Instructional support decreases desirability and initiation of a gratitude intervention

Abstract

Gratitude interventions tend to be effective at increasing well-being, yet they are not commonly initiated and completed. Prior experimental evidence suggests that provision of social support (i.e., supportive and encouraging statements) increases the effectiveness of positive psychological interventions. The type of support, however, may differentially impact motivation. In the current study, we hypothesized that instructional support (i.e., advice about how to best conduct the intervention) increases the desirability of a gratitude intervention and the probability of initiation. 274 participants received leaflets about a voluntary, web-based gratitude intervention. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to receive instructional support in which they read testimonials on how to best conduct the intervention. Next, participants were asked about utility beliefs, social norm beliefs, self-control beliefs, and intentions to participate in the intervention. Contrary to our hypothesis, provision of instructional support decreased desirability of the gratitude intervention, which indirectly hindered intentions to participate in the intervention. Thus, informing recipients about how to navigate an intervention had a paradoxical effect. It may be more effective to allow participants to recognize and handle intervention challenges on their own.