Assessment of gratitude and well-being and their relationship: influence of select demographic variables

Abstract

Gratitude is the appreciation of what is valuable and meaningful to oneself and represents a general state of thankfulness and/or appreciation. Wellness refers to diverse and interconnected dimensions of physical, mental, and social well-being that extend beyond the traditional definition of health. Wellness has been an area of interest in the field of research for a long time. The present study explores the extent of gratitude and well-being among the selected sample and to find out the relationship between gratitude and well-being. The sample consisted of 396 respondents, of which 202 were aged 16-25 and 193 samples aged 26-40. Their statuses being student, employed and unemployed samples. The scales used to measure gratitude and well-being are the Gratitude Questionnaire-six item form (GQ-6, McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002) and Well-being Index by WHO (1998). The data was analyzed using chi-square test, product moment correlation, Independent samples t test and one-way ANOVA. The results revealed that majority of the sample had low gratitude and wellbeing.  There was a positive correlation between gratitude and well-being. Respondents in the age group of 16-25 years had higher gratitude scores than respondents in the age group of 26-40 years. Students had higher gratitude scores, followed employed samples and unemployed respondents had least gratitude. In wellbeing, unemployed samples had higher well-being, followed by employed samples and students had least well-being.