Adaptation and preliminary evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the gratitude/awe questionnaire (GrAw-7)

ABSTRACT

We conducted three studies to validate the Polish version of the GrAw-7. Our objectives are as follows: first, to explore the dimensional structure of the scale and to determine the internal consistency (study 1: N = 635); second, to verify the stability of the GraW-7 (study 2: N = 27); and third, to determine the validity of the GrAw-7 (study 3: N = 385). To explore the dimensional structure of the scale, we tested a one-factor model proposed by Büssing (2018). To determine the validity of the GrAw-7, we analysed correlations among Awe/Gratitude and gratitude as an affective trait, resilience, health behaviours, transcendence and openness to spirituality. Based upon the presented data, it can be concluded that the Polish version of GrAw-7 has good psychometric qualities that are similar to those of the original version. The CFA results confirmed that the univariate solution is well adjusted to the data. The internal compatibility assessment is good. The absolute stability (test-retest) was estimated to be high. Based upon the results obtained, the questionnaire was demonstrated to be convergently valid as the overall GrAw-7 scores correlated positively with dispositional gratitude, resilience, transcendence proper, spiritual openness, and health-related behaviours.

KEYWORDS:

• Gratitude
• awe
• validation
• questionnaire

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Ethics Committee at the University of Bialystok in Bialystok, Poland, and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karol Konaszewski

Karol Konaszewski, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Bialystok. His research focuses on the relationship between health psychology and the psychology of religion. He has done postdoctoral research internships in Germany (the Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt), the USA (Ramapo College of New Jersey), and Czech Republic (Tomasz Bata University in Zlín). He was a research project manager in projects financed by the National Science Centre of Poland and the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Sebastian Binyamin Skalski-Bednarz

Sebastian Binyamin Skalski-Bednarz, Ph.D., is a professor (assistant) at the Faculty of Education at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw. His research interests include spirituality and psychophysiology. He is a member of the Polish Social Psychology Society and Polish Association for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. He was a project manager in projects financed by the European Regional Found.

Arndt Büssing

Arndt Büssing is a medical doctor and since 2010 full professor at the Witten/Herdecke University (Germany) for ‘Quality of Life, Spirituality and Coping’.Senior research fellow of the ‘Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies’ (FRIAS) from 2012-2014, and since 2016 associated researcher at ‘IUNCTUS – Competence Center for Christian Spirituality’, PTH Münster. Editorial boards member of Journal of Religion and Health, German Journal of Oncology, Spiritual Care; Co-Editor in Chief: Religions. Important research topics are (1) empirical studies on quality of life, spirituality and coping (i.e., spirituality as a resource to cope; spiritual needs of persons with chronic diseases, elderly and handicapped persons; spiritual dryness in pastoral workers), (2) non-pharmacological integrative medicine interventions to treat patients with chronic diseases (i.e., yoga and meditation), and (3) questionnaire development specifically in the field of spirituality and coping.

Janusz Surzykiewicz

Janusz Surzykiewicz is a social scientist, professor at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, and the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw. His main research areas focus on resource-oriented health and social behaviour issues. He combines educational and psychological aspects to analyse current questions regarding the role of positive psychology, spirituality, well-being, and social inequality, and social change. He has been involved in the development of various applied projects to support assessment and intervention. His research is multidisciplinary and internationally networked. He is a member of multiple international organisations as a specialist and coach of the global coaching associations ICI and EASC.