Gratitude, Forgiveness, & Humility As Predictors Of Thriving Among College Students

Abstract

The concept of optimal level functioning has been reduced to aspects like productivity, efficiency and goal orientation; while the most essential ones like social relations, meaning, engagement and autonomy which constitute flourishing have been overlooked. In the absence of the latter, humans tend to merely survive than thrive. Thriving occurs only when positive functioning is at its fullest range in all three dimensions - mental, physical and social. Studies show that positive functioning can be facilitated by experiencing positive emotions. In line with this finding, this study attempts to explore the relationship between three mutually reinforcing positive emotions, gratitude, forgiveness and humility on thriving (optimal functioning), and also determine their prediction level on the various constructs of thriving which include relationship, engagement, mastery, autonomy, meaning, optimism and subjective wellbeing. The samples for the present study were identified from PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore district, TamilNadu. About 70 students (mean age – 21 years) from the total population were chosen by convenience sampling method. The sample size was determined based on the number of predictors using G*power 3.0 statistical software. The samples were administered with the Gratitude Questionnaire (McCullough et.al, 2002), The Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Thompson et.al, 2005), The Healthy Humility Inventory (Quiros, 2012), and The Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (Diener et.al, 2014). Data collected will be coded for statistical analysis, and the statistical analyses will be performed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 20, and the SEM PLS path modeling using Visual PLS software. Specific statistical analysis like Mean, Standard Deviation, Regression were employed to analyze the quantitative data collected for the study, to check the strength of the responses for the items in the each of the dimensions.