Efficacy of Gratitude Intervention in India: Distinctive Cross-Cultural Conceptions of Gratitude Matter

Gratitude interventions have been usually less effective for collectivistic cultures compared to individualistic cultures. The first study examined the impact of the target person in the efficacy of gratitude intervention in the Indian context. The second study examined whether conception of gratitude is similar between Indians and Anglo-Americans. In first study, 312 first-year undergraduate Indian students (M_age = 18.64, SD = 0.76) were randomly assigned to three groups. They wrote about a typical day in their life, gratitude toward a particular person of their choice and gratitude toward an immediate family member, respectively. Selected sub-scales of PANAS-X were administered before and after the intervention. In second study, 112 Indian participants (M_age = 27.63, SD = 5.82) and 80 Anglo-American (M_age = 38.48, SD = 11.94) participants took part in a survey whereby they needed to rate the centrality and positivity of some gratitude features. We found expressing gratitude toward an immediate family member was neither effective in increasing positive emotions nor effective in decreasing negative emotions. However, expressing gratitude toward any person of choice was effective in increasing positive emotions as well as decreasing negative emotions. Three prominent themes emerged for gratefulness toward any person, i.e., being an inspiration, providing a perspective in life, and emotional and financial support in success. Providing support to the hypotheses, indebtedness and its associated negative emotions were perceived more positively and more central to the concept of gratitude for Indian participants than Anglo-American participants.