Mediational Influence of Gratitude on Self Criticizing Behavior and Competitive State Anxiety

Abstract

The study aimed to look into the mediational effects of gratitude on young adults' competitive state anxiety and self-critical/reassuring behaviour (dependent variable) in young adults aged (18-35). The study explored how effect of gratitude intervention on self-criticism and self-reassurance. The initial sample consisted of 100 students (50 males and 50 females). From those, 30 individuals who scored highly on self-criticism were selected. These participants were divided randomly into the control group (15) and the experimental group (15). The experimental group received a 4-week intervention combining worksheets and exercises for self-esteem, gratitude, automatic negative thoughts, deep breathing, and mind-body relaxation, designed to decrease self-criticism and enhance a positive outlook to carry forward for themselves and their lives. Pre-test and post-test assessments were conducted to measure self-criticism and competitive state anxiety. Data analysis used correlational, repeated measure T-test, and mediational methods. The study indicated a negative correlation between competitive state anxiety and gratitude. Self-critiquing and reassuring behaviours were negatively correlated. Gratitude does not mediate between self-criticizing/reassuring behaviour and competitive state anxiety. The indirect mediating effect of X on Y is small and not statistically significant. In the second phase, the results demonstrated full acceptance of hypotheses on the dependent variable except for two of them.