Grateful disposition is associated with positive affect, happiness, high levels of overall well-being and an appreciation of simple pleasures. This study further examined the relationship between simple pleasures and trait gratitude. I hypothesized that people with higher trait gratitude scores would notice more simple pleasures in their lives and feel more gratitude for simple pleasures than less grateful people. I acquired data from 169 undergraduate students at Eastern Washington University. Results suggested that grateful people experienced the same number of simple pleasures as less grateful people but were more grateful for them. This suggests that although grateful people do not encounter simple pleasures more frequently, they do experience more positive affect regarding simple pleasures, particularly simple pleasures that have occurred recently.
","abstract_html":"<p>Grateful disposition is associated with positive affect, happiness, high levels of overall well-being and an appreciation of simple pleasures. This study further examined the relationship between simple pleasures and trait gratitude. I hypothesized that people with higher trait gratitude scores would notice more simple pleasures in their lives and feel more gratitude for simple pleasures than less grateful people. I acquired data from 169 undergraduate students at Eastern Washington University. Results suggested that grateful people experienced the same number of simple pleasures as less grateful people but were more grateful for them. This suggests that although grateful people do not encounter simple pleasures more frequently, they do experience more positive affect regarding simple pleasures, particularly simple pleasures that have occurred recently.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Shupe, Megan"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Philip Watkins","Amani El-Alayli","Sarah Keller"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:00Z","subjects":["Gratitude","simple pleasures","positive affect","Psychiatry and Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Access is available to all users"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/228","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Philip Watkins","Amani El-Alayli","Sarah Keller"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Shupe, Megan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Gratitude","simple pleasures","positive affect","Psychiatry and Psychology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Access is available to all users"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/228"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Grateful disposition is associated with positive affect, happiness, high levels of overall well-being and an appreciation of simple pleasures. This study further examined the relationship between simple pleasures and trait gratitude. I hypothesized that people with higher trait gratitude scores would notice more simple pleasures in their lives and feel more gratitude for simple pleasures than less grateful people. I acquired data from 169 undergraduate students at Eastern Washington University. Results suggested that grateful people experienced the same number of simple pleasures as less grateful people but were more grateful for them. This suggests that although grateful people do not encounter simple pleasures more frequently, they do experience more positive affect regarding simple pleasures, particularly simple pleasures that have occurred recently.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Relationship Between Simple Pleasures and Trait Gratitude"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Philip Watkins","Amani El-Alayli","Sarah Keller"],"dc:creator":["Shupe, Megan"],"dc:description.abstract":["Grateful disposition is associated with positive affect, happiness, high levels of overall well-being and an appreciation of simple pleasures. This study further examined the relationship between simple pleasures and trait gratitude. I hypothesized that people with higher trait gratitude scores would notice more simple pleasures in their lives and feel more gratitude for simple pleasures than less grateful people. I acquired data from 169 undergraduate students at Eastern Washington University. Results suggested that grateful people experienced the same number of simple pleasures as less grateful people but were more grateful for them. This suggests that although grateful people do not encounter simple pleasures more frequently, they do experience more positive affect regarding simple pleasures, particularly simple pleasures that have occurred recently.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/228"],"dc:rights":["Access is available to all users"],"dc:subject":["Gratitude","simple pleasures","positive affect","Psychiatry and Psychology"],"dc:title":["The Relationship Between Simple Pleasures and Trait Gratitude"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:00Z"}