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Gratitude

Gratitude Questionnaire – Six Item Form (GQ-6)

Measuring: Measures individual differences in the tendency to experience gratitude.

Number of Items: 6

Item Question Wording TILDA Variable
1 I have so much in life to be thankful for. GQ1
2 If I had to list everything that I felt grateful for, it would be a very long list. GQ2
3 When I look at the world, I don’t see much to be grateful for. GQ3
4 I am grateful to a wide variety of people. GQ4
5 As I get older, I find myself more able to appreciate the people, events, and situations that have been part of my life history GQ5
6 Long amounts of time can go by before I feel grateful to something or someone. GQ6

Scoring Method:

Scored on a 7-point Likert scale.

1 = Strongly disagree

2 = Disagree

3 = Slightly Disagree

4 = Neutral

5 = Slightly Agree

6 = Agree

7 = Strongly agree

  • A cumulative score is generated with higher scores representing greater dispositional gratitude (6-42).

  • Items 3 and Item 6 are negatively worded, and reverse scored prior to calculation.

Citation: McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. A. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(1), 112–127. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.82.1.112

Code

  • Stata
  • R
  • SPSS
mvdecode (GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6), mv(-99=. \ -812=. \ -823 = . \ -834=. \ -845=. \ -856=. \ -867=. \ -1=.)

gen GQ1_rev = 8 - GQ1
gen GQ3_rev = 8 - GQ3

egen GQGratitudeScore = rowtotal(GQ1_rev GQ2 GQ3_rev GQ4 GQ5 GQ6)

*Scale should be between 6 and 42
codebook GQGratitudeScore
fre GQGratitudeScore

lab var GQGratitudeScore "Tendancy to experience gratitude"

Download Stata .do file

gq_items <- paste0("GQ", 1:6)

# Frequency checks
for (v in gq_items) print(table(data[[v]], useNA = "ifany"))

# Recode special missing values.
special_missing <- c(-99, -812, -823, -834, -845, -856, -867, -1)
for (v in gq_items) {
  data[[v]][data[[v]] %in% special_missing] <- NA_real_
}

data$GQ1_rev <- 8 - data$GQ1
data$GQ3_rev <- 8 - data$GQ3

# Stata egen rowtotal() ignores missing values and returns 0 if all items are missing.
data$GQGratitudeScore <- rowSums(
  data[c("GQ1_rev", "GQ2", "GQ3_rev", "GQ4", "GQ5", "GQ6")],
  na.rm = TRUE
)

attr(data$GQGratitudeScore, "label") <- "Tendancy to experience gratitude"

summary(data$GQGratitudeScore)
print(table(data$GQGratitudeScore, useNA = "ifany"))

Download R file

FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6 /MISSING=INCLUDE.

RECODE GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6
  (-99 = SYSMIS) (-812 = SYSMIS) (-823 = SYSMIS) (-834 = SYSMIS)
  (-845 = SYSMIS) (-856 = SYSMIS) (-867 = SYSMIS) (-1 = SYSMIS).

COMPUTE GQ1_rev = 8 - GQ1.
COMPUTE GQ3_rev = 8 - GQ3.

* Match Stata egen rowtotal(): ignore missing components and return 0 if all are missing.
COMPUTE GQGratitudeScore = SUM(GQ1_rev, GQ2, GQ3_rev, GQ4, GQ5, GQ6).
IF (NMISS(GQ1_rev, GQ2, GQ3_rev, GQ4, GQ5, GQ6) = 6) GQGratitudeScore = 0.

VARIABLE LABELS GQGratitudeScore "Tendancy to experience gratitude".

DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=GQGratitudeScore.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=GQGratitudeScore /MISSING=INCLUDE.

EXECUTE.

Download SPSS .sps file

GAD-7
HADS-A

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