Gratitude and indebtedness: Associations with personality traits and life satisfaction in South Korea

Abstract

Gratitude and indebtedness are predominant emotional and cognitive responses that occur after receiving benefits from others. There is ambiguity as to whether these two emotions are distinct in interdependence-oriented cultures. To investigate whether gratitude and indebtedness are distinct emotions in South Korea, we examined the relationship between gratitude and indebtedness and the associations between these emotions and personality traits. Further, we examined the relationships of gratitude and indebtedness with life satisfaction. The sample of 294 college students aged 18 to 27 years participated in the study. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires. Results showed that there was no systematic relation between gratitude and indebtedness. The two emotions demonstrated contrasting associations with the Big Five personality traits. That is, gratitude was positively linked to agreeableness, extraversion, and openness, but negatively linked to conscientiousness and neuroticism. Conversely, indebtedness was positively linked to conscientiousness and neuroticism. Furthermore, gratitude and indebtedness demonstrated different associations with life satisfaction. Gratitude, but not indebtedness, explained life satisfaction after controlling for personality traits. These findings suggest that gratitude and indebtedness are distinct emotions in South Korea. We discussed gratitude and indebtedness as distinct emotions in an interdependence-oriented Korean context with previous findings of different cultural contexts.