title: Is gratitude a moral affect?
abstract: Gratitude is conceptualized as a moral affect that is analogous to other moral emotions such as empathy and guilt. Gratitude has 3 functions that can be conceptualized as morally relevant: (a) a moral barometer function (i.e., it is a response to the perception that one has been the beneficiary of another person's moral actions); (b) a moral motive function (i.e., it motivates the grateful person to behave prosocially toward the benefactor and other people); and (c) a moral reinforcer function (i.e., when expressed, it encourages benefactors to behave morally in the future). The personality and social factors that are associated with gratitude are also consistent with a conceptualization of gratitude as an affect that is relevant to people's cognitions and behaviors in the moral domain.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Healthcare Research, Rockville, Maryland, USA. mikem@mail.smu.edu
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: McCullough
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Kilpatrick
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Emmons
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Larson
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009014:Morals; D009042:Motivation; D012919:Social Behavior