Environment and Social Psychology

Reducing adolescent aggression and moral disengagement with gratitude practices: An experimental approach

Arshia Mukhtar

Psychologist, National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

Dil Sher Khan

Psychologist, Ministry of Human Rights, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

Jamil Ahmad Malik

Tenured Professor, National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

Muhammad Kamran

Assisstant Professor/ Psychometric Expert, Department of Education, University of Loralai, Balochistan, 84800, Pakistan

Sarfraz Aslam

Faculty of Education and Humanities, UNITAR International University, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, 47301, Malaysia

Amjad Islam Amjad

Department of Education, The University of Lahore, Lahore, 54600, Pakistan

Sharareh Shahidi Hamedani

Faculty of Business, UNITAR International University, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, 47301, Malaysia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v10i7.3835

Keywords: gratitude intervention; gratitude; aggression; moral disengagement; moral issues

---

Abstract

This study explores the impact of gratitude-based interventions on adolescent aggression and moral disengagement in Pakistan. Using a pre-post experimental design, 200 college students (17–19 years) were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 100) and control (n = 100) groups. The intervention consisted of daily gratitude journaling and the “counting blessings” activity for two weeks. Data were collected using standardized scales for gratitude, aggression, and moral disengagement, and analyzed through SPSS using t-tests and ANOVA. Results showed a significant increase in gratitude and a significant decrease in aggression and moral disengagement in the experimental group compared to the control. Findings support gratitude practices as effective, low-cost strategies to enhance emotional well-being and reduce problematic behaviors in adolescents.

---

References

[1]. 1.Adams, J. D. (2018). The Effects of a Gratitude Intervention on Well Being in Children (Doctoral dissertation, The Wright Institute).

[2]. 2.Aftab, S. R., & Malik, J. A. (2021). Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement between Emotional Manipulation and Psychological Well-Being: Does Age Matter?. Behavioral sciences, 11(9), 117. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11090117

[3]. 3.Ali, S. A., Ahmed, M., Bhatti, O. K., & Farooq, W. (2020). Gratitude and its conceptualization: An Islamic perspective. Journal of religion and health, 59(4), 1740-1753. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s10943-019-00850-6

[4]. 4.Allen, J. J., & Anderson, C. A. (2017). Aggression and violence: Definitions and distinctions. The Wiley handbook of violence and aggression, 1-14.

[5]. 5.Bandura, A. Social cognitive theory of moral thought and action. In Handbook of Moral Behavior and Development: Theory, Research and Applications; Kurtines, W.M., Gewirtz, J.L., Eds.; Erlbaum: Hillsdale, NJ, USA, 1991; Volume 1, pp. 71–129

[6]. 6.Bandura, A. Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm and Live with Themselves; Worth Publishers: New York, NY, USA, 2016; p.446

[7]. 7.Boiler, L., Haverman, M., Westerhof, G. J., Riper, H., Smit, F., & Bohlmeijer, E. (2013). Positive psychology interventions: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. BMC Public Health, 13(1), 119-125. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-119

[8]. 8.Bono, G., & Sender, J. T. (2018). How gratitude connects humans to the best in themselves and in others. Research in Human Development, 15(3-4), 224-237. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2018.1499350

[9]. 9.Breuer, J., & Elson, M. (2017). Frustration-aggression theory (pp. 1-12). Wiley Blackwell.

[10]. 10.Bussey, K. (2020). Development of moral disengagement. The Oxford Handbook of moral development, 306-326. 12). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190676049.001.0001

[11]. 11.Buss, A. H., & Perry, M. (1992). The aggression questionnaire. Journal of personality and social psychology, 63(3), 452.

[12]. 12.Cohn, M. A., Fredrickson, B. L., Brown, S. L., Mikels, J. A., & Conway, A. M. (2009). Happiness unpacked: positive emotions increase life satisfaction by building resilience. Emotion, 9(3), 361.

[13]. 13.Compton, W. C., & Hoffman, E. (2019). Positive psychology: The science of happiness and flourishing. Sage Publications.

[14]. 14.Counting blessings in early adolescents; An experimental student of gratitude and subjective well-being. Journal of School Psychology, 46(2), 213-233. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2007.03.005

[15]. 15.Dahl, A., & Waltzer, T. (2018). Moral disengagement as a psychological construct. American Journal of Psychology, 131(2), 240-246. https://doi.org/10.5406/amerjpsyc.131.2.024

[16]. 16.De Caroli, M. E., & Sagone, E. (2014). Mechanisms of moral disengagement: An analysis from early adolescence to youth. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 140, 312-317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.04.426

[17]. 17.Detert, Trevino & Sweitzer (2008) Moral Disengagement in Ethical Decision Making: A study of Antecedents and Outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(2), 374. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.2.374

[18]. 18.Dossett, T. H. (2011). The influence of the character strengths of gratitude and kindness on subjective well-being. Louisiana Tech University.

