Grateful Exchange Process: A Theoretical Framework of Gratitude in Workplace Relationships

Abstract

The grateful exchange process is a theoretical framework that advances the academic conversations on the role of emotions in social exchanges and the role of gratitude in the workplace. The grateful exchange process is an emotional process model around the emergence and consequences of gratitude in interpersonal relationships within organizational settings. The central contribution of the framework revolves around the deeper understanding of the emotion of gratitude as central to reciprocity in social exchange processes. As such, it advances social exchange theory by concurrently focusing on the emotional response to social exchanges and the consequences of those emotions (Lawler, 2001; Molm, 2010); by directly examining the exchange process, opening the “black box” of social exchange (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005); and by providing a priori predictions of how individuals can be expected to behave within specific social exchanges processes (Cropanzano, Anthony, Daniels, & Hall, 2017). Individual (i.e. social worth, prosocial behavior) and relationship (i.e. relationship quality, cohesion, trust) level outcomes are incorporated and discussed, providing interesting avenues for future research. In addition, this article offers a brief historical-intellectual review of gratitude, and a clarification of the concept, providing a well-defined typology of gratitude.