Feeling the intangible: antecedents of gratitude toward intangible benefactors

ABSTRACT

Gratitude is felt when we perceive we have received a valuable good that is intended for our benefit. Although the majority of empirical research on gratitude has looked at benefit transactions between tangible benefactors, people also experience gratitude toward more intangible benefactors such as God, governments, corporations, and collectives. We apply construal level theory to gratitude toward intangible benefactors to shed light on how these abstract agents might elicit gratitude differently from more concrete benefactors. We review research on the antecedents of gratitude, including variables related to the benefactor, the recipient, relationship variables, and the benefit. We make predictions for how gratitude toward intangible benefactors such as God or the government may diverge from prototypical interpersonal gratitude, and we provide a roadmap for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Gratitude
• construal level
• relationships
• god concept

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. Given this extensive coverage of the (mostly prosocial) outcomes, we refrain from reviewing these action tendency components of gratitude and focus exclusively on the appraisal process.

Additional information

Funding

The preparation of this article was supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation (#61513). The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.