[19]. 19.Eisenberg, N.; Cumberland, A.; Guthrie, I.K.; Murphy, B.C.; Shepard, S.A. Age changes in prosocial responding and moralreasoning in adolescence and early adulthood. J. Res. Adolesc. 2005,15, 235–260. [CrossRef]

[20]. 20.Emmons, R. A., Froh, J., & Rose, R. (2019). Gratitude. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0000138-020

[21]. 21.Emmons, R. A., & Crumpler, C. A. (2000). Gratitude as a human strength: Appraising the evidence. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19(1), 56-69. https:// doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2000.19.1.56

[22]. 22.Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of personality and social psychology, 84(2), 377-389. http://doi.org/10.1037/00223514.84.2.377

[23]. 23.Froh, J. J., Sefick, W. J., & Emmons, R. A. (2008). Counting blessings in early adolescents: An experimental study of gratitude and subjective well-being. Journal of School Psychology, 46(2), 213–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2007.03.005Fredrickson, B. L., Cohn, M. A., Coffey, K. A., Pek, J., & Finkel, S. M. (2008). Open hearts build lives: positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Journal of personality and social psychology, 95(5), 1045. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0013262

[24]. 24.Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and build theory of positive emotions. American psychologist, 56(3), 218-226. http://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.56.3.218

[25]. 25.Froh, J. J., Sefick, W. J., & Emmons, R. A. (2008). Counting blessings in early adolescents: An experimental study of gratitude and subjective well-being. Journal of school psychology, 46(2), 213-233.

[26]. 26.Froh, J. J., Kashdan, T. B., Ozimkowski, K. M., & Miller, N. (2009). Who benefits the most from a gratitude intervention in children and adolescents? Examining positive affect as a moderator. The journal of positive psychology, 4(5), 408-422. http://doi.org/10.1080/17439760902992464

[27]. 27.Gini, G., Pozzoli, T., & Hymel, S. (2014). Moral disengagement among children and youth: A meta‐analytic review of links to aggressive behavior. Aggressive behavior, 40(1), 56-68. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21502

[28]. 28.Göcen, G. (2016). Qualitatively exploring the relationship among gratitude, spirituality and life satisfaction in Turkish-Muslim children. Spiritual Psychology and Counseling, 1(2), 189-208. http://doi.org/10.12738/spc.2016.2.0010

[29]. 29.Gómez Tabares, A. S., & Landinez-Martínez, D. A. (2021). Moral disengagement mechanisms and its relationship with aggression and bullying behaviour among school children and youth at psychosocial risk. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 26(3), 225-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632752.2021.1945801

[30]. 30.Gottlieb, R., & Froh, J. (2019). Gratitude and happiness in adolescents. Advances in psychology, mental health, and Behavioral Studies, 1-19. http://doi.org/10.4018/978-15225-5918-4.ch001

[31]. 31.Hymel, S., & Perren, S. (2015). Introduction to the special issue: Moral disengagement and aggression in children and youth. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 61(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.13110/merrpalmquar1982.61.1.0001

[32]. 32.Jackowska, M., Brown, J., Ronaldson, A., & Steptoe, A. (2016). The impact of a brief gratitude intervention on subjective well-being, biology and sleep. Journal of health psychology, 21(10), 2207-2217. http://doi.org/10.1177/1359105315572455

[33]. 33.Kamran, M., Ameer, I., Saleh, W., Aslam, S., & Benyo, A. (2023). Psychometric properties of classroom creativity climate scale (CCCS): Evidence from confirmatory factor analysis in the Pakistani context. Psychology in the Schools, 60(11), 4481-4496.

[34]. 34.Kamran, M., Saleh, W., & Ameer, I. (2024). Assessing learning strategies among Indigenous University researchers: A comparative analysis of the brief ACRA scale. Environment and Social Psychology, 9(7), 2872.

[35]. 35.Kokkinos, C. M., Voulgaridou, I., Mandrali, M., & Parousidou, C. (2016). Interactive links between relational aggression, theory of mind, and moral disengagement among early adolescents. Psychology in the Schools, 53(3), 253-269.

[36]. 36.Kong, F., Ding, K., & Zhao, J. (2015). The relationships among gratitude, self-esteem, social support and life satisfaction among undergraduate students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(2), 477-489. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9519-2

[37]. 37.Kong, F., Yang, K., Yan, W., & Li, X. (2021). How does trait gratitude relate to subjective well-being in Chinese adolescents? The mediating role of resilience and social support. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22, 1611-1622.

