Abstract
This study examined the association between gratitude and loneliness across the adult lifespan using a seven-day daily diary study design. The sample consisted of young, middle-aged, and older adults (N = 128; age M = 56.7 years; SD = 18.7 years; range = 24.2–90.2 years; 46% women). A significant Age × Gender × Gratitude interaction effect on loneliness indicated that gratitude and loneliness were negatively associated in general. Results of simple slopes analyses showed that gender differences in loneliness were significant in young adults who were more grateful and in older adults who were less grateful. Women were less lonely than men, on average, and the gender difference was significant for those younger and more grateful, or older and less grateful. Thus, the beneficial effect of gratitude on loneliness differed across age and gender. These findings suggest that the potential benefits of gratitude on social relationships and emotional well-being, such as loneliness, should be examined differentially for men and women and in the context of changing social relationships in the aging process.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The project is registered at the Open Science Framework (OSF). The dataset has been made freely available to ensure greater transparency and better reproducibility. The view-only dataset for blinded peer review can be found here. https://osf.io/wm7sr/?view_only=4eab90bfb430407c826e4f253c188f58
Code Availability
Not applicable.
References
Ahmad, F., Jhajj, A. K., Stewart, D. E., Burghardt, M., & Bierman, A. S. (2014). Single item measures of self-rated mental health: A scoping review. BMC Health Services Research, 14(1), 398. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-14-398
Algoe, S. B., Haidt, J., & Gable, S. L. (2008). Beyond reciprocity: Gratitude and relationships in everyday life. Emotion, 8(3), 425–429. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.8.3.425
Alkozei, A., Smith, R., & Killgore, W. D. S. (2017). Gratitude and subjective wellbeing: A proposal of two causal frameworks. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(5), 1519–1542. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9870-1
Allemand, M., & Hill, P. L. (2016). Gratitude from early adulthood to old age. Journal of Personality, 84(1), 21–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12134
Baltes, M. M., Wahl, H. W., & Schmid-Furstoss, U. (1990). The daily life of elderly Germans: Activity patterns, personal control, and functional health. Journal of Gerontology, 45(4), P173-179. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/45.4.p173
Barta, W. D., Tennen, H., & Litt, M. D. (2012). Measurement reactivity in diary research. In M. R. Mehl & T. S. Conner (Eds.), Handbook of research methods for studying daily life (pp. 108–123). Guilford.
Bartlett, M. Y., & Arpin, S. N. (2019). Gratitude and loneliness: Enhancing health and well-being in older adults. Research on Aging, 41(8), 772–793. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027519845354
Bates, D., Mächler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1), 1–48. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01
Bell, S., & Menec, V. (2015). You don’t want to ask for the help the imperative of independence: Is it related to social exclusion? Journal of Applied Gerontology, 34(3), NP1-21.
Berkman, L. F., Glass, T., Brissette, I., & Seeman, T. E. (2000). From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science and Medicine, 51(6), 843–857. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0277-9536(00)00065-4
Birditt, K. S., & Fingerman, K. L. (2003). Age and gender differences in adults’ descriptions of emotional reactions to interpersonal problems. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 58(4), P237–P245. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.4.P237
Boehm, J. K., Lyubomirsky, S., & Sheldon, K. M. (2011). A longitudinal experimental study comparing the effectiveness of happiness-enhancing strategies in Anglo Americans and Asian Americans. Cognition and Emotion, 25(7), 1263–1272. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2010.541227
Bolger, N., & Zuckerman, A. (1995). A framework for studying personality in the stress process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 890–902. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.69.5.890
Bono, G., & Sender, J. T. (2018). How gratitude connects humans to the best in themselves and in others. Research in Human Development, 15(3–4), 224–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2018.1499350
Bowling, A. (2005). Just one question: If one question works, why ask several? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 59(5), 342. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2004.021204
Braun, L., Göllner, R., Rieger, S., Trautwein, U., & Spengler, M. (2021). How state and trait versions of self-esteem and depressive symptoms affect their Interplay: A longitudinal experimental investigation [Article]. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 120(1), 206–225. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000295
Cacioppo, J. T., Cacioppo, S., & Boomsma, D. I. (2014). Evolutionary mechanisms for loneliness. Cogniton and Emotion, 28(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2013.837379
Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., & Thisted, R. A. (2010). Perceived social isolation makes me sad: 5-year cross-lagged analyses of loneliness and depressive symptomatology in the Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study. Psychology and Aging, 25(2), 453–463. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017216
Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., & Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The quality of American life: Perceptions, evaluations, and satisfactions. Russell Sage Foundation.
