感恩与生活满意度的关系:多重中介探究

The Relation of Gratitude and Life Satisfaction: An Exploration of Multiple Mediation

目的:基于感恩对生活满意度的独特预测作用,在应对方式、自尊、情绪、一般自我效能感中探讨哪些中介变量可能是感恩能够独特预测生活满意度的原因。方法:采用Rosenberg自尊量表、一般自我效能感量表(GSES)、积极情绪和消极情绪量表(PANAS)、简易应对方式问卷(SCSQ)、大五人格简版问卷(NE0-FFI)测量338名大学生。结果:(1)控制性别、人格后一般自我效能感、应对方式、消极情绪的回归效应不显著;自尊和积极情绪的回归效应显著。(2)控制性别、人格后自尊的中介效应显著,积极情绪的中介效应不显著,自尊和情绪的对比中介效应显著。结论:(1)应对方式、消极情绪、一般自我效能感等中介变量在感恩与生活满意度间的中介作用可能受人格的影响。(2)自尊可能是感恩能够独特预测生活满意度的原因,自尊与生活满意度可能存在因果关系。

Heretofore a substantial amount of research has involved gratitude and life satisfaction. It has been demonstrated that gratitude is a unique predictor of life satisfaction, and the relation between them may be causal. The mediators which may influence this causality were also well- studied separately, while few researchers were concerned with the possible correlation between them. Moreover, in view of the personality which is correlated with these variables, it is necessary to filtrate feasible mediators and to seek out the special mechanism of gratitude to the life satisfaction via controlling the influence of the personality. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore which of the selected four mediators--affect, self-esteem, self-efficacy and coping style--has the most significant effect on the predictive role of gratitude, even the causal relationship. The current study hypothesized that： （1） The effect of affect, self-esteem, self-efficacy and coping style on life satisfaction may be influenced by personality; （2） One of the four mediators may be the major explanatory variable of gratitude＇s unique predictive status. 338 college students were tested through seven related questionnaires in this survey： the Gratitude Questionnaire Six （Revised）, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Positive and Negative Schedule （PANAS）, the Self-esteem Scale, the General Self-efficacy scale, the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Five-Factor Inventory （NEO-FFI-R） and the Simplified coping style questionnaire （SCSQ） were respectively used to assess gratitude, life satisfaction, positive ＆ negative effects, self-esteem, general self-efficacy, personality and the coping style. Except the independent variable, the dependent variable and the personality variable, the rest were the feasible mediators. Some software, such as SPSS and Process, were applied in the research. All the variables were calculated into the total score. The Pearson correlation was used to analyze the collected data; hierarchical regression was used to exclude the overlapped effect of the mediators under the control of personality, and to reject the influence of personality on the remaining mediators; the Process programmed by Hayes was adopted to test the mediating effect of self-esteem and the positive effect between gratitude and life satisfaction, after controlling the influence of personality and gender. The main results revealed that： （I） Gratitude significantly correlated with life satisfaction and the mediators, and the chosen mediators were associated with each other, which can be seen clearly in Table 1; （2） The main effect of gratitude was significant after controlling the impact of gender and personality; （3） The general self-efficacy, coping style and negative affect were excluded because of the insignificant coefficient of regression to the life satisfaction, which can be seen in Table 3; and （4） Of all the mediators, only the mediating effect of self-esteem was significant via controlling personality and gender. The process was shown in Table 4. We conclude that in the four selected mediators it is the self-esteem that partially mediates the causality of gratitude and life satisfaction. Meanwhile, the relation between self-esteem and life satisfaction may be causal for the controlling of the possible variables. That is to say, self-esteem may be the antecedent of life satisfaction. Moreover, when personality is controlled, the coping style, negative emotion and general efficacy bring insignificant effects on life satisfaction, showing the co-variation with personality on the effect of life satisfaction. Self-esteem and positive emotion still work after controlling for personality and gender, and there may be some complicated mediating relations, which may conduce to completing the path in the ＂gratitude - life satisfaction＂ model, which deserves further exploration. The present study clarifies possible mediators in the research of gratitude and life satisfaction, averting pointless exercises in further investigation. Meanwhile, further research is necessary to explore the relationship between self-esteem and life satisfaction.