[38]. 38.LF Barret. (2013) Psychological Construction: The Darwinian Approach to the Science of Emotion. Emotion Review, 5(4), 379-389. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1177/1754073913489753

[39]. 39.Lomas, T., Froh, J. J., Emmons, R. A., Mishra, A., & Bono, G. (2014). Gratitude interventions: A review and future agenda. The Wiley Blackwell handbook of positive psychological interventions, 1-19.

[40]. 40.Lopez, S.J., & Snyder, C.R. (2011). The oxford handbook of positivity psychology (Oxford Library of Psychology) (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press, USA

[41]. 41.Lopez, S. J., & Snyder, C. R. (2003). Positive psychological assessment: A handbook of models and measures (pp. xvii-495). American Psychological Association.

[42]. 42.Martínez-Martí, M. L., Avia, M. D., & Hernández-Lloreda, M. J. (2010). The effects of counting blessings on subjective well-being: A gratitude intervention in a Spanish sample. The Spanish journal of psychology, 13(2), 886-896. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1138741600002535

[43]. 43.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.

[44]. 44.Meier, J. (2018). What are people grateful for? Investigating the relationship between gratitude, mental well-being and depression: A qualitative study (Master's thesis, University of Twente). Retrieved from : http://essay.utwente.nl/76699/.

[45]. 45.MEP Seligman, T. Steen, N. Park & C. Peterson. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60,410-421. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.60.5.410

[46]. 46.Moore, C. (2015). Moral disengagement. Current Opinion in Psychology, 6, 199-204. https://doi.org/10.1016.2015.07.018

[47]. 47.O'Connell, B. H., O'Shea, D., & Gallagher, S. (2016). Enhancing social relationships through positive psychology activities: A randomised controlled trial. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(2), 149-162. http://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1037860

[48]. 48.Paciello, M., Muratori, P., Ruglioni, L., Milone, A., Buonanno, C., Capo, R., … & Barcaccia, B. (2017). Personal values and moral disengagement promote aggressive and rule-breaking behaviours in adolescents with disruptive behaviour disorders: A pilot study. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 61(1), 46-63.

[49]. 49.Rubio‐Garay F, Carrasco MA, Amor PJ. Aggression, anger and hostility: evaluation of moral disengagement as a mediational process. Scandinavian journal of psychology. 2016 Apr; 57(2):129-35. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12270

[50]. 50.Seligman, M. E., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. American psychologist, 60(5), 410.

[51]. 51.Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How to increase and sustain positive emotion: The effects of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves. The journal of positive psychology, 1(2), 73-82.

[52]. 52.Snyder, C. R., & Lopez, S. J. (Eds.). (2001). Handbook of positive psychology. Oxford university press.

[53]. 53.Steyn, H. (2009). A psycho-educational programme to facilitate the coping with aggression by educators in secondary schools in the South African society. University of Johannesburg (South Africa).

[54]. 54.Sun, P., Sun, Y., Jiang, H., Jia, R., & Li, Z. (2019). Gratitude and problem behaviors in adolescents: The mediating roles of positive and negative coping styles. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 1547.

[55]. 55.Thornberg, R., & Jungert, T. (2014). School bullying and the mechanisms of moral disengagement. Aggressive behavior, 40(2), 99-108.

[56]. 56.Utley, A., & Garza, Y. (2011). The therapeutic use of journaling with adolescents. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 6(1), 29-41. http://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2011.557312

[57]. 57.Wang, M., Wu, X., & Chong, D. (2019). Different mechanisms of moral disengagement as multiple mediators in the association between harsh parenting and adolescent aggression. Personality and individual differences, 139, 24-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.10.037

[58]. 58.Wang, X.; Lei, L.; Liu, D.; Hu, H. Moderating effects of moral reasoning and gender on the relation between moral disengagementand cyberbullying in adolescents. Personal. Individ. Differ. 2016,98, 244–249. [CrossRef]

[59]. 59.Wang, X., Lei, L., Yang, J., Gao, L., & Zhao, F. (2017). Moral disengagement as mediator and moderator of the relation between empathy and aggression among Chinese male juvenile delinquents. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 48(2), 316-326. https://doi.org /10.1007/s10578-016-0643-6

[60]. 60.Wang, X., Yang, L., Yang, J., Gao, L., Zhao, F., Xie, X., & Lei, L. (2018). Trait anger and aggression: A moderated mediation model of anger rumination and moral disengagement. Personality and Individual Differences, 125, 44-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.12.029

[61]. 61.Wigham, S., McGovern, R., Kaner, E., & Hackett, S. S. (2022). A review of recent innovation in psychosocial interventions for reducing violence and aggression in adults using a horizon scanning approach. Aggression and violent behavior, 62, 101685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2021.101685

[62]. 62.WS Kim. (2020). Exploring the developmental plans of morale motions based on theory of constructed emotion . Journal of Moral & Ethics Education., 67,21-42.