Caputo, A. (2015). The relationship between gratitude and loneliness: The potential benefits of gratitude for promoting social bonds. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 11(2), 323–334. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v11i2.826
Carstensen, L. L. (2006). The influence of a sense of time on human development. Science, 312(5782), 1913–1915. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1127488
Carstensen, L. L., Isaacowitz, D. M., & Charles, S. T. (1999). Taking time seriously. A theory of socioemotional selectivity. American Psychologist, 54(3), 165–181. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.54.3.165
Chopik, W. J., Newton, N. J., Ryan, L. H., Kashdan, T. B., & Jarden, A. J. (2019). Gratitude across the life span: Age differences and links to subjective well-being. Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(3), 292–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2017.1414296
Chui, H., & Diehl, M. (2016). Age differences in the effects of self-esteem. GeroPsych, 29(4), 189–200. https://doi.org/10.1024/1662-9647/a000157
Chui, H., Hoppmann, C. A., Gerstorf, D., Walker, R., & Luszcz, M. A. (2014). Social partners and momentary affect in the oldest-old: The presence of others benefits affect depending on who we are and who we are with. Developmental Psychology, 50(3), 728–740. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033896
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbarum Associates.
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum associates.
Cohen, S. (2004). Social relationships and health. American Psychologist, 59(8), 676–684. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.59.8.676
Cregg, D. R., & Cheavens, J. S. (2021). Gratitude interventions: Effective self-help? A meta-analysis of the impact on symptoms of depression and anxiety. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22(1), 413–445. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00236-6
Dickman, S. L., Himmelstein, D. U., & Woolhandler, S. (2017). Inequality and the health-care system in the USA. Lancet, 389(10077), 1431–1441. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(17)30398-7
Diehl, M., & Hay, E. L. (2007). Contextualized self-representations in adulthood. Journal of Personality, 75(6), 1255–1283. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00475.x
English, T., & Carstensen, L. L. (2014). Selective narrowing of social networks across adulthood is associated with improved emotional experience in daily life. Internation Journal of Behavioral Development, 38(2), 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025413515404
Enright, R. D. (1996). Counseling within the forgiveness triad: On forgiving, receiving forgiveness, and self-forgiveness. Counseling and Values, 40(2), 107–126. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-007X.1996.tb00844.x
Finch, W. H., Bolin, J. E., & Kelley, K. (2019). Multilevel modeling using R (2nd ed.). CRC Press.
Fleeson, W. (2017). The production mechanisms of traits: Reflections on two amazing decades. Journal of Research in Personality, 69, 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2017.07.003
Freund, A. M., & Baltes, P. B. (1998). Selection, optimization, and compensation as strategies of life management: Correlations with subjective indicators of successful aging. Psychology and Aging, 13(4), 531–543. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.13.4.531
Frinking, E., Jans-Beken, L., Janssens, M., Peeters, S., Lataster, J., Jacobs, N., & Reijnders, J. (2020). Gratitude and loneliness in adults over 40 years: Examining the role of psychological flexibility and engaged living. Aging & Mental Health, 24(12), 2117–2124. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2019.1673309
Gardner, D. G., Cummings, L. L., Dunham, R. B., & Pierce, J. L. (1998). Single-item versus multiple-item measurement scales: An empirical comparison. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 58(6), 898–915. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164498058006003
Geiser, C., Götz, T., Preckel, F., & Freund, P. A. (2017). States and traits. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 33(4), 219–223. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000413
Goossens, L., Klimstra, T., Luyckx, K., Vanhalst, J., & Teppers, E. (2014). Reliability and validity of the Roberts UCLA Loneliness Scale (RULS-8) with Dutch-speaking adolescents in Belgium. Psychologica Belgica, 54(1), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.ae
Gorsuch, R. L., & McFarland, S. G. (1972). Single vs. Multiple-Item Scales for Measuring Religious Values. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 11(1), 53–64. https://doi.org/10.2307/1384298
Graf, A. S., & Patrick, J. H. (2016). Self-assessed health into late adulthood. GeroPsych, 29(4), 177–187. https://doi.org/10.1024/1662-9647/a000156
Grant, A. M., & Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(6), 946–955. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017935
Hadfield, J. D. (2010). MCMC methods for multi-response generalized linear mixed models: The MCMCglmm R package. Journal of Statistical Software, 33(2), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v033.i02
