Abstract
We report results of a cross-sectional survey conducted during March–April 2020 which marked the start and escalation of the COVID-19 crisis in Singapore. Our purpose was to examine whether reported feelings of gratitude among Chinese Singaporeans (N = 371; 124 males, 247 females; Mage = 22.54, SDage = 3.63, age range: 18–53 years) could be linked to adaptive responses to the pandemic. The results revealed that gratitude was associated with stronger endorsement of virus-prevention measures (β = 0.25, p = 0.001) that are necessary for protecting the physical health of oneself and others but disruptive to daily lives. Gratitude was also positively related to the tendency to perceive meaningful benefits in the crisis (β = 0.25, p = 0.002). Importantly, demonstrating the uniqueness and robustness of gratitude as a predictor of positive coping in response to the pandemic, these relationships remained significant when controlling for other protective psychological factors (resilience and optimism), emotions, and key demographic variables. Among the emotions measured, gratitude was also reported the most strongly. The findings support theoretical models that gratitude facilitates prosocial inclinations and openness to different ways to support the well-being of others and suggest that in a collectivistic culture, gratitude could be a key resource enabling adaptation to a crisis.
Highlights
Gratitude is a positive emotional response to receiving a positive outcome from another person
Much less is known about the roles that gratitude might play in a major crisis such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, which as of this writing has infected over 44 million people worldwide and taken the lives of over a million victims [4]
We report the first study that examined the relationships between gratitude and endorsement of virus-prevention measures and benefit-finding in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic among a sample of Chinese Singaporeans
Summary
Gratitude is a positive emotional response to receiving a positive outcome from another person. Much less is known about the roles that gratitude might play in a major crisis such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, which as of this writing has infected over 44 million people worldwide and taken the lives of over a million victims [4]. A question in emotion research is whether positive emotions, and gratitude in particular, could continue to function as a protective factor to support adjustment and maintain well-being in a calamity of this severity. We report the first study that examined the relationships between gratitude and endorsement of virus-prevention measures and benefit-finding in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic among a sample of Chinese Singaporeans. Why might investigating the protective function of gratitude [1] during early stages of the pandemic and [2] among the Chinese be important? Why might investigating the protective function of gratitude [1] during early stages of the pandemic and [2] among the Chinese be important? Gratitude is known to predict better
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