Every human being has some experience of giving and receiving. Although this is a universal reality which exceeds culture, religion and ethnicity, it is only recently that research has begun to focus on the subject of gratitude. This article seeks to analyze gratitude from the perspective of modern psychological research. Specifically, it examines obstacles to the expression of gratitude and suggests strategies to enhance it. The research literature clearly supports the important role that gratitude plays in many areas of life, especially with regard to well-being, health, coping with stress, and cultivating pro-social relationships. It is very important to know what contributes to disturbances in experiencing and expressing gratitude, as well as factors that enhance it.
The main aim of the current study was to examine whether and how life satisfaction is related to propensity to forgive one’s transgressor. Additionally, it also explored the relationship between life satisfaction and other chosen psychological variables, such as optimism and gratitude. The study involved 338 persons between 16 and 83 years of age. For the measurement of psychological variables the following research tools were used: Satisfaction With Life Scale, Transgression- Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory, Gratitude Questionnaire, and Learned Optimism Test. Among the study participants satisfaction with life was positively correlated with the conviction about a permanent and ubiquitous nature of positive events, optimism and gratitude. The study also observed a negative correlation between satisfaction with life, the motivation for revenge and avoidance motivation, and the perception of a permanent and ubiquitous nature of adverse events.
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