Gratitude and Compassion Flashcards
Define gratitude
A positive emotion that may be felt with receipt of a gift
Is gratitude always felt with material things? Always with a person giving?
No, material or not and from a person or not
What is the most important factor in to experience gratitude?
Intention
- positive acts are not always helpful and helpful acts are not always positive
Do events always need to be positive for us to feel grateful?
No, sometimes we can feel grateful for negative events if we can see the benefit from it
When would gratitude increase?
With the perceived cost of the gift
What two factors does trait gratitude need?
1) to perceive the positive
2) then appreciate
What is an increase in trait gratitude associated with?
- more empathic concern
- more helpfulness
- more forgiving
- more religious/spiritually oriented
- more agreeable and less neurotic
- less materialistic
- less envious of others
What is trait gratitude?
The disposition to appreciate positive aspects of one’s life
What is reciprocity?
Fair exchange between two people (quid pro quo)
What is one major benefit of trait gratitude?
Protective factors from negative effects of trauma
What are all social interactions made up of?
- Communal sharing
- Authority ranking
- Equality matching (give and get the same thing)
- market pricing (working for a wage)
What is one thing that gratitude encourages?
Reciprocity (encourages and strengthens relationships)
What does gratitude tend to increase?
Commitment (but not because of feelings of indebtedness)
Does reciprocity have to be with the same person?
No, you can pay it forward
What does gratitude decrease?
Aggression and anger (due to feelings of empathy for other people)
Is gratitude the same thing as happiness?
No
What does gratitude support?
Close relationships (not feeling appreciated is the top reason for divorce)
What is responsive behaviour?
- understand
- validate
- care
- in close relationships, these make your partner feel appreciated by you and appreciates you
Why is compassion a more specific emotion than empathy?
Because compassion is strictly related to the emotions of others
What is empathy?
Understanding and vicariously experiencing the reality of another such as thoughts, feelings and experiences (without it being explicitly communicated)
What is compassion?
Other-oriented emotional state in response to another’s suffering and motivates prosocial behaviour to alleviate suffering
Who are the people who are happier?
Those who give more
What makes people compassionate?
- synchrony (feeds into compassion which feeds into helping)
- similarity and liking increase with synchronous activity - meditation (mindfulness and compassion meditation)
- attachment (study with subliminal priming of a source of security led to greater feelings of compassion)
