Electrophysiological Correlates of Prosocial Emotions

Gratitude is a prosocial emotion associated with psychological well-being, social bonding, and adaptive functioning. Prior research has identified neural and physiological correlates of gratitude during active emotional experiences, but less is known about whether trait gratitude is reflected in resting-state psychophysiological processes. The present study examined the relationship between trait gratitude, assessed using the Gratitude Questionnaire-6 (GQ-6), and autonomic and neural activity in a sample of 100 healthy young adults. Cardiac measures included heart rate variability as high-frequency respiratory sinus arrhythmia (HF-RSA), while neural activity was assessed by resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) alpha power at individual peak frequencies. Trait gratitude was not significantly associated with either HF_RSA or resting-state alpha power, indicating that dispositional gratitude may not be directly reflected in baseline autonomic or cortical activity. Exploratory analyses showed a different pattern: extraversion was a significant positive predictor of trait gratitude and resting state alpha power significantly predicted extraversion. These findings suggest that the relationship between physiology and gratitude may be indirect, potentially operating through broader personality traits.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Oregon

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Beck, Sophie

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Karns, Christina

• gratitude
• alpha power
• heart rate variability
• parasympathetic activity
• mental health

Statement dc:rights

• CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/33373

OAI record oai:identifier

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ascholarsbank.uoregon.edu%3A1794%2F33373