Gratitude and Hope among College Students with Low and High Life Satisfaction

Abstract

The present study investigated the levels of gratitude and hope among college students exhibiting low and high life satisfaction. The primary objective was to examine whether students with differing levels of life satisfaction also differed in their experience of these positive psychological traits. The study sample comprised male and female undergraduate students, aged 18 to 21 years, enrolled in both government and private colleges. A between-group research design with purposive sampling was adopted. Initially, the General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Williams, 1988) was administered to identify and exclude participants with probable psychological pathology. Participants scoring below the cutoff on the GHQ were subsequently assessed using the Life Satisfaction Scale (Diener et al., 1985) to classify them into low and high life satisfaction groups. Following this classification, both groups completed the Adult Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991) and the Gratitude Scale (McCullough et al., 2002) to measure their respective levels of hope and gratitude. Statistical analysis using independent sample ‘t’ tests was conducted to determine the significance of group differences. The findings revealed that students with high life satisfaction reported significantly higher levels of hope and gratitude compared to their peers with low life satisfaction. These findings emphasize the close association between life satisfaction and positive psychological traits, highlighting the importance of interventions aimed at enhancing life satisfaction to foster hope and gratitude.