\"Gratitude is a virtue capable of conferring a constellation of benefits. Research on gratitude has mostly focused on these benefits, but in understanding the construct fully an examination of moderating factors and inhibitors is important. A recent study, utilizing a prospective design, revealed cynicism and narcissism as significant inhibitors of trait and state gratitude over time (Solom, Watkins, McCurrach, & Scheibe, 2016). The current study hoped to build upon those results by examining whether these two possible inhibitors affect grateful processing after a gratitude induction. I hypothesized that higher levels of cynicism and narcissism would moderate the experience of grateful emotion following a gratitude induction. Contrary to predictions, the putative inhibitors did not significantly moderate the experience of gratitude, save narcissism, which actually facilitated increases. In short, it seems likely that narcissism and cynicism inhibit gratitude over time through a combination of effects leading to reduced frequency and density of grateful experiences, rather than decreasing the intensity of these events when they do happen\"--Leaf iv.
","abstract_html":"<p>"Gratitude is a virtue capable of conferring a constellation of benefits. Research on gratitude has mostly focused on these benefits, but in understanding the construct fully an examination of moderating factors and inhibitors is important. A recent study, utilizing a prospective design, revealed cynicism and narcissism as significant inhibitors of trait and state gratitude over time (Solom, Watkins, McCurrach, & Scheibe, 2016). The current study hoped to build upon those results by examining whether these two possible inhibitors affect grateful processing after a gratitude induction. I hypothesized that higher levels of cynicism and narcissism would moderate the experience of grateful emotion following a gratitude induction. Contrary to predictions, the putative inhibitors did not significantly moderate the experience of gratitude, save narcissism, which actually facilitated increases. In short, it seems likely that narcissism and cynicism inhibit gratitude over time through a combination of effects leading to reduced frequency and density of grateful experiences, rather than decreasing the intensity of these events when they do happen"--Leaf iv.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bell, Joshua B."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: General/Experimental","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:35Z","subjects":["Case studies","Gratitude--Case studies","Cynicism--Case studies","Narcissism--Case studies","College students--Washington (State)--Cheney--Psychology--Case studies","College students--Psychology","Cynicism","Gratitude","Narcissism","Experimental Analysis of Behavior","Human Factors Psychology","Personality and Social Contexts"],"languages":[],"rights":["Access is available to all users"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/346","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bell, Joshua B."]}]},{"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: General/Experimental"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Case studies","Gratitude--Case studies","Cynicism--Case studies","Narcissism--Case studies","College students--Washington (State)--Cheney--Psychology--Case studies","College students--Psychology","Cynicism","Gratitude","Narcissism","Experimental Analysis of Behavior","Human Factors Psychology","Personality and Social Contexts"]}]},{"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/346"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["\"Gratitude is a virtue capable of conferring a constellation of benefits. Research on gratitude has mostly focused on these benefits, but in understanding the construct fully an examination of moderating factors and inhibitors is important. A recent study, utilizing a prospective design, revealed cynicism and narcissism as significant inhibitors of trait and state gratitude over time (Solom, Watkins, McCurrach, & Scheibe, 2016). The current study hoped to build upon those results by examining whether these two possible inhibitors affect grateful processing after a gratitude induction. I hypothesized that higher levels of cynicism and narcissism would moderate the experience of grateful emotion following a gratitude induction. Contrary to predictions, the putative inhibitors did not significantly moderate the experience of gratitude, save narcissism, which actually facilitated increases. In short, it seems likely that narcissism and cynicism inhibit gratitude over time through a combination of effects leading to reduced frequency and density of grateful experiences, rather than decreasing the intensity of these events when they do happen\"--Leaf iv.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Cynicism and narcissism: masking the good life?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Bell, Joshua B."],"dc:description.abstract":["\"Gratitude is a virtue capable of conferring a constellation of benefits. Research on gratitude has mostly focused on these benefits, but in understanding the construct fully an examination of moderating factors and inhibitors is important. A recent study, utilizing a prospective design, revealed cynicism and narcissism as significant inhibitors of trait and state gratitude over time (Solom, Watkins, McCurrach, & Scheibe, 2016). The current study hoped to build upon those results by examining whether these two possible inhibitors affect grateful processing after a gratitude induction. I hypothesized that higher levels of cynicism and narcissism would moderate the experience of grateful emotion following a gratitude induction. Contrary to predictions, the putative inhibitors did not significantly moderate the experience of gratitude, save narcissism, which actually facilitated increases. In short, it seems likely that narcissism and cynicism inhibit gratitude over time through a combination of effects leading to reduced frequency and density of grateful experiences, rather than decreasing the intensity of these events when they do happen\"--Leaf iv.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/346"],"dc:rights":["Access is available to all users"],"dc:subject":["Case studies","Gratitude--Case studies","Cynicism--Case studies","Narcissism--Case studies","College students--Washington (State)--Cheney--Psychology--Case studies","College students--Psychology","Cynicism","Gratitude","Narcissism","Experimental Analysis of Behavior","Human Factors Psychology","Personality and Social Contexts"],"dc:title":["Cynicism and narcissism: masking the good life?"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: General/Experimental"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:35Z"}