study will investigate the moderating role of gender, qualification, and childhood socioeconomic status. The potential moderating role of these variables will be investigated because there is evidence suggesting that gender moderates the willingness to express gratitude, with men being less likely to feel and express gratitude than women (Kashdan et al., 2009). Additionally, there is evidence that measures of childhood socioeconomic status are associated with wellbeing, with more disadvantaged childhood socioeconomic status being associated with worse mental wellbeing at middle-age (Wood et al., 2021). Finally, there is mixed evidence regarding the relationship between educational attainment and wellbeing (Nikolaev, 2018). Time permitting, this study will also explore how the relationship between gratitude and eudaimonic wellbeing differs to the relationship between gratitude and hedonic wellbeing. Hedonic wellbeing focuses on pleasure and happiness (Ryan & Deci, 2001), and will be measured by subjective happiness and life satisfaction. Overall, this study will provide implications for gratitude interventions, which are increasingly being advocated to improve wellbeing (Rash et al., 2011). This research will enable conclusions to be made regarding who is likely to receive the optimum benefit from gratitude interventions, based on the findings of the moderation analysis.