Gratitude aud Indebtedness: Exploring Their Relationships at Dispositional and Situational Levels among Chinese Young Adolescents in Hong Kong

This study consisted of one survey study (Study 1) and two experimental studies (Study 2a and Study 2b). Study 1 aimed to examine whether gratitude and indebtedness could be empirically distinguished as two dispositional traits and how they were differentially related to subjective well-being and helping tendencies. Study 2a and Study 2b aimed to investigate whether gratitude and indebtedness could be differentiated as different emotions in specific situations and how gratitude and indebtedness as traits and emotions affected prosocial motivation and reciprocal behaviors.;In Study 1, 381 students (Sample A) aged 9 to 15 responded to Gratitude and Indebtedness Questionnaire-12 (GIQ-12) developed on the basis of Gratitude Questionnaire-S (McCullough, Emmons & Tsang, 2002). Their responses were used to assess whether gratitude and indebtedness were perceived as distinct dispositions through exploratory factor analysis. The responses of 249 students (Sample B) with the same age range were used to confirm the factor structure derived from the exploratory factor analysis. The construct validity of gratitude and indebtedness was further examined through relating them to subjective well-being and helping tendencies.;In the two experimental studies, separate groups of 123 and 126 students from Sample B responded to questions based on vignettes designed to elicit feelings of gratitude and indebtedness. In Study 2a, three conditions of benefactor expectation for repayment (No-expectation, Expectation, and Ambiguous) were manipulated. In Study 2b, three conditions of locus of help initiation (Request, Offer, and Ambiguous) were manipulated.;The results of Study 1 revealed that gratitude and indebtedness were perceived to be distinct among Chinese young adolescents in Hong Kong. Grateful students, compared with their less grateful counterparts, reported heightened subjective wellbeing, demonstrated by higher level of life satisfaction, more positive affect but less negative affect experienced in their lives. However, indebted students, compared with less indebted students, reported less satisfaction with life and more negative affect. In predicting helping tendencies, gratitude trait was found to be the strongest predictor but indebtedness trait significantly contributed to less helping tendencies.;The major findings of Study 2a and Study 2b provided general support that feelings of gratitude and indebtedness could be differentiated at the situational level. In Study 2a, different conditions of benefactor's expectation to return were found to be a key factor in differentiating feeling thankful, owing others, and obliged to repay. Students felt more thankful than obliged to repay when not being expected to repay; but they felt more obliged to repay than thankful when being expected for repayment. In Study 2b, different conditions of help initiation were not able to contribute to the differentiation. In predicting prosocial motivation, gratitude trait was consistently found to be a significant predictor under nearly all scenarios in Study 2a and Study 2b. However, in predicting the magnitude of reciprocation, traits and emotions of gratitude and indebtedness were found to be substantially weak predictors. Gratitude trait was found to be the only significant predictor for prosocial motivation under ambiguous conditions. The implications of the present findings for moral education and developing interventions to promote gratitude and well-being among children and adolescents are discussed.