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Vol. 4 No. 2 (2020)

October 2020

The Gratitude visit: Student reflections on a positive psychology experiential learning exercise

  • Jackelyn Payne
  • Huma Babar
  • Elizabeth Tse
  • Anne Moyer

Journal of Positive School Psychology , Vol. 4 No. 2 (2020), 4 October 2020 , Page 165-175
https://doi.org/10.47602/jpsp.v4i2.228 Published: 2020-10-04

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Abstract

This study aimed to examine students' subjective experiences and insights in response to engaging in a positive psychology exercise focused on gratefulness that was part of a college course. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of 97 reflection assignments submitted as part of undergraduate and graduate level positive psychology courses at a large public university. A grounded theory approach to qualitative research guided the analytic process. Six major themes emerged, including students’ thoughts about the interventions and difficulties with the experience, how the gratitude visit impacted their interpersonal relationships, reflections on the construct of gratitude, the effect of the intervention on their mood and stress levels, and beliefs about how the experience had and would continue to affect their lives beyond the course. Our findings support prior research suggesting the beneficial impact of experiential learning and imply that such experiential exercises are feasible in multiple levels of psychology courses.
Keywords:
  • Higher education, positive psychology, gratitude, experiential learning
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How to Cite

Payne, J., Babar, H., Tse, E., & Moyer, A. (2020). The Gratitude visit: Student reflections on a positive psychology experiential learning exercise. Journal of Positive School Psychology , 4(2), 165-175. https://doi.org/10.47602/jpsp.v4i2.228
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Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License, which allows free sharing, copying, and adaptation of the material for any purpose, even commercially, but with providing an appropriate reference to the source. This license entitles all parties to copy, share and redistribute all the articles, data sets, figures, and supplementary files published in this journal in data mining, search engines, web sites, blogs, and other digital platforms under the condition of providