Q1. Difference between gratitude and indebtedness?

The Oxford dictionary defines gratitude as the characteristics or state of being thankful by the
party receiving kindness, appreciation of the good intentions of the benefactor, and intention to
return the favor (Emmons, 2004, 2007). Emmons and Crumpler identified gratitude as an
emotion which is felt when one has been the beneficiary of an altruistic act that is perceived as
positive by a benefactor who is liked (Heider, 1958). Gratitude has been found to have multitude
of benefits, both interpersonal and intrapersonal. Intrapersonally, the psychological perspective
of gratitude has been found to improve one’s individual subjective wellbeing (Emmons &
Shelton, 2002; Fredrickson, 2004; Lazarus & Lazarus, 1994), and are more prone to experience
positive emotions (e.g. happiness) and negatively linked negative feelings such as regret,
disappointment and frustration (Roberts, 2004). In terms of interpersonal aspects, feelings of
gratitude have been closely linked to giving help as well as receiving help (Barlett & DeStenno,
2006; McCullough et al, 2002).
Indebtedness, on the other hand, is characterized as having a negative reaction to helping
behaviour : one that might involve bitterness and resentment (Gergen et al. 1975). The intrinsic
feature of indebtedness has been defined as a state of obligation to repay another in context of a
receipt of benefit from another (Greenberg, 1980).
In understanding the differences between gratitude and indebtedness, one has to understand the
antecedent, the experience and the consequences of both of these constructs. Where some
psychologists have suggested that these components are interchangeably interactive in nature,
certain distinctions have also been found with regards to how each of these psychological states
are experienced and what attributes tend to affect them.
In terms of the difference,
● Greenberg suggests that ​indebtedness is an emotional state characterized by “arousal and
discomfort”, which motivates an individual to find opportunities to reduce this state of
discomfort. ​Gratitude has been defined as a “a feeling of thankful appreciation for
favours received” (Guralnik, 1971) and is often experienced as a happy state (Gallup,
1998). Therefore, people’s experience of both these states vary in their minds (Gray et al.
2011)

In attempting to understand the antecedent of each of the psychological constructs,

● The frequency of exchange and the level of intimacy of the relationship that helpers and
help recipients share (Bar-Tal et al. 1977) also determines whether the recipient is
predisposed to feel indebtedness or gratitude towards the benefactor. Considering in close
relationships, people may start taking the benefits consistent and expected with the
helpers role (Bar-Tal et al. 1977) and consequently take favours for granted (Heider.
1958); could lead to development of terms of exchange (Rousseau & Parks, 1993),
appropriate ways of responding to act of assistance and time frame of reciprocation, in
turn developing a sense of indebtedness. Whereas the opposite stands true for help
 received from a stranger, considering there are fewer opportunities of interaction in
future, and the unexpectedness of the benefit produces higher chances of experiencing
gratitude for the recipient.
● The intention behind the benefit on behalf of the beneficiary is taken into consideration
as well the attitude towards the benefactor. Research suggests that accepting a rival’s gift
often indicates a lowered status and an obligation to return that gift with interest
(Strathern, 1971). This could indicate that benefits from dialiked benefactors are often
considered to often arouse a sense of ​indebtedness for the beneficiaries, as they are more
likely to believe that such kindness stems from desire to humiliate them (Ames et al,
2004). A benefactor’s motive for helping contributes to the recipient's overall liking of
the benefactor (Schopler & Thompson, 1968). Therefore, ​gratitude is more likely to be
present when the recipient believes the benefactor’s motivation for helping is concern for
the recipient, thus increasing the overall likeability of the benefactor.

