Does the Good Outweigh the Bad? The influence of receiving gratitude at work on employee outcomes
Alexis L. Pandelios, Y. Joel Wong, Nayoung Cho and Piper Henson
Citation: Pandelios, A. L., Wong, Y. J., Cho, N., & Henson, P. (2024). Does the Good Outweigh the Bad? The influence of receiving gratitude at work on employee outcomes. European Journal
of Applied Positive Psychology, 8, 10, 1-5. https://www.nationalwellbeingservice.org/volumes/volume-8-2024/volume-8-article-10/
Processing dates: Submitted 22 May 2024; Resubmitted 15 July 2024; Accepted 5 August 2024; Published 18 December 2024
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Receiving gratitude at work has been associated with positive outcomes for employees. In this study, we extend previous findings on workplace gratitude by (a) testing the relative influence of receiving gratitude at work and workplace incivility on job satisfaction and intentions to quit and (b) examining the indirect effect of receiving gratitude at work on intentions to quit among U.S. working women.
Methods: Data were drawn from a sample of 337 employed women living in the U.S. Participants were recruited via the Prolific platform and completed self-report measures of receipt of gratitude at work, workplace incivility, job satisfaction, and intentions to quit.
Results: As predicted, receiving gratitude at work was a stronger predictor of job satisfaction and intentions to quit than experiencing workplace incivility. Further, receiving gratitude was
indirectly associated with intentions to quit through job satisfaction, whereby those who received more gratitude at work were more satisfied in their jobs and, thus, had lower reported
intentions to quit their jobs.
Discussion/Conclusion: The results of the current study demonstrate that receiving gratitude (a positive workplace experience) can be more consequential than some negative experiences in affecting workplace outcomes – highlighting the importance of creating and supporting positive experiences for employees in the workplace.
Keywords: Receiving gratitude, Gratitude Interventions, Job satisfaction, Employee retention, Workplace culture, Workplace incivility
Biographies
Alexis L. Pandelios is with the Department of Applied Psychology in Education and Research Methodology, Indiana University Bloomington, 201 N. Rose Ave, Bloomington, IN 47405-1006, USA
Email: alpandel@iu.edu
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4272-9882
Y. Joel Wong is with the Department of Applied Psychology in Education and Research Methodology, Indiana University Bloomington, 201 N. Rose Ave, Bloomington, IN 47405-1006, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3006-6871
Nayoung Cho is with the Department of Applied Psychology in Education and Research Methodology, Indiana University Bloomington, 201 N. Rose Ave, Bloomington, IN 47405-1006, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3929-6852
Piper Henson is with the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, 1101 E 10th St, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4051-8959