Gratitude and Resilience of Young Adults: Examining the Mediating Role of Optimism and Social Support

Authors

  • Nasrin Nahar Department of Psychology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj-8100, Bangladesh
  • Masuma Parvin Department of Psychology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj-8100, Bangladesh
  • Farjana Begum Department of Psychology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14738/aivp.114.15215

Keywords:

Gratitude, Social Support, Optimism, Resilience, Young Adults

Abstract

The present study explored the mediating effect of social support and optimism in the relationship between gratitude and resilience of young adults. To achieve this objective, a package of questionnaire consisting of Gratitude Questionnaire, Revised Life Orientation Test-Revised, Social Support Questionnaire, and Resilience Scale for Adults were administered to a convenience sample of 315 students of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalgonj. Their ages ranged from 19 through 26 with a mean age being 22.72 years (SD = 1.23). The results of independent sample t test reveals that there is no significant gender difference between male and female in social support number, optimism and resilience except support satisfaction and gratitude. Results of Pearson-product moment correlation reveals that gratitude, social support, optimism and resilience are correlated with one another. Findings of multiple regression analysis confirm the predictive role of support satisfaction, gratitude and optimism on resilience. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis confirms the partial mediating effect of optimism and rejects the mediating role of social support in the relationship between gratitude and resilience of young adults.

References

Behzadipour, S., Sadeghi, A., & Sepahmansour, M. (2018). A Study on the Effect of Gratitude on Happiness and Well Being. Biquarterly Iranian Journal of Health Psychology, 1(2), 65-72.

Bonanno, G. A. (2005). Resilience in the face of potential trauma. Current directions in psychological science, 14(3), 135-138.

Caleon, I. S., Ilham, N. Q. B., Ong, C. L., & Tan, J. P. L. (2019). Cascading effects of gratitude: A sequential mediation analysis of gratitude, interpersonal relationships, school resilience and school well-being. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 28(4), 303-312.

Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., & Segerstrom, S. C. (2010). Optimism. Clinical psychology review, 30(7), 879-889.

Charoensukmongkol, P., & Suthatorn, P. (2018). Salespeople's trait mindfulness and emotional exhaustion: the mediating roles of optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy. International Journal of Services, Economics and Management, 9(2), 125-142.

Dawson, M., & Pooley, J. A. (2013). Resilience: The role of optimism, perceived parental autonomy support and perceived social support in first year university students.

Emmons, R. A., & Crumpler, C. A. (2000). Gratitude as a human strength: Appraising the evidence. Journal of social and clinical psychology, 19(1), 56-69.

Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (Eds.). (2004). The psychology of gratitude. Oxford University Press.

Friborg, O., Hjemdal, O., Rosenvinge, J. H., & Martinussen, M. (2003). A new rating scale for adult resilience: what are the central protective resources behind healthy adjustment? International journal of methods in psychiatric research, 12(2), 65-76.

Fritz, M. M., Armenta, C. N., Walsh, L. C., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2019). Gratitude facilitates healthy eating behavior in adolescents and young adults. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 81, 4-14.

Froh, J. J., Yurkewicz, C., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Gratitude and subjective well-being in early adolescence: Examining gender differences. Journal of adolescence, 32(3), 633-650.

Gómez Molinero, R., Zayas, A., Ruiz González, P., and Guil, R. (2018). Optimism and resilience among university students. Int. J. Dev. Educ. Psychol. 1, 147–154. doi: 10.17060/ijodaep. 2018.n1.v1.1179

Hill, P. L., Allemand, M., & Roberts, B. W. (2013). Examining the pathways between gratitude and self-rated physical health across adulthood. Personality and individual differences, 54(1), 92-96.

Huffman, J. C., DuBois, C. M., Healy, B. C., Boehm, J. K., Kashdan, T. B., Celano, C. M., ... & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). Feasibility and utility of positive psychology exercises for suicidal inpatients. General hospital psychiatry, 36(1), 88-94.

Hunter, J. F., Jones, N. M., Delgadillo, D., & Kaveladze, B. (2022). The Influence of Technology on the Assessment and Conceptualization of Social Support. In Quantifying Quality of Life (pp. 373-394). Springer, Cham.

Jackowska, M., Brown, J., Ronaldson, A., & Steptoe, A. (2016). The impact of a brief gratitude intervention on subjective well-being, biology and sleep. Journal of health psychology, 21(10), 2207-2217.

Jowkar, B., Friborg, O., & Hjemdal, O. (2010). Cross‐cultural validation of the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) in Iran. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51(5), 418-425.

Kamal Uddin, M., Nahar, N., & Parvin, M. (2022). Parental Love and Well-Being of Young Adults: the Mediating Role of Optimism. Trends in Psychology, 1-23. Doi: 10.1007/s43076-022-00185-4

Kardas, F., Cam, Z., Eskisu, M., & Gelibolu, S. (2019). Gratitude, Hope, Optimism and Life Satisfaction as Predictors of Psychological Well-Being. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 82, 81-99.

Kleiman, E. M., Chiara, A. M., Liu, R. T., Jager-Hyman, S. G., Choi, J. Y., and Alloy, L. B. (2017). Optimism and wellbeing: a prospective multi-method and multidimensional examination of optimism as a resilience factor following the occurrence of stressful life events. Cognit. Emot. 31, 269–283. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2015.1108284

Kong, F., Ding, K., & Zhao, J. (2015). The relationships among gratitude, self-esteem, social support and life satisfaction among undergraduate students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(2), 477-489.

