Understanding Trait Gratitude and Potential Changes Following Stressors for International Students

Previous studies have established gratitude as a trait, a mood, an emotional response to interpersonal events, and a moral motive (McCullough et al., 2001; McCullough et al., 2004). Trait gratitude has been defined as a disposition to be aware of situations in which one is the benefactor of some positive outcome, and to feel grateful for that outcome. Compared to state-level gratitude, which can vary within-persons, trait gratitude is expected to remain relatively constant and stable during one’s life (Emmons, & McCullough, 2003). However, there is evidence that trait gratitude can change following gratitude interventions. Additionally, major life stressors or traumatic experiences, such as receiving a cancer diagnosis, have shown to promote a change in trait gratitude as noted in the literature regarding post-traumatic growth (Ruini & Vescovelli, 2013). Separately, it is understood that international students can experience significant stress associated with the major life event of moving and studying in a foreign country. For example, some students experience a significant amount of loss and isolation (Hayes & Lin, 1994; Ng et al., 2018), which could be considered a major life stressor. To date, past work has separately examined 1) trait gratitude and the potential changes following stressful events, and 2) the stressful experiences of international students. However, it’s unclear how these two areas overlap. This literature review aims to draw possible connections between post-traumatic growth and the experience of international students and the impact of such on trait gratitude level. Following a review of the literature, this poster will also describe gaps in the current research and identify directions for future studies.