In understanding the consequences of the psychological constructs,

● One of the major distinctions between gratitude and indebtedness is the consequence of
reciprocation. It is hypothesized that people will view acts of reciprocation in more exact
precise terms when they experience indebtedness and more imprecise and social terms
when they experience gratitude (Schaumburg & Flynn, 2015). Considering a big favour
elicits relatively weaker feelings of indebtedness, and a small favour generally elicits a
stronger feelings of indebtedness. Given that the cost incurred by the recipient drives the
amount of indebtedness, the magnitude and the type of reciprocation also becomes
critical, since indebtedness motivates the individuals to reciprocate the “the exact
amount” of the benefit. Similar to the amount of reciprocation, indebted individuals may
prefer to aid their benefactors in the same fashion and form their benefactors aided them.
This allows them to free themselves of the aversive state of indebtedness. In a similar
sense, grateful people may not only be less concerned about the acts of reciprocation but
also the form of reciprocation as they view this opportunity as a means to build rapport,
rather than a means of wiping their outstanding debt.
● Reciprocation can be two forms, direct which is exchange between two parties and the
other, indirect which involves at least one more person (Molm, 2003). In gratitude,
people may be motivated to pass the goodwill they have received to another person,
rather than the original benefactor (Barlett & DeStenno, 2006), this in turn influences
more prosocial behaviour. Indebtedness, however, is a more target specific emotion that
can be more easily reduced through direct reciprocation. Performing a reciprocal
behaviour reduces the recipient’s feeling of indebtedness, which inturn has no effect
when extended to another person. Therefore, more direct reciprocation is observed incase
of indebtedness and indirect reciprocation in case of gratitude.
 ● Whereas the influence of both of these psychological constructs on the motivation to
reciprocate is well documented, the effect of reciprocation on feelings of gratitude and
indebtedness can also be segregated. Reciprocation is hypothesized to reduce feelings of
indebtedness as it lessens the perceived inequity between the helper and the recipient.
Reciprocation allows people to feel less beholden to the benefactor, thus reducing their
state of anxiety and obligation (Schaumburg & Flynn, 2015). However, feelings of
gratitude will not necessarily decrease after the recipient has provided reciprocation.
Helping behaviour tends to activate positive emotions (Barlett & DeSteno, 2006). Given
positive emotions often coincide, feelings of gratitude are likely to increase after helping
behaviour and not decrease unlike to feelings of indebtedness.

Inspite, gratitude and indebtedness having similar connotations, each of these experiences have
their unique role and intricate differences. The aforementioned are certain such points which
highlight the prominent distinctions in their nature, the antecedents i.e. what could motivate the
arousal of each of these states and the consequences i.e. how do they differ in the kind of
behaviour they produce.

Q2​. ​Is gratitude always healthy? Comment.

