The effects of gratitude in the workplace on work engagement and contextual performance: An examination using response surface analysis

Abstract

Although many studies on gratitude indicated positive effects of gratitude on various attitudes and behaviors, how the effects of gratitude expression and receipt differ in the work context remains unclear. The current study distinguished the expression and receipt of gratitude and examined their effects on work engagement and contextual performance. The results showed that both expression and receipt of gratitude had a positive effect on work engagement and contextual performance, and the difference between their effects was not statistically significant. In addition, the results showed the congruence effect of expression and reception of gratitude on work engagement from response surface analysis. This study contributes to the literature on workplace gratitude by identifying the congruence effects between these two aspects of gratitude.