Longitudinal Relationship between Gratitude and Benign/Malicious Envy: Evidence from a Cross-Lagged Analysis

Liying Zhang,Lijun Yang

doi:10.32604/ijmhp.2022.018640

Abstract

Though prior research has identified that gratitude is associated with benign/malicious envy (BeMaS). The purpose of this study was to explore the causal relationship between gratitude and BeMaS among Chinese adolescents. The two-wave study, in which 906 adolescents participated, includes measurements of gratitude and BeMaS. We employed the structural equation models to test the cross-lagged effect between trait gratitude and BeMaS. The results showed that gratitude could positively predict benign envy and could negatively predict malicious envy. Besides, there was no evidence for the reverse or reciprocal relationships between gratitude and BeMaS. The findings provide further evidence about the causal relationship between gratitude and BeMaS among adolescents. Moreover, these results have implications for gratitude interventions that promote the constructive meaning of envy and reduce the negative influence of envy.

Highlights

With positive psychology booming, researchers have focused on trait gratitude [1,2,3]
To explore the predictive causality relationship between gratitude and benign/malicious envy, the present research conducted a longitudinal study between gratitude and benign/malicious envy in Chinese adolescents
Our findings revealed that gratitude was a certain positive predictor of benign envy and a dependable negative predictor of malicious envy in Chinese adolescents, which supported Hypothesis 1

Summary

Introduction

Researchers have focused on trait gratitude [1,2,3]. Trait gratitude is a positive outlook, which refers to an orientation to notice the positive outcomes that one obtains [4]. Trait gratitude positively affects the well-being of adolescents, such as life satisfaction and positive affect [5]. Trait gratitude is associated with less negative emotion, such as envy [6]. Given all this, based on the broaden-and-build theory, the present study aimed to explore the causal relationship between gratitude and two types of envy among adolescents from a longitudinal perspective. The cross-lagged study can enrich the research of gratitude and envy and find appropriate interventions that reduce the negative influence of envy, and improve well-being among adolescents

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Conclusion