The word gratitude has its roots in the latin term “gratia” which means grace or gracefulness. In
broader terms gratitude is considered an attitude towards considering all aspects of life as a gift.
Across time and cultures, gratitude has been considered as one of the most desirable aspects oof
human personality and social life.
Emmons and Crumpler defined gratitude as an emotional response to a gift. It is an emotion felt
when one has been the beneficiary to an altruistic act. Lazarus and Lazarus recognized gratitude
as an empathetic emotion i.e. it involves the ability to recognize or appreciate an altruistic gift.
Gratitude serves as an important part of human beings’ social and emotional lives. In
understanding whether gratitude is always, one has to consider the effects that gratitude has on
both interpersonal and intrapersonal levels;
● On intrapersonal level, dispositional gratitude has been linked to positive life outcomes
i.e. the generalized tendency to recognize and respond with positive emotions
(appreciation, thankfulness) are prone to experience more positive life outcomes. People
who tend to score highly on measures of gratitude as an affective trait tend to experience
a high degree of life satisfaction and positive effects such as happiness, vitality and hope
They were also found to score higher on measure of prosocial behaviour, empathy,
forgiveness, religiousness and spirituality (McCullough et al, 2004).
● Gratitude has been linked to resilience which buffers a person from debilitating emotions
and pathological psychological conditions. Research conducted by Frederickson, Tugade,
waugh & Larkin established that out of 20 emotions, gratitude was the second most
common experience after the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Therefore, gratitude
 has been found as one of the primary emotions that allows an individual to cope with
stress, depression and anxiety (Kleiman et al, 2013 Lies et al, 2014; Krause 2009; Wood
et al, 2008). Furthermore, certain longitudinal studies have linked gratitude to post
traumatic growth (Wheaton, 1990). Gratitude has also been found as a protective effect
against psychopathology (Petroccchi and Couyoumdjian, 2016; Wood et al., 2008).
● The grateful trait also enhances subjective wellbeing (Wood et al, 2010). The first
mechanism is the positive affect mechanism which considers gratitude a positive
emotion, and predicts that feelings of positive affect and positive emotion act in a direct
upward spiral toward enhanced subjective well-being (Fredrickson and Joiner 2002).
Secondly, following the broaden-and-build mechanism of positive emotions (Fredrickson
2001), gratitude strengthens social bonds (Algoe et al. 2008; Bartlett et al. 2012; Kong et
al. 2015) that in turn function as a resource for maintaining mental health in times of
adversity (Fredrickson 2004; Kawachi and Berkman 2001). Thirdly, gratitude may lead
to enhanced well-being through more adaptive coping, resulting in lower levels of stress,
and enhanced subjective well-being (Wood et al. 2007). Fourth and lastly, grateful
individuals view help as more costly, valuable, and altruistic, an appraisal scheme that
may enhance subjective well-being (Wood et al. 2008).
● On an interpersonal level, gratitude has been found to produce several implications in
one’s social wellbeing. In particular, gratitude has eem found to increase happiness by
enhancing a person’s social benefits. This increased subjective wellbeing has been shown
to be related to the quality of one’s friendships in life (Dienar et al, 1999; Myers, 2000);
expressing gratitude also increases the likelihood of receiving future benefits (Carey et al.
1976). Research further suggests when one is feeling better, then one evaluates others
more positively (Isen, Niedenthal & Cantor, 1992). Positive emotion encourages positive
evaluation of others and thus are more likely to acknowledge the good intentions of a
giver which further promotes grateful responding.
● Gratitude has also been linked to prosocial behaviour i.e. a voluntary action from oneself
that benefits other people or the community. It has been found that prosocial behaviour
and gratitude has been positively correlated (Michie, 2009). Indirect altruism has also
been found as a massive motivator when one feels grateful they extend the helping hand
to a third person, other than their benefactor (McCollough et al, 2008). Furthermore,
regarding the object of the assistance, a grateful person may provide help to a stranger on
the basis of feeling grateful (Bartlett & DeSteno, 2006).

