Assessing influences on gratitude experience: Age-related differences in how gratitude is understood and experienced

As theoretical and empirical work on gratitude continues to thrive, especially in the fields of psychology, philosophy and education, there has been an increased interest in how this construct develops, as this volume attests. Indeed, the development of gratitude is a complicated issue, and that is because gratitude itself is complex and multifaceted; it comprises emotional, affective and behavioural components and requires cognitive reasoning to understand the intentions and motivations behind benefaction and any potential reciprocation (see Gulliford, Morgan, & Kristjánsson, 2013, for a review of gratitude’s many contours). It is largely agreed that gratitude is not inbuilt; instead it develops over time, as certain capacities become available and cognitive abilities mature. The idea that gratitude is learned and honed over time is particularly salient if it is viewed as a moral virtue (Carr, 2013; Tudge, Freitas, & O’Brien, 2015; Wellman, 1999). Virtues, like skills, require a great deal of practice and may not be achieved even in adulthood (Annas, 2011). We have argued elsewhere (Morgan & Gulliford, 2015; Morgan, Gulliford, & Carr, 2015) that gratitude, in an Aristotelian sense, requires the holder to have developed a finely tuned ability to understand when gratitude is called for based on the specific situation at hand; in addition, there are many elements to be considered, such as the intention and effort on behalf of the benefactor, the value of the benefit, the presence of conflicting emotions, and the role of duty (see also Gulliford & Morgan, 2016). Understanding the motivations behind a benefaction, and then knowing what the appropriate response is (including whether or how to reciprocate), therefore requires a great deal of cognitive effort and careful reasoning. In line with the idea that gratitude matures along a developmental trajectory, the first known study of gratitude development (in 1938) evidenced various types of gratitude, with children demonstrating more sophisticated types of gratitude as they get older. Baumgarten-Tramer (1938) asked 7- to 15-year-old children from Switzerland to describe their greatest wish and what they would do for the person who granted that wish, with the latter question implicitly allowing participants to express their hypothetical gratitude towards a benefactor. The coding of responses to these questions gave rise to distinct types of gratitude, starting with the simplest form of gratitude, “verbal gratitude.” As the name suggests, this refers to expressions of gratitude and was evident across all ages in the study.