Scales on Gratitude

1. Gratitude Adjective Checklist (GAC) – McCullough, M. E. Emmons, R.A., & Tsang, J.-A.

(2002)

The GAC is a 3-item measure comprised of the sum of affect adjectives: grateful, thankful and

appreciative. It can be used to measure gratitude as an emotion, mood or disposition depending

on the timeframe specified in the instructions. For example: it was used to measure gratitude as a

mood by asking students to rate the degree to which they experienced each emotion “since

yesterday” (Froh, Turkewicz, & Kashdan, 2009). GAC scores have demonstrated strong

psychometric properties in an early adolescent population. Convergent validity was established in

early adolescents, as gratitude had small to medium positive correlations with optimism (r=.35),

contentment (r=.21), life satisfaction (r=.37). Convergent validity was also found with overall

positive affect (r=.63)

Article: Gratitude and subjective well-being in early adolescence: Examining gender differences

– Jeffrey J. Froh, Charles Yurkewicz, Todd B. Kashdan

This article used the GAC scale to measure gratitude and subjective well-being in early

adolescence while accounting gender differences.

Method: The participants in this study were 154 middle school students (mean age = 12.14 years,

SD = 0.67, range = 11-13 years). Students were in grades 6 (29.2%) and 7 (70.8%). The majority

was male (53.9%) and Caucasian (79.9%).

Scoring: 5-point Likert Scale ranging from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely)

2. Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test (GRAT) – Short Form – Watkins, P.C.,

Woodward, K., Stone, T., & Kolts, R.L. (2003)

GRAT-Short Form is a 16-item self-report scale that measures dispositional gratitude. It measures

one’s sense of abundance in life and appreciation of others. Psychometric analyses provide
 evidence of good reliability (r=.92) and construct validity with measures of affect, depression,

and happiness. The GRAT short-form correlates highly with the GRAT long-form (consisting of

44 items) (r=.95).

Article: Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Affect and Beliefs –

Loren Toussiant, Philip Friedman

This study used GRAT short-form to measure the relationship between gratitude and well-being.

Method: Participants in this study were 72 psychotherapy outpatients from the suburban

Philadelphia area. Most were seeking treatment for general distress and quality of life problems.

The sample was almost equally split by gender (49% male) and age ranged from 20 to 58 years

(Md = 37.5).

Scoring: 9-point Likert Scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 9 (strongly agree)

3. Gratitude Questionnaire – 6 (GQ-6) – McCullough, M. E. Emmons, R.A., & Tsang, J.-A.

(2002)

The GQ-6 is based on four qualities: intensity, frequency, destiny, and span. It is a six-item self-

report scale for measuring a grateful disposition in adult populations. Sample items include “I

have so much to be thankful for”, “I am grateful to a wide variety of people”. The GQ-6 has good

internal reliability, with alphas between .82 and .87 and construct validity (McCullough et al.

2002).

Article: Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Affect and Beliefs –

Loren Toussiant – Philip Friedman

This study used GRAT short-form to measure the relationship between gratitude and well-being.

Method: The participants in this study were 154 middle school students (mean age = 12.14 years,

SD = 0.67, range = 11-13 years). Students were in grades 6 (29.2%) and 7 (70.8%).

Scoring: 7-point Likert Scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).