Poster Presentation 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Gratitude Facilitates Academic Motivation, Engagement, And Achievement: Cross-Sectional, Longitudinal, And Experimental Evidence (#631)

Ronnel B King 1 , Jesus A Datu 1
  1. The Education University of Hong Kong, 大埔, 新界, Hong Kong

Previous research on gratitude has mostly focused on its effects on well-being. However, scant attention has been paid to how gratitude is associated with key learning-related outcomes. The
aim of this series of studies was to examine how gratitude is associated with students' motivation, engagement, and achievement. Study 1, a cross-sectional study, found that gratitude was positively associated with higher levels of autonomous motivation and engagement in school.  Study 2, a longitudinal study, found that gratitude was concurrently and prospectively associated with autonomous motivation as well as self-reported and teacher-reported engagement, and academic achievement. Study 3, an experimental study, showed that students who were in the gratitude condition perceived themselves to be more engaged (Cohen's d ranging from 0.58 to 0.63) compared to those in the control condition. The three studies provided converging evidence that grateful students have better learning-related outcomes. This paper advances the literature on gratitude which has seldom explored its implication to motivational and learning in school. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.