Hansen, T., & Slagsvold, B. (2015). Late-life loneliness in 11 European countries: Results from the generations and gender survey. Social Indicators Research, 129(1), 445–464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1111-6
Hawkley, L. C. (2015). Loneliness and social embeddedness in old age. In N. A. Pachana (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Geropsychology (pp. 1–8). Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_70-1
Hawkley, L. C., Burleson, M. H., Berntson, G. G., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2003). Loneliness in everyday life: Cardiovascular activity, psychosocial context, and health behaviors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(1), 105–120. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.1.105
Hughes, M. E., Waite, L. J., Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2004). A short scale for measuring loneliness in large surveys: Results from two population-based studies. Research on Aging, 26(6), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027504268574
Idler, E. L., & Benyamini, Y. (1997). Self-rated health and mortality: A review of twenty-seven community studies. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38(1), 21–37. https://doi.org/10.2307/2955359
Iecovich, E., Jacobs, J. M., & Stessman, J. (2011). Loneliness, social networks, and mortality: 18 years of follow-up. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 72(3), 243–263. https://doi.org/10.2190/AG.72.3.e
Jayawickreme, E., Fleeson, W., Beck, E. D., Baumert, A., & Adler, J. M. (2021). Personality dynamics. Personality. Science, 2(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.5964/ps.6179
Jebb, A. T., Morrison, M., Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2020). Subjective well-being around the world: Trends and predictors across the life span. Psychological Science, 31(3), 293–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619898826
Jylhä, M., & Saarenheimo, M. (2010). Loneliness and ageing: Comparative perspectives. In D. Dannefer & C. Phillipson (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of social gerontology (pp. 317–328). SAGE. http://knowledge.sagepub.com/view/hdbk_socialgerontology/n24.xml. Accessed 12 June 2012.
Kashdan, T. B., Mishra, A., Breen, W. E., & Froh, J. J. (2009). Gender differences in gratitude: Examining appraisals, narratives, the willingness to express emotions, and changes in psychological needs. Journal of Personality, 77(3), 691–730. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00562.x
Kuwert, P., Knaevelsrud, C., & Pietrzak, R. H. (2014). Loneliness among older veterans in the United States: Results from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 22(6), 564–569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2013.02.013
Lane, S. P., & Hennes, E. P. (2017). Power struggles: Estimating sample size for multilevel relationships research. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 35(1), 7–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407517710342
Lang, F. R., & Carstensen, L. L. (1994). Close emotional relationships in late life: Further support for proactive aging in the social domain. Psychology and Aging, 9(2), 315–324. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.9.2.315
Larson, R. W. (1990). The solitary side of life: An examination of the time people spend alone from childhood to old age. Developmental Review, 10(2), 155–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/0273-2297(90)90008-r
Lazarus, R. S. (2006). Emotions and interpersonal relationships: Toward a person-centered conceptualization of emotions and coping. Journal of Personality, 74(1), 9–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00368.x
Li, S. C., & Schmiedek, F. (2002). Age is not necessarily aging: Another step towards understanding the ‘clocks’ that time aging. Gerontology, 48, 5–12. https://doi.org/10.1159/000048917
Lorah, J. (2018). Effect size measures for multilevel models: Definition, interpretation, and TIMSS example. Large-Scale Assessments in Education, 6(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40536-018-0061-2
Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, B. M. (2012). Estimating the reliability of single-item life satisfaction measures: Results from four national panel studies. Social Indicators Research, 105(3), 323–331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9783-z
Luhmann, M., & Hawkley, L. C. (2016). Age differences in loneliness from late adolescence to oldest old age. Developmental Psychology, 52(6), 943–959. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000117
Ma, L. K., Tunney, R. J., & Ferguson, E. (2017). Does gratitude enhance prosociality?: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 143(6), 601–635. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000103
Masi, C. M., Chen, H. Y., Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2011). A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce loneliness. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(3), 219–266. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868310377394
McClelland, G. H. (2000). Increasing statistical power without increasing sample size. American Psychologist, 55(8), 963–964. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.8.963
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. J. (2003). Personality in adulthood: A Five-Factor Theory perspective (2nd ed.). Guilford.
