1. The Roles of Gratitude and Mindfulness in Perceived Social Support
Erika Bailey and Rhonda Swickert
Results
A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test whether gratitude and mindfulness would interact to influence perceived belonging support.  In the hierarchical analysis, the first step of the equation involved entering the main effects of gratitude, mindfulness, and individualism.  In the second step of the equation, the interaction terms among these variables were entered.  In the third step of the equation, the three-way interaction terms was entered. Findings from the analysis showed a marginally significant main effect for individualism (β = -.123, t = , p = .112 ).  This effect indicates that participants who reported higher levels of Individualism reported lower levels of Belonging support. 
In addition to examining the influence of the manipulated variables on perceived belonging support, we also noticed when reviewing the gratitude essays that many individuals were discussing the gratitude they felt in receiving tangible support from the individual whom they wrote about.  So, we decided to repeat the analyses using tangible support as an additional criterion variable. The interaction between gratitude, mindfulness, and tangible support was significant (β = .599, t =  2.02, p = .045), and this effect is illustrated in Figure 1.  This finding indicates that after a mindfulness inducement, participants perceived greater levels of tangible support if they were in the gratitude manipulation condition.
Discussion
One of the original hypotheses was supported, as there was a negative relationship found for individualism and belonging support, although this effect was only marginally significant. This provides some support for the idea that participants higher in individualism reported lower levels of belonging, and this may be due to a tendency for self-focus by individualistic individuals. This effect may have reached statistical significance with a larger sample size.
Our results revealed that the relationship between mindfulness, gratitude, and social support was more complex than we expected. Our hypothesis was that an inducement of gratitude and mindfulness would enhance perceived support, specifically the sense of connection and belonging that we have with others. However, our results showed that rather than increasing feelings of belonging, the focused attention and gratitude condition actually yielded an increase in perceived tangible support. We theorize that the mindfulness manipulation may have caused participants to focus on the gratitude assignment in a different way than expected; rather than focusing on the person, participants seemed to be focused on the tangible support that was received from that person. It is also possible that this result was partially due to the population studied, as introduction to psychology students may be in an environment that causes them to notice the tangible support received by others (i.e., parents).
Future research focusing on the relationship between mindfulness, gratitude, and perceived support would help bring further clarity regarding the results of this study. A gratitude manipulation asking about gratitude for simple pleasures rather than an individual for whom one feels grateful for may yield results that show enhancement of different forms of perceived support beyond just tangible support.
Abstract
Research has shown gratitude to be beneficial to well-being, in part because it serves to enhance our social ties with others. However, individualistic tendencies may lessen this effect, as these individuals may be more focused on self-enhancement rather than gratitude. In the present study, we examined whether increasing one’s state of mindful awareness would enhance the effect of a gratitude manipulation, which in turn would influence a greater sense of support from others. Additionally, we also examined how individualistic tendencies could moderate the effect of our gratitude manipulation. Participants of this study consisted of undergraduate students (N=172, 132 female, 40 male) who were randomly assigned to a mindfulness manipulation or a control condition and a gratitude manipulation or a control condition. Participants then completed a questionnaire measuring perceived social support (belonging support and tangible support) and individualism. Findings showed that individuals in the mindfulness and gratitude conditions reported greater perceived tangible support (β = .599, t =  2.02, p = .045), but not greater belonging support. Additionally, individualistic tendencies did not interact with the manipulations to influence perceived support.
Introduction
While gratitude may be defined in many different ways, the appreciation of what one has in life and an accompanying state of thankfulness can serve as one general definition of gratitude (Sansone & Sansone, 2010). The construct of gratitude can be further broken down into the components of a sense of abundance, appreciation of simple pleasures, and appreciation of others (Watkins, Woodward, Stone, & Kolts, 2003).
