Development of Gratitude Project

Project Description

This cross-cultural study examines the socialization and development of gratitude in children in the US and in India. This project is funded by the John Templeton Foundation.

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December 12, 2026, in Bengaluru, India

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Project Goals

Using multiple methods (interviews, experiments) with children, and surveys with parents, the project seeks to answer three Big Questions:

How do adults in distinct cultures think about, experience, express, and respond to gratitude?

Which aspects of these cognitions, emotions, and responses are culturally more similar? Which are more distinct?

How do parents socialize these aspects of gratitude in their children?

What do they emphasize as being important or relevant? What do they de-emphasize? How do these aspects change as their children develop?

How does gratitude develop, and what social functions does it serve among children in distinct cultures?

How do children think about and express gratitude? Does gratitude motivate direct reciprocity (paying back a favor) and upstream reciprocity (paying it forward) across cultures? Do children across cultures value displays of gratitude and if so, which aspects of gratitude displays do they value?

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Charlottesville Personnel

The University of Virginia

Principal Investigator: Dr. Amrisha Vaish ([email protected])
Post-Doctoral Researcher: Dr. Qiao Chai ([email protected])
Project Manager: Camile Bernard ([email protected])

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Bengaluru Personnel

Christ University

Principal Investigator: Dr. Aneesh Kumar ([email protected])
Post-Doctoral Researcher: Dr. Parvathy Viswanath
Research Assistant: Rohit Jaiswal ([email protected])

Our Published Work on Gratitude

Beeler-Duden, S., & Vaish, A. (2024). Feeling good and feeling thankful: The role of positive emotions in sustaining early prosocial behavior. In M. D. Matthews and R. M. Lerner (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Character Development, Vol. 1 (pp. 587-610). Routledge.
*Beeler-Duden, S., *Yucel, M., & Vaish, A. (2020). The role of affect in feelings of obligation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 43, e56: 1-58. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X19001742 *Equal contribution
Beeler-Duden, S., & Vaish, A. (2020). Paying it forward: The development and underlying mechanisms of upstream reciprocity. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 192, 104785. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104785
Chai, Q., & Vaish, A. (2026). Beyond the selfish child: The developmental foundations of cooperation and morality. Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences, 13, 5-30. https://doi.org/10.1628/ptsc-2026-0003
Vaish, A., & Hepach, R. (2020). The development of prosocial emotions. Emotion Review, 12, 259-273. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073919885014
Vaish, A., Hepach, R., & Tomasello, M. (2018). The specificity of reciprocity: Young children reciprocate more generously to those who intentionally benefit them. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 167, 336-353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.11.005
Vaish, A., & Savell, S. (2022). Young children value recipients who display gratitude. Developmental Psychology, 58(4), 680-692. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001308
Viswanath, P., Kumar, A., & Vaish, A. (in press). Parental socialization and gratitude development in children: A systematic review and call for future research. Journal of Child and Family Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-026-03318-w

Additional Resources

Events

The Love Consortium’s 2024 TLC Love Conference was held from May 15-17 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Click here for more information.