Take Nothing for Granted: Downward Social Comparison and Counterfactual Thinking Increase Adolescents’ State Gratitude for the Little Things in Life

Abstract

While gratitude in adulthood has been widely studied, less is known about gratitude among adolescents, particularly when it comes to its determinants. Previous work suggests that feeling thankful implies some kind of comparative judgment. Given that downward social comparison and downward counterfactual thinking share many similarities, we assumed that both types of comparative thinking would be related to increases in adolescents’ levels of state gratitude. Two scenario-based studies conducted on Romanian high school students are reported. In Study 1, participants read vignettes depicting daily life events which resulted in small benefits for the main characters. Relative to the control group, adolescents in downward social comparison and downward counterfactual thinking conditions felt more grateful and estimated that the benefit was more valuable. In Study 2, we used a pretest–posttest design to test the same hypotheses and to examine whether the experimental manipulation could also be linked to increases in negative affect. Results show that after engaging in downward comparative thinking, participants reported more gratitude, as well as decreased levels of negative emotion. In both studies, the relation between downward comparative thinking and state gratitude was mediated by the perceived value of the benefit. These findings draw attention to the relative nature of gratitude, by pointing to the fact that it can be easily influenced by changes in the reference point with which one compares oneself.