Research has shown gratitude to be beneficial in many facets of life, including benefits pertaining to physical health as well as psychological well-being. Theoretically, this is explained by the experience of gratitude fostering positive feelings such as joy, love, and happiness, which, in turn, enhances well-being (Sansone & Sansone, 2010). Previous research has shown gratitude to have one of the strongest relationships with mental health and satisfaction with life (Emmons &
Stern, 2013). A study by Lin (2014) found that higher-order gratitude significantly contributes to both life satisfaction and overall positive affect.
Previous literature has found that the cultivation of mindfulness is one way in which levels of gratitude can be enhanced. Mindfulness may be defined as “the awareness that arises out of intentionally attending to the present moment” (Shapiro, 2009). Gratitude has been considered one of the “sisters of mindfulness” and mindfulness may influence individuals to pay attention to, and be grateful for, other’s prosocial acts on our behalf (Rosenzweig, 2013). A study found that after a mindfulness meditation, participants seemed to have a primary focus on relationships when writing in a gratitude diary (Chlebak, 2004).
As it has been shown that mindfulness may have an enhancing effect on gratitude, individualism may be a factor that could inhibit this relationship. Research has shown that those high in individualism may be more motivated by self-enhancement than people low in individualism (Hauge & Ottar, 2014). In being more focused on the self, individualistic people may be less mindful of help received from others, and thus less grateful for that support.
In contrast with individualistic tendencies, prosocial behavior has been found to be enhanced by the experience of gratitude. Lin & Yeh (2014) found that gratitude has direct effects on social support, as well as coping style and well-being. One study showed a positive correlation between perceived social support and the experience of gratitude (Ye, Liu, & Wang, 2012). Indeed, social support has been suggested as a mediator between gratitude and its links to psychological benefits. Existing research has shown social support to be a partial mediator between gratitude and well-being (Chen, 2013) as well as a full mediator between gratitude and life satisfaction (Kong, Ding, & Zhao, 2014). Kong, Ding, & Zhao (2014) also identified a significant pathway from gratitude to life satisfaction, via social support.
As gratitude has been shown to enhance social support, the current study hypothesized that an inducement of mindfulness and gratitude would enhance perceived support. Specifically, as the gratitude manipulation was a writing assignment about a person one feels grateful for, it was hypothesized that this manipulation would increase feelings of belonging social support, especially for those in the mindfulness condition. It was also hypothesized that individualism would be negatively related to perceived support, and may also moderate the effect of the gratitude manipulation.
Method
Participants
Participants (N=172) in the study were recruited from Introduction to Psychology classes at a university located in the southeast region of the U.S. Females constituted 76.7% of the sample. The age range of the study was 17 to 25, with the majority of participants (76.2%) being 19 years or younger. The ethnicity of the sample is as follows: Asian American 3.5%, African American 10%, Hispanic 3%, and White 82%. The remaining 2% selected “Other” for Ethnicity.
Materials
The audio recording for the mindfulness manipulation was adapted from Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life (Thich Nhat Hanh, 1991). The mindfulness control audio recording used background music by Darshan Ambient entitled “The Cool River.” This same background music played during the mindfulness condition.
The following questionnaires were administered to the research participants: the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL; Cohen & Hoberman, 1983) and an Individualism measure (Singelis et al., 1995). The ISEL was used to assess perceived availability of social support and it assesses four types of support: Tangible, Appraisal, Self-esteem, and Belonging. The Individualism Scale was used to measure levels of individualism and collectivism. Participants responded to a 16-item version of this measure, including items such as “I often do my own thing” and “Winning is everything.”
Procedure
Participants were asked to individually arrive at the lab. They were greeted and asked to sign in, and were then brought into the lab. They were first instructed to listen to an audio recording, and they were randomly assigned to a focused attention condition (mindfulness manipulation) or a relaxation condition (control). Participants were then given a writing assignment in which they had 7 minutes to complete. They were randomly assigned to write about a person whom they felt grateful for (gratitude manipulation) or write about positive aspects of different weather that they have experienced (control). After this, all participants were asked to complete a questionnaire packet. They were instructed that there was no time limit for the questionnaire and that there were no right or wrong answers.
Figure 1