The structure of gratitude

This study had three purposes: first, to classify the situations that produce feelings of gratitude; second, to clarify the groups of emotional experiences that compose gratitude; third, to examine the relationship between the type of situations and the groups of emotional experiences. Results of a preliminary study indicated that situations that produce gratitude were classified into five types: “receiving help”, “receiving gifts”, “getting a condition improved”, “changeless condition”, and “imposing on others”. Then, words that express emotions in these situations were classified 38 items. Further, 434 undergraduate students were asked to rate these 38 items about emotion in accordance with how they would feel if they were placed in these five situations. Factor analysis revealed three groups of emotional experiences: ‘contentment’, ‘apologetic emotion’, and ‘unpleasantness’. Of these three, ‘contentment’ and ‘apologetic emotion’ composed gratitude. However ‘unpleasantness’ did not compose any part of gratitude. In addition, combination of the group of emotional experiences differed with the type of situation. For example, ‘apologetic emotion’ was felt in situations in which the existence of another person was emphasized, but this emotion was not felt in situations that did not do so.