Study Reveals Cross-Cultural Differences in Gratitude's Impact on Well-being Among U.S. College Students
A recent study comparing college students in the United States and South Korea found that while dispositional gratitude is consistently linked to well-being in both cultures, its associations with specific well-being indicators are more pronounced among American students. The research, published in Frontiers in Psychology, involved 307 American and 306 South Korean college students. Key findings indicate that American participants showed significantly stronger correlations between gratitude and reduced negative affect, increased environmental mastery, and personal growth compared to their South Korean counterparts. Conversely, South Korean students reported higher mean levels of dispositional gratitude, life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, environmental mastery, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. American students, however, scored higher on autonomy and personal growth. The study also concluded that indebtedness did not moderate the relationship between di...