Considering the multitude benefits of gratitude for an individual, it can be considered that
gratitude is always healthy in terms of promoting an individual's emotional and social wellbeing.
Q3. How is gratitude related with prosocial behaviour?
Gratitude has been viewed as a positive emotion one feels when another person has intentionally
or attempted to give one, something of value (McCollough et al. 2001; McCollough & Tsang,
2004). Gratitude has been believed to be essential in building and preserving social relationship,
so much so, as it has been labelled “not only the best, but the parent of all other virtues (Cicero,
1851), the” moral memory of mankind” (Simmel, 1908/1996) and the “sentiment which most
immediately and directly prompts us to reward” (Smith 1790, 1976).Gratitude functions to
nurture social relationships through through its encouragement of reciprocal, prosocial behaviour
between a benefactor or recipient (Algoe & Haidt, 2004; Emmons & McCollough, 2004).
Research suggests that individuals who report habitually experiencing gratitude tend to engage in
prosocial behaviour more often than individuals who experience gratitude less often
(McCollough et al. 2002). Infact, research conducted by Barlett & DeStenno (2006) suggested
that gratitude not only increases the likelihood that one will engage in effortful helping behaviour
but found evidence of increased helping of benefactors and strangers in a parallel manner, which
validates gratitude’s casual efficacy, thus countering and invalidating the norm of reciprocity as
playing the central role. Feelings of gratitude have been closely linked to giving help, in addition
to receiving help (Barlett & DeStenno, 2006; McCollough et al, 2002; Trivers, 1971). Other
research studies have found gratitude motivates people to return benefits even when there are no
external forces demanding reciprocation and even when reciprocation may be costly (Barlett &
DeStenno, 2006). Not only this, feelings of gratitude also discourage people from performing
destructive interpersonal behaviours, such as bickering, nagging and teasing (McCullough et al,
2001).
In attempting to understand how gratitude could possibly influence prosocial
behaviour, a number of assumptions can be hypothesized. One of these assumptions would be
that gratitude has been shown to be an “other-oriented” emotion (Weiner et al, 1978, 1979) and
therefore increase prosocial behaviour by focusing attention on the need of others. Other
explanations could be where social scientists have taken to describe gratitude as a “moral
emotion” (McCollough et al, 2001; Naito et al, 2005) with multiple components. First, gratitude
serves as a “moral barometer” i.e. the more the beneficiary perceives that a benefactor has
conferred a benefit with the intention of promoting the beneficiary’s wellbeing (McCullough et
al, 2001) the more likely one is to feel grateful; this in turn can strive as the “moral motive” in
that people who experience gratitude tend to help the benefactor or a third party and will be less
likely to harm a benefactor or a third party. Lastly, gratitude acts a moral reinforcer, in doing so
that expression of gratitude reinforces to behave prosocially again in the future. All of this may
be attributed to the understanding that gratitude increases the subjective well being of an
individual making them more prone to positive emotions and reduces negative view of
themselves and others, allowing an individual to be more connected with and have compassion
for others.
 ​ 4. How can gratitude be inculcated in the psychic system?
Q
Considering the multitude of benefits gratitude has across one’s life, nurturing gratitude into
one’s own psychic system to the point of having an interior attitude of thankfulness regardless of
life circumstances is a goal for many. Not only does gratitude assure the benefits, it can also help
one to deal with negative emotions such as anger, envy, greed. Klein (1957) argued that the
person experiencing gratitude is protected from the destructive impulses of envy and greed.
Considering envy is the breeding ground for ingratitude, the practise of gratitude as a spiritual
discipline (Thank you therapy) has been suggested as a cure for excessive materialism and the
consequential negative emotions, such as envy, resentment, disappointment and bitterness
(Clapp, 1998, Schimmel, 1997).
A few programs have been suggested for adopting the skills that allow for a greater awareness of
gratitude in one’s life.
● Miller (1995) offers a simple for step, behavioural cognitive approach for learning
gratitude
A. Identify ungrateful thoughts
B. Formulate gratitude supporting thoughts
C. Substitute the gratitude supporting thoughts for the non-grateful thoughts for the
non-grateful thoughts
D. Translate the inner feeling into outward action.
These steps provide a guide on how to lead a more grateful life with greater contentment.
● Shelton (2000) had framed gratitude as one of the four key ingredients that make up a
daily moral inventory which individuals can use to foster growth. According to him, to
develop a healthy moral life, following are some considerations
A. Self talk that one is a moral person (I am a moral person)
B. Establishing a theme of gratitude
C. Self examination of one’s day
D. Encourages the moral resolveto initiate at least some minimum behavioural
change with an eye towards increasing in the long run i.e. aiming for moral
maturity.
The role of gratitude is essentially highlighted in the step of self examination and daily moral
inventory. Assuming that one does it with genuine authenticity and dedication to moral growth,
then one is inclined to engage in experiencing gratitude and the positive emotional state
associated with it with greater sincerity and resolve. Therefore, gratitude plays a buffering role
that allies embarrassment, shame or other negative emotions that might undermine self honesty.

● Another gratitude intervention is a letter writing exercise developed by Martin Seligman

and his colleagues at University of Pennsylvania where he had asked participants to write
down letters to someone who had made a distinct positive change in their life but they
were never properly thanked. After the test (i.e. after one week) participants in the
 gratitude visit condition were happier and less depressed than before the assignments.
This boost in happiness and decrease in depressive symptoms were maintained in one
week and one month later assessments.
● Another intervention that has been recently developed for therapeutic purposes was
gratitude journaling where one writes down all. This allows the individuals to focus on
the positive things in their lives. Research conducted by Emmons and McCollough found
that by “counting one’s blessings” in a journal led to improved psychological and
physical functioning.

Therefore the aforementioned strategies can be used to implement gratitude in daily life,
however any such intentional practices require time and effort to implement and practise.