Gratitude Letter: An Effort to Increase Subjective Well-Being in College

  • Stefanus Arista Christanto Universitas Kristen Maranatha
  • Dea Brenda Universitas Kristen Maranatha
  • Clara Assisiansi Universitas Kristen Maranatha
  • Maria Jessica Pangestu Universitas Kristen Maranatha
  • Ignatia Sarita Universitas Kristen Maranatha
  • Vania Sulistiani Universitas Kristen Maranatha
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Keywords: gratitude letter, gratitude, subjective well-being, college life

Abstract

A preliminary study of students of a psychology faculty, revealed the fact that there are some students with low life satisfaction and negative affect during their college life. Low subjective well-being (SWB) was associated with decreased productivity and cognitive flexibility, which are important elements for studying. Previous researchers found a significant correlation between gratitude and SWB. The aim of this study is to enhance student SWB through an intervention of gratitude letter. We use two stages in this study: first a descriptive method (N = 282) to have an accurate description of the level of their SWB. Then, we select 60 students with the lowest SWB to participate in the next stage, a quasi-experimental method with multiple group design, consisting of two experimental group and one control group. Measurements were conducted with modified SLS, SPANE, and GQ6. Data a-nalysis revealed significant differences in gratitude and positive affect level that are differrent in each group. Significant improvement in gratitude and subjective well-being based on the pre-test, post-test 1, post-test 2 were only found in the group that writes and expresses the gratitude letter.

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Published
2017-04-25
How to Cite
Christanto, S. A., Brenda, D., Assisiansi, C., Pangestu, M. J., Sarita, I., & Sulistiani, V. (2017). Gratitude Letter: An Effort to Increase Subjective Well-Being in College. ANIMA Indonesian Psychological Journal, 32(3), 158-168. https://doi.org/10.24123/aipj.v32i3.630