Kong, F., Yang, K., Yan, W., & Li, X. (2020). How does trait gratitude relate to subjective well-being in Chinese adolescents? The mediating role of resilience and social support. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1-12.

Kumar, A., & Dixit, V. (2014). Forgiveness, gratitude and resilience among Indian youth. Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing, 5(12), 1414.

Kumar, A., & Dixit, V. (2014). Forgiveness, gratitude and resilience among Indian youth. Indian Journal of Health & Wellbeing, 5(12).

Lambert, N. M., & Fincham, F. D. (2011). Expressing gratitude to a partner leads to more relationship maintenance behavior. Emotion, 11(1), 52.

Lashani, Z., Shaeiri, M. R., Asghari-Moghadam, M. A., & Golzari, M. (2012). Effect of gratitude strategies on positive affectivity, happiness and optimism. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, 18(2), 157-166.

Lin, C. C. (2017). The effect of higher-order gratitude on mental well-being: Beyond personality and unifactoral gratitude. Current Psychology, 36(1), 127-135.

Lyubomirsky, S., Dickerhoof, R., Boehm, J. K., & Sheldon, K. M. (2011). Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: an experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being. Emotion, 11(2), 391.

Mary, E. M., & Patra, S. (2015). Relationship between forgiveness, gratitude and resilience among the adolescents. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(1), 63.

McCanlies, E. C., Gu, J. K., Andrew, M. E., & Violanti, J. M. (2018). The effect of social support, gratitude, resilience and satisfaction with life on depressive symptoms among police officers following Hurricane Katrina. International journal of social psychiatry, 64(1), 63-72.

McCullough ME, Emmons RA, & Tsang JA (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 112–127. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.82.1.112 [PubMed: 11811629]

McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. A. (2002). The grateful disposition: a conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of personality and social psychology, 82(1), 112.

Miranda, J. O., and Cruz, R. N. C. (2020). Resilience mediates the relationship between optimism and well-being among Filipino university students. Curr. Psychol. 1, 1–10. doi: 10.1007/s12144-020-00806-0

Nahar, N. & Parvin, M. (2021). Bangla translation of the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6). Gopalganj, Bangladesh: Department of Psychology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University.

Nguyen, S. P., & Gordon, C. L. (2019). The Relationship Between Gratitude and Happiness in Young Children. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1-15.

Ong, H. L., Vaingankar, J. A., Abdin, E., Sambasivam, R., Fauziana, R., Tan, M. E., ... & Subramaniam, M. (2018). Resilience and burden in caregivers of older adults: moderating and mediating effects of perceived social support. BMC psychiatry, 18(1), 1-9.

Ozbay, F., Johnson, D. C., Dimoulas, E., Morgan III, C. A., Charney, D., & Southwick, S. (2007). Social support and resilience to stress: from neurobiology to clinical practice. Psychiatry (Edgmont), 4(5), 35.

Pathak, R., and Lata, S. (2018). Optimism in relation to resilience and perceived stress. J. Psychosoc. Res. 13, 359–367. doi: 10.32381/jpr.2018.13.02.10

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press.

Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., yi Lin, L., Rosen, D., ... & Miller, E. (2017). Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the US. American journal of preventive medicine, 53(1), 1-8.

Prokrity, T. S., Uddin, M. K., & Nahar, N. (2018). Bonding with parents and children’s well-being: Resilience and social support in between. Bangladesh Journal of Psychology, 21, 69-80.

Rusk, R. D., & Waters, L. E. (2013). Tracing the size, reach, impact, and breadth of positive psychology. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(3), 207-221.

Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1992). Effects of optimism on psychological and physical well-being: Theoretical overview and empirical update. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 16, 201-228.

Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism (and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem): A re-evaluation of the Life Orientation Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1063-1078.

Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology [Special issue]. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14.

Sisto, A., Vicinanza, F., Campanozzi, L. L., Ricci, G., Tartaglini, D., & Tambone, V. (2019). Towards a transversal definition of psychological resilience: A literature review. Medicina, 55(11), 745.

Vieselmeyer, J., Holguin, J., & Mezulis, A. (2017). The role of resilience and gratitude in posttraumatic stress and growth following a campus shooting. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 9(1), 62.

Wilson, J. T. (2016). Brightening the mind: The impact of practicing gratitude on focus and resilience in learning. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 16(4), 1-13.

Witvliet, C. V., Richie, F. J., Root Luna, L. M., & Van Tongeren, D. R. (2019). Gratitude predicts hope and happiness: A two-study assessment of traits and states. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(3), 271-282.

Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical psychology review, 30(7), 890-905.

Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Gillett, R., Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2008). The role of gratitude in the development of social support, stress, and depression: Two longitudinal studies. Journal of Research in personality, 42(4), 854-871.

Yıldırım, M., & Tanrıverdi, F. Ç. (2021). Social support, resilience and subjective well-being in college students. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 5(2), 127-135.

Downloads

Published

2023-08-08

How to Cite

Nahar, N., Parvin, M., & Begum, F. (2023). Gratitude and Resilience of Young Adults: Examining the Mediating Role of Optimism and Social Support. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 11(4), 204–216. https://doi.org/10.14738/aivp.114.15215