Gratitude and Social Generativity Among Young Adults: The Role of Sex and Age.

Abstract

For a very long period of time gratitude has been mainly studied because of its positive link with personal psychological adaptation and well-being. However, gratitude does not simply enrich the individual, but it also plays a key role in the wider context where the person lives, by for example promoting prosocial behaviors and enhancing reciprocity. The current study considered the moderating role of sex and age in the association between gratitude and social generativity. We involved a sample of 237 Italian young adults aged 18-29 (M_age = 22.98, SD = 2.20; 62% females), who were asked to fill in a self-report questionnaire aimed at measuring the mentioned constructs. The moderation model carried out confirmed that the gratitude-social generativity association was significant and positive only for the female subsample, while age was not found to moderate this link. Gratitude is therefore a positive lens through which young adults may regard their relationships, thus enhancing their social generativity, but this appears to be true only for females. Implications and further expansions of the study are discussed.