Gratitude: A Short Background and Etymology

In this short introduction to the subject, psychologist Robert A. Emmons surveys the subject of gratitude in historical and modern research:

What exactly is gratitude? The Oxford English Dictionary (1989) defined gratitude as “the quality or condition of being thankful; the appreciation of an inclination to return kindness”(p.1135). The word gratitude is derived from the Latin gratia, meaning favor, and gratus, meaning pleasing.

All derivatives from this Latin root “have to do with kindness, generousness, gifts, the beauty of giving and receiving, or getting something for nothing” (Pruyser, 1976, p.69). We are all familiar with the feeling of gratitude—we receive a gift, and we are thankful to the person who has provided this kindness to us.

We recognize that the other need not have made this gesture but did so out of goodwill toward us.

Psychologists and philosophers are rarely content with dictionary definitions. Gratitude has been defined in a number of ways throughout history. Kant (1797/1964) defined gratitude as “honoring a person because of a kindness he has done us” (p.123). Scottish philosopher Thomas Brown (1820) defined gratitude as “that delightful emotion of love to him who has conferred a kindness on us, the very feeling of which is itself no small part of the benefit conferred”(p.291).

In psychological parlance, gratitude is the positive recognition of benefits received. Gratitude has been defined as “an estimate of gain coupled with the judgment that someone else is responsible for that gain”(Solomon, 1977, p.316). Gratitude has been said to represent “an attitude toward the giver, and an attitude toward the gift, a determination to use it well, to employ it imaginatively and inventively in accordance with the giver’s intention” (Harned, 1997, p.175). Gratitude is an emotion, the core of which is pleasant feelings about the benefit received.

At the cornerstone of gratitude is the notion of undeserved merit. The grateful person recognizes that he or she did nothing to deserve the gift or benefit; it was freely bestowed. This core feature is reflected in one definition of gratitude as “the willingness to recognize the unearned increments of value in one’s experience” (Bertocci & Millard, 1963, p.389). The benefit, gift, or personal gain might be material or nonmaterial (e.g.,emotional or spiritual). Gratitude is other-directed—its objects include persons, as well as nonhuman intentional agents (God, animals, the cosmos; Solomon, 1977). It is important that gratitude has a positive valence: It feels good.