Thankful for what? The efficacy of interventions targeting interpersonal versus noninterpersonal gratitude

Gratitude interventions have been shown to increase well-being but not trait gratitude. We tested whether gratitude would be sensitive to interventions if interpersonal gratitude (to another person), and noninterpersonal gratitude or appreciation were examined separately. Participants (N = 150) were randomly assigned to one of five 3-week interventions: (a) interpersonal gratitude list, (b) noninterpersonal gratitude list, (c) interpersonal gratitude letter, (d) interpersonal gratitude list + interpersonal gratitude letter, and (e) control intervention (writing daily about a negative and positive incident). Measures of interpersonal and noninterpersonal trait gratitude, positive and negative emotions, depression, and life satisfaction were completed before and after the intervention and 3 months later. All interpersonal gratitude interventions led to an increase in interpersonal but not noninterpersonal trait gratitude, and the noninterpersonal gratitude list led to an increase in both noninterpersonal and interpersonal gratitude. Overall, little support was found for the hypothesis that gratitude interventions can increase trait gratitude when the intervention targets the type of gratitude used as the outcome measure.