Gratitude intervention and death anxiety reconsidered

Abstract

Lau and Cheng (2011, 2013) reported that a gratitude induction procedure reduced death anxiety but that it did not promote emotional well-being. The present study was aimed at replication of their reported findings. Experiment 1 assessed single gratitude intervention effects on death anxiety, feeling, and mental health among college students. Results showed death anxiety was not reduced by the intervention but positive feeling and mental health were improved. Experiment 2 examined effects of one-month gratitude intervention on death-related anxiety, feeling, and mental health. We also examined effects of trait gratitude. Results showed no significant effect of gratitude intervention on death anxiety reduction, but participants with higher gratitude traits exhibited better mental health. These results suggest that trait gratitude is associated with mental health, although the results did not confirm a death anxiety reduction effect of gratitude intervention, as reported by Lau and Cheng (2011, 2013).