Gratitude and Personal Weaknesses S5, 2016

Participants: 361 students at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill completed this study. 164 of those participants completed a version of the study that included measures about culture. 197 completed a version that did not include cultural measures. Study procedure: 1) Each participant filled out baseline pre-tests, including but not limited to questions about residential mobility, emotions, and—if in the cultural version of the study—culture. 2) Using a between-participant design, each participant was randomly assigned to read an article promoting either studying the subject of history or ecology. 3) Again using a between-participant design, each participant was randomly asked to recall and write about one grateful, indebting, proud, or influential personal experience. 4) Each participant chose to read an article about the oldest tree on Earth (i.e., about ecology) or about the oldest Greek temple (i.e., about history), and then answered reading comprehension test questions about the article chosen. 5) Each participant received bogus negative feedback on the prior reading comprehension test. They were then given the choice to read the same article and take the test again or move onto the next part of the study. If they chose to try again, then they did the reading and testing once more. 6) Each participant filled out post-tests, including but not limited to questions about emotions and demographics. IRB number: UNC #15-2377