Individuals with enhanced gratitude have higher well-being, a greater capacity to trust, and more appreciation of others. Studies have found that people who show secure attachment also tend to be high in trait gratitude, however, a direct causal relationship has yet to be established. It was hypothesized that secure attachment priming would enhance state gratitude more than other attachment primes. Furthermore, it was predicted that securely attached individuals would have more positive affectivity than insecurely attached individuals, in general. To assess these questions, an experimental design was used to study the relationship between gratitude and attachment. State gratitude was measured by using an instrument to assess gratitude after the priming of attachment occurred. Specifically, participants were primed with one of the following: secure, insecure, or neutral memories through a writing exercise, with the experimental conditions designed to induce a secure or insecure attachment style. Results indicated that secure attachment prime resulted in significantly greater state gratitude than the insecure attachment prime. These findings suggest compelling possibilities for enhanced interpersonal relationship satisfaction.
","abstract_html":"<p>Individuals with enhanced gratitude have higher well-being, a greater capacity to trust, and more appreciation of others. Studies have found that people who show secure attachment also tend to be high in trait gratitude, however, a direct causal relationship has yet to be established. It was hypothesized that secure attachment priming would enhance state gratitude more than other attachment primes. Furthermore, it was predicted that securely attached individuals would have more positive affectivity than insecurely attached individuals, in general. To assess these questions, an experimental design was used to study the relationship between gratitude and attachment. State gratitude was measured by using an instrument to assess gratitude after the priming of attachment occurred. Specifically, participants were primed with one of the following: secure, insecure, or neutral memories through a writing exercise, with the experimental conditions designed to induce a secure or insecure attachment style. Results indicated that secure attachment prime resulted in significantly greater state gratitude than the insecure attachment prime. These findings suggest compelling possibilities for enhanced interpersonal relationship satisfaction.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Konkler, Jessica"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Philip Watkins","Dr. Amani El-Alayli","Prof. Doris Munson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:16Z","subjects":["Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Access is available to all users"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/265","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Philip Watkins","Dr. Amani El-Alayli","Prof. Doris Munson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Konkler, Jessica"]}]},{"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":["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/265"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Individuals with enhanced gratitude have higher well-being, a greater capacity to trust, and more appreciation of others. Studies have found that people who show secure attachment also tend to be high in trait gratitude, however, a direct causal relationship has yet to be established. It was hypothesized that secure attachment priming would enhance state gratitude more than other attachment primes. Furthermore, it was predicted that securely attached individuals would have more positive affectivity than insecurely attached individuals, in general. To assess these questions, an experimental design was used to study the relationship between gratitude and attachment. State gratitude was measured by using an instrument to assess gratitude after the priming of attachment occurred. Specifically, participants were primed with one of the following: secure, insecure, or neutral memories through a writing exercise, with the experimental conditions designed to induce a secure or insecure attachment style. Results indicated that secure attachment prime resulted in significantly greater state gratitude than the insecure attachment prime. These findings suggest compelling possibilities for enhanced interpersonal relationship satisfaction.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Effect of Priming Attachment Styles on Gratitude in Close Relationships"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Philip Watkins","Dr. Amani El-Alayli","Prof. Doris Munson"],"dc:creator":["Konkler, Jessica"],"dc:description.abstract":["Individuals with enhanced gratitude have higher well-being, a greater capacity to trust, and more appreciation of others. Studies have found that people who show secure attachment also tend to be high in trait gratitude, however, a direct causal relationship has yet to be established. It was hypothesized that secure attachment priming would enhance state gratitude more than other attachment primes. Furthermore, it was predicted that securely attached individuals would have more positive affectivity than insecurely attached individuals, in general. To assess these questions, an experimental design was used to study the relationship between gratitude and attachment. State gratitude was measured by using an instrument to assess gratitude after the priming of attachment occurred. Specifically, participants were primed with one of the following: secure, insecure, or neutral memories through a writing exercise, with the experimental conditions designed to induce a secure or insecure attachment style. Results indicated that secure attachment prime resulted in significantly greater state gratitude than the insecure attachment prime. These findings suggest compelling possibilities for enhanced interpersonal relationship satisfaction.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/265"],"dc:rights":["Access is available to all users"],"dc:subject":["Psychology"],"dc:title":["Effect of Priming Attachment Styles on Gratitude in Close Relationships"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:16Z"}