Dynamic patterns of gratitude and life satisfaction: The role of emotion regulation difficulties and mental health challenges

Extensive evidence suggests that gratitude is linked to greater life satisfaction. However, relatively little is known about how dynamic patterns of gratitude correspond to both fluctuations and stable patterns of life satisfaction, and whether these associations differ as a function of individual factors. Thus, the degree of gratitude variability (fluctuation around one's typical level) and instability (day-to-day shifts) in gratitude were examined in relation to both mean levels and fluctuating patterns of life satisfaction, while considering emotion regulation difficulties and mental health challenges as between-person moderators. Participants (N = 257) were predominantly Chinese young adults aged between 18 and 25 years (Mage = 21.27), who completed a daily diary across 14 days. Multiple regression analyses indicated that greater gratitude variability and instability were associated with lower mean levels of life satisfaction, but these associations were no longer significant after controlling for average gratitude. Further, gratitude variability and instability were positively associated with greater fluctuations in life satisfaction, above and beyond average gratitude. No significant moderation effects were observed. These findings suggest that the degree and consistency of day-to-day gratitude fluctuations have implications for life satisfaction in daily life, and that these processes appear to operate similarly across individuals with varying levels of mental health challenges and emotion regulation difficulties.