Abstract
Self-transcendent feelings such as gratitude, compassion, and awe are highly relevant for human societies. So far, empirical research has focused more on the relational aspects of these feelings (concrete persons), and less on the spiritual aspects referring to the Sacred in a person’s life. We intended to validate an extended version of the former three-item Gratitude/Awe scale. This extended scale was designed with a focus on the experiential aspects of being moved and touched by certain moments and places/nature, on related reactions of pausing with daily activities, and on the subsequent feelings of awe and gratitude. Enrolling 183 test persons (67% women; 59% with a Christian confession) in a cross-sectional study, we can confirm that the seven-item Gratitude/Awe scale (GrAw-7) has good psychometric properties (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.82) and moderate correlation (r = 0.42) with grateful disposition (GQ-6 questionnaire). Structured equation modeling (SEM) confirmed that both constructs, although moderately related, are different. While Gratitude/Awe was best predicted by the frequency of meditation practice, a grateful disposition was best predicted by the frequency of praying and by general life satisfaction. The GrAw-7 scale is not contaminated with specific religious topics or quality of life issues, and can be easily implemented in larger studies.
Highlights
Self-transcendent feelings such as gratitude, compassion, and awe (Stellar et al 2017) may have an influence on the social behavior of individuals and social groups
In contrast to the GQ-6, which addresses a person’s grateful disposition and is moderately related to life satisfaction (BMLSS) and weakly related to wellbeing (WHO-5), the Gratitude/Awe scale is not significantly related to life satisfaction and only weakly associated with wellbeing as well (Table 3)
This study confirms that the extended version of the Gratitude/Awe scale (GrAw-7) has good psychometric properties (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.82) and sound correlation with external measures, with grateful disposition
Summary
Self-transcendent feelings such as gratitude, compassion, and awe (Stellar et al 2017) may have an influence on the social behavior of individuals and social groups. Argued that “self-transcendent emotions help individuals form enduring commitments to kin, nonkin, and social collectives”. This perspective emphasizes that they are highly relevant for human societies, and empirical research so far focuses much more on the relational aspects than on the ‘self-transcendent’. Feelings can be seen as the mind’s interpretations of bodily perceptions and emotions (which arise in the amygdala). It is difficult to differentiate whether gratitude and awe are emotional perceptions or feelings
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