Writing About Gratitude Toward God Produces Differential Content and Outcomes Compared to Gratitude Toward Other Benefactors Among U.S. Adults

ABSTRACT We test the effectiveness of 2 different written inductions of gratitude toward God and analyze the content and outcomes of these gratitude expressions. We recruited 1,170 predominantly Christian U.S. participants across 3 CloudResearch datasets. Participants were randomly assigned to write about gratitude to God or another benefactor, including people, parents, country, and unspecified benefactors, or to write about their daily activities. Study 2 further probed nuances related to control group instructions, and Study 3 examined outcome measures related to well-being and prosociality. The participants who wrote about gratitude toward God more frequently mentioned basic needs and self-transcendence and less frequently mentioned material items compared to other benefactors. They also showed high levels of expansive emotions and religious intentions. Our research provides methodological insights relevant to gratitude writing inductions and sheds light on the content and outcomes of gratitude toward God.