Grateful disposition and individual health

In recent years research in some areas of psychology, including clinical and personality, has found the importance of the grateful disposition for the understanding of different aspect of well-being. In spite of it, in the field of health psychology the role of gratitude remains understudied. Although some scientifically based interventions aimed at inducing gratitude has shown to improve the health, the mechanisms that explain the relationship between gratitude and health are not yet fully understood. The present study analyzed the relationship between the grateful disposition and some indicators of individual health (positive orientation, sleep and wake quality and psychological well-being) and the differences between subjects with high and low levels of disposizional gratitude with respect to these parameters. The study involved 172 university students (42 males, 130 females, mean age=21.16, DS=3.3) who were given four questionnaires measuring the variables of interest. The results show significant correlations between grateful disposition and the indicators of individual health and confirmed significant differences between subjects with high and low dispositional gratitude compared to almost all the considered variables. These results provide data on the role of gratitude useful for the improvement of some indices relating to individual well-being, at the same time highlighting its importance in the context of health psychology.

Keywords: Gratitude, positive orientation, sleep, wake, psychological well-being.

Teresa Menafra, Paolo Melani, Pio Enrico Ricci Bitti, Disposizione alla gratitudine e salute individuale in "PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE" 1/2021, pp 99-119, DOI: 10.3280/PDS2021-001007