McCullough, M. E., & Tsang, J.-A. (2004). Parent of the virtues? In R. A. Emmons & M. E. McCullough (Eds.), The psychology of gratitude (pp. 123–141). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195150100.003.0007
McCullough, M. E., Tsang, J. A., & Emmons, R. A. (2004). Gratitude in intermediate affective terrain: Links of grateful moods to individual differences and daily emotional experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(2), 295–309. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.86.2.295
Meng, Q., Xie, Z., & Zhang, T. (2014, 2014-April-10). A single-item self-rated health measure correlates with objective health status in the elderly: A survey in suburban Beijing [Original Research]. Frontiers in Public Health, 2(27). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2014.00027
Moldovan, C. P. (2017). AM Happy Scale: Reliability and validity of a single-item measure of happiness (Publication Number 438) Loma Linda University ]. http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/438. Accessed 10 Nov 2020.
Nezlek, J. B., Newman, D. B., & Thrash, T. M. (2016). A daily diary study of relationships between feelings of gratitude and well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(4), 323–332. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1198923
Office of National Statistics. (2018, 5 December 2018). Measuring loneliness: Guidance for use of the national indicators on surveys. Retrieved November 12 from https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/methodologies/measuringlonelinessguidanceforuseofthenationalindicatorsonsurveys. Accessed 12 Nov 2020.
Pinheiro, J., Bates, D., DebRoy, S., Sarkar, D., & Team, R. C. (2021). nlme: Linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. In https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=nlme. Accessed 21 Feb 2021.
Pinquart, M., & Sörensen, S. (2003). Risk factors for loneliness in adulthood and old age - A meta-analysis. In S. P. Shohov (Ed.), Advances in psychology research (Vol. 19, pp. 111–143). Nova Science Publishers.
Pinquart, M., & Sörensen, S. (2010). Influences on loneliness in older adults: A meta-analysis. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 23(4), 245–266. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp2304_2
Preacher, K. J., Curran, P. J., & Bauer, D. J. (2006). Computational tools for probing interactions in multiple linear regression, multilevel modeling, and latent curve analysis. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 31(4), 437–448. https://doi.org/10.3102/10769986031004437
Queen, T. L., Stawski, R. S., Ryan, L. H., & Smith, J. (2014). Loneliness in a day: Activity engagement, time alone, and experienced emotions. Psychology and Aging, 29(2), 297–305. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036889
R Core Team. (2021). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. In https://www.R-project.org. Accessed 28 July 2021.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306
Ram, N., & Diehl, M. (2015). Multiple time-scale design and analysis: Pushing towards real-time modeling of complex developmental processes. In M. Diehl, K. Hooker, & M. J. Sliwinski (Eds.), Handbook of intraindividual variability across the life span (pp. 308–323). Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
Reckart, H. (2017). Antecedents of adolescents' gratitude: Personality, social support, and stressful life events (Publication Number 10253290) [Ph.D., University of South Carolina]. https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/4329. Accessed 26 July 2021.
Richard, A., Rohrmann, S., Vandeleur, C. L., Schmid, M., Barth, J., & Eichholzer, M. (2017). Loneliness is adversely associated with physical and mental health and lifestyle factors: Results from a Swiss national survey. PLoS ONE, 12(7), e0181442. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181442
Roberts, R. C. (2004). The blessings of gratitude: A conceptual analysis. In R. A. Emmons & M. E. McCullough (Eds.), The Psychology of Gratitude (pp. 58–78). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195150100.003.0004
Robertson, S. M. C., & Swickert, R. J. (2018). The stories we tell: How age, gender, and forgiveness affect the emotional content of autobiographical narratives. Aging & Mental Health, 22(4), 535–543. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2016.1269149
Robins, R. W., Hendin, H. M., & Trzesniewski, K. H. (2001). Measuring global self-esteem: Construct validation of a single-item measure and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(2), 151–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167201272002
Rook, K. S., & Charles, S. T. (2017). Close social ties and health in later life: Strengths and vulnerabilities. American Psychologist, 72(6), 567–577. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000104
Rook, K. S., Mavandadi, S., Sorkin, D. H., & Zettel, L. A. (2007). Optimizing social relationships as a resource for health and well-being in later life. In C. M. Aldwin, C. L. Park, & A. Spiro (Eds.), Psychology of health psychology and aging (pp. 267–285). Guilford.
