Grateful Experience and Upstream Reciprocity Behavior

Abstract

In a utilitarian society, advocating gratitude is very important. Gratitude can improve social harmony. Enhancing gratitude should start from education. However, in academic research, some gaps in gratitude have yet to be clarified. The focus of the present study is the relationship between grateful experiences and upstream reciprocity behavior. Past research has shown that gratitude promotes reciprocity but mainly emphasizes mutual help between benefactors and beneficiaries. The present study expands on the concept of upstream reciprocity, which is reciprocating help to a third party instead of returning it to one’s benefactors, to explore whether university students rich in grateful experiences are more likely to display upstream reciprocity behaviors. Using questionnaires, the present study collected a total of 681 valid questionnaires to conduct an empirical study. The present study found grateful experiences of university students enhance their upstream reciprocity behaviors.