Dispositional Gratitude as a Mediator in the Influence of Life Goals on Psychological Well-Being

Background. Solving practical problems to support the psychological well-being of youth determines the relevance of the research of its psychological factors. Objective. The aim is to test the assumption that dispositional gratitude mediates the influence of internal and external life aspirations...

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Main Authors: Oleg A. Sychev, Tamara O. Gordeeva, Victoria A. Titova Gransham, Natal'ya A. Rudnova, Dmitrii S. Kornienko
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Lomonosov Moscow State University 2023-12-01
Series:Национальный психологический журнал
Subjects:
Online Access:https://npsyj.ru/articles/article/10290/
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author Oleg A. Sychev
Tamara O. Gordeeva
Victoria A. Titova Gransham
Natal'ya A. Rudnova
Dmitrii S. Kornienko
author_facet Oleg A. Sychev
Tamara O. Gordeeva
Victoria A. Titova Gransham
Natal'ya A. Rudnova
Dmitrii S. Kornienko
author_sort Oleg A. Sychev
collection DOAJ
description Background. Solving practical problems to support the psychological well-being of youth determines the relevance of the research of its psychological factors. Objective. The aim is to test the assumption that dispositional gratitude mediates the influence of internal and external life aspirations (goals) on well-being on a sample of Russian high school students. Sample. 5,635 high school students (grades 10–11) from 422 schools in Yakutia aged 16 to 18 years (M = 16.81, SD = 0.68), 41% of them boys. Methods. An empirical study was conducted with the use of psychological questionnaires: Gratitude Scale by M. McCullough, R. Emmons and J. Tsang, the non-verbal scale Attitude to Study and Life, the Myself scale from MSLSS by E.S. Huebner, and the short version of Aspirations Index by T. Kasser and R. Ryan. Correlations, regression analysis, and structural equation modeling were used for data analysis. Results. It is shown that psychological well-being of high school students is directly related to gratitude, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic life aspirations. In turn, gratitude, associated with both intrinsic and extrinsic goals, mediates relations between well-being and life aspirations. The indirect effect of intrinsic goals on well-being is positive, while such effect of the extrinsic ones is negative. Conclusion. The results of the study indicate the important role of gratitude as a mediator of the relations between life aspirations and psychological well-being in adolescence. The findings can be used to plan interventions to improve well-being of youth through the development of dispositional gratitude and increased focus on internal goals.
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spelling doaj.art-05b97b08ea1540f3b7d506c1919052c72024-02-22T13:46:06ZengLomonosov Moscow State UniversityНациональный психологический журнал2079-66172309-98282023-12-0118412313610.11621/npj.2023.0411Dispositional Gratitude as a Mediator in the Influence of Life Goals on Psychological Well-BeingOleg A. Sychev0Tamara O. Gordeeva1Victoria A. Titova Gransham2Natal'ya A. Rudnova3Dmitrii S. Kornienko4Shukshin Altai State University for Humanities and Pedagogy, Biysk, Russian FederationLomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation; National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, Moscow, Russian FederationLomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian FederationFederal Scientific Center of Psychological and Multidisciplinary Research, Moscow, Russian FederationFederal Scientific Center of Psychological and Multidisciplinary Research, Moscow, Russian FederationBackground. Solving practical problems to support the psychological well-being of youth determines the relevance of the research of its psychological factors. Objective. The aim is to test the assumption that dispositional gratitude mediates the influence of internal and external life aspirations (goals) on well-being on a sample of Russian high school students. Sample. 5,635 high school students (grades 10–11) from 422 schools in Yakutia aged 16 to 18 years (M = 16.81, SD = 0.68), 41% of them boys. Methods. An empirical study was conducted with the use of psychological questionnaires: Gratitude Scale by M. McCullough, R. Emmons and J. Tsang, the non-verbal scale Attitude to Study and Life, the Myself scale from MSLSS by E.S. Huebner, and the short version of Aspirations Index by T. Kasser and R. Ryan. Correlations, regression analysis, and structural equation modeling were used for data analysis. Results. It is shown that psychological well-being of high school students is directly related to gratitude, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic life aspirations. In turn, gratitude, associated with both intrinsic and extrinsic goals, mediates relations between well-being and life aspirations. The indirect effect of intrinsic goals on well-being is positive, while such effect of the extrinsic ones is negative. Conclusion. The results of the study indicate the important role of gratitude as a mediator of the relations between life aspirations and psychological well-being in adolescence. The findings can be used to plan interventions to improve well-being of youth through the development of dispositional gratitude and increased focus on internal goals. https://npsyj.ru/articles/article/10290/life goalsintrinsic goalsextrinsic goalsaspiration indexself-determination theorywell-beinggratitudehigh school students
spellingShingle Oleg A. Sychev
Tamara O. Gordeeva
Victoria A. Titova Gransham
Natal'ya A. Rudnova
Dmitrii S. Kornienko
Dispositional Gratitude as a Mediator in the Influence of Life Goals on Psychological Well-Being
Национальный психологический журнал
life goals
intrinsic goals
extrinsic goals
aspiration index
self-determination theory
well-being
gratitude
high school students
title Dispositional Gratitude as a Mediator in the Influence of Life Goals on Psychological Well-Being
title_full Dispositional Gratitude as a Mediator in the Influence of Life Goals on Psychological Well-Being
title_fullStr Dispositional Gratitude as a Mediator in the Influence of Life Goals on Psychological Well-Being
title_full_unstemmed Dispositional Gratitude as a Mediator in the Influence of Life Goals on Psychological Well-Being
title_short Dispositional Gratitude as a Mediator in the Influence of Life Goals on Psychological Well-Being
title_sort dispositional gratitude as a mediator in the influence of life goals on psychological well being
topic life goals
intrinsic goals
extrinsic goals
aspiration index
self-determination theory
well-being
gratitude
high school students
url https://npsyj.ru/articles/article/10290/
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