Russell, D. W. (1996). UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66(1), 20–40. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa6601_2
Salces-Cubero, I. M., Ramírez-Fernández, E., & Ortega-Martínez, A. R. (2019). Strengths in older adults: Differential effect of savoring, gratitude and optimism on well-being. Aging and Mental Health, 23(8), 1017–1024. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1471585
Sallinen, M., Mengshoel, A. M., & Solbrække, K. N. (2019). I can’t have it; I am a man A young man! Men, fibromyalgia and masculinity in a Nordic context. Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being, 14(1), 1676974. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2019.1676974
Santini, Z. I., Fiori, K. L., Feeney, J., Tyrovolas, S., Haro, J. M., & Koyanagi, A. (2016). Social relationships, loneliness, and mental health among older men and women in Ireland: A prospective community-based study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 204, 59–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.06.032
Saviola, F., Pappaianni, E., Monti, A., Grecucci, A., Jovicich, J., & De Pisapia, N. (2020). Trait and state anxiety are mapped differently in the human brain. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 11112. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68008-z
Shrout, P. E., & Lane, S. P. (2011). Psychometrics. In M. R. Mehl & T. S. Conner (Eds.), Handbook of research methods for studying daily life (pp. 302–320). Guilford.
Snijders, T. A. B. (2005). Power and sample size in multilevel linear models. In B. S. Everitt & D. C. Howell (Eds.), Encyclopedia of statistics in behavioral science (Vol. 3, pp. 1570–1573). Wiley.
Stack, S. (1998). Marriage, family and loneliness: A cross-national study. Sociological Perspectives, 41(2), 415–432. https://doi.org/10.2307/1389484
Steele, R. (2013). Model selection for multilevel models. In M. A. Scott, J. S. Simonoff, & B. D. Marx (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of multilevel modeling (pp. 109–126). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446247600
Swickert, R. J., Rosentreter, C. J., Hittner, J. B., & Mushrush, J. E. (2002). Extraversion, social support processes, and stress. Personality and Individual Differences, 32(5), 877–891. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00093-9
Trampe, D., Quoidbach, J., & Taquet, M. (2015). Emotions in everyday life. PLoS ONE, 10(12), e0145450–e0145450. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0145450
van der Krieke, L., Emerencia, A. C., Bos, E. H., Rosmalen, J. G., Riese, H., Aiello, M., Sytema, S., & de Jonge, P. (2015). Ecological momentary assessments and automated time series analysis to promote tailored health care: A proof-of-principle study. Journal of Medical Internet Research Research Protocols, 4(3), e100. https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.4000
Von Dras, D. D., & Siegler, I. C. (1997). Stability in extraversion and aspects of social support at midlife. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(1), 233–241. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.72.1.233
Watkins, P. C. (2014). Gratitude and the good life. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7253-3
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063
Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: a review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(7), 890–905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.005
Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Stewart, N., Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2008). A social-cognitive model of trait and state levels of gratitude. Emotion, 8(2), 281–290. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.8.2.281
Zuckerman, M. (1983). The distinction between trait and state scales is not arbitrary: Comment on Allen and Potkay’s On the arbitrary distinction between traits and states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(5), 1083–1086. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.5.1083
Funding
The research presented in this article was supported by grants R01 AG09203, R01 AG021147, R56 AG021147, and R01 AG051723 from the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (Principal Investigator: Name blinded for masked review).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of Interest
We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chui, H., Diehl, M. Gratitude and loneliness in daily life across the adult lifespan. Curr Psychol 42, 11793–11808 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02488-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02488-8