The Development of Gratitude in Seven Societies: Cross-Cultural Highlights

Abstract

This study aimed to examine children’s expression of gratitude in Brazil, China, Guatemala, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States. Participants ( N = 2,265) consisted of 7- to 14-year-olds ( M = 10.56, SD = 2.09; 54.4% girls). Using hierarchical cluster analysis, we found four clusters of gratitude expression: (a) Russia and Turkey (moderate–high expression of connective, low concrete, and moderate verbal gratitude), (b) Brazil and the United States (low connective, higher rates of concrete, and moderate–high rates of verbal gratitude), (c) China and South Korea (higher rates of connective, lower concrete, and lower–moderate verbal gratitude), and (d) Guatemala (lower rates of concrete and connective gratitude, and higher rates of verbal gratitude). In addition, we found common trends in age-related differences for verbal and concrete gratitude among most societies. These findings support the argument for diligence in avoiding implicit generalizations based on research conducted mostly in Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic (WEIRD) societies.