Does gratitude affect the expression of aggression and anger in children?

  • Georgios Michailidis
Keywords: Gratitude, positive psychology, Anger, Aggression

Abstract

Gratitude is defined by many scholars as “a positive emotional response upon receiving a benefit- present that is considered to be the result of the good intentions of another person or a higher power”. Over the last few years, Gratitude and its role in people’s personal and social development has been of primary interest for many researchers. In the studies that have been conducted mainly in adolescents and adults, researchers identified a negative correlation between Gratitude, Anger and Aggression. The purpose of this paper is to research the above relationship focusing on school-age pupils. Totally 1,931 pupils of 10 to 12 years of age from all over Greece participated in the survey. In order to assess gratitude, anger as a personality trait and aggression, the following questionnaires were used: a) The Gratitude Questionnaire-6 b) the Anger Assessment Questionnaire, the Greek version of the questionnaire The Anger Expression Sale for Children and c) the Questionnaire evaluating the forms of aggression and hostility, which is based on the Greek version of The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire: Short Form. The results of the survey showed that there was a negative correlation between gratitude and anger as a personality trait (r=-0.26, p<0.01), and aggression (r=-0.36, p<0.01). More specifically, the higher degree of gratitude in pupils was linked with lower levels of anger and aggression. The survey also revealed that female pupils reported lower levels of aggression than male pupils. The findings of this study enhance and expand on the results of earlier studies conducted, and underline the important role of gratitude in people’s lives.
Published
2021-09-28
Section
General article