Types of Benefits for which Couples Express Appreciation: Features and Relationship Outcomes (2010)

Undergraduate: Jordan Akers

Faculty Advisor: Barbara Fredrickson
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Seventy-seven couples were observed while expressing appreciation to one another for kind benefits received. These benefits were reliably categorized into theoretically derived benefit types in three categories and coded by outside observers in order to determine associations between benefit types and relationship outcomes, specifically relationship satisfaction and relationship commitment. The categories included codes that have theoretically served as prerequisites for gratitude, codes related to emotion-based process and codes related to economic based processes. Both emotion-based and economic-based codes were found to be associated with satisfaction. There were no significant associations between any behavioral codes and commitment. Individual approach motives were also identified as moderators for relationships between several of the behavioral codes and relationship outcomes.