Gratitude
ARTICLES AND CHAPTERS
NEW!McCullough, M. E., Kimeldorf, M. B., & Cohen, A. D. (in press). An adaptation for altruism? The social causes, social effects, and social evolution of gratitude. Current Directions in Psychological Science. PDF
Bono, G. & McCullough M. E. (2006). Positive responses to benefit and harm: Bringing forgiveness and gratitude into cognitive psychotherapy. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 20, 147-158. PDF
Polak, E., & McCullough, M. E. (2006). Is gratitude an alternative to materialism? Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, 343-360. PDF
McCullough, M. E., Tsang, J., & Emmons, R. A. (2004). Gratitude in intermediate affective terrain: Links of grateful moods to individual differences and daily emotional experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 295-309. PDF
Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 377-389. PDF
Kendler, K., Liu, X., Gardner, C. O., McCullough, M. E., & Prescott, C. A. (2003). Dimensions of religiosity and their relationship to lifetime psychiatric and substance abuse disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 496-503. PDF
McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 112-127. PDF
McCullough, M. E., Kilpatrick, S. D., Emmons, R. A., & Larson, D. B. (2001). Is gratitude a moral affect? Psychological Bulletin, 127, 249-266. PDF
MEASURING GRATITUDE
Much of our initial work on gratitude has been devoted to examining the disposition to experience gratitude as a relatively stable affective trait. To measure this affective trait, we have developed a short scale called the Gratitude Questionnaire, whose current incarnation consists of six short self-report items. The GQ-6 is available here for download in PDF format. This document includes some interpretative material that allows one to determine where a person's score on the GQ-6 falls relative to a large sample of adults who recently completed the measure. Finally, this short technical document describes the psychometric properties of the scale, including some of the most important evidence for its reliability and validity.
Here's a Chinese version of the GQ-6 that Joyce Leong at the Chinese University of Hong Kong developed, including the back-translation. For more info on its use, including permission to use.
Other information about measuring gratitude can be located in Emmons, R. A., McCullough, M. E., & Tsang, J. (2003). The assessment of gratitude. In S. J. Lopez and C. R. Snyder (Eds.). Handbook of positive psychology assessment (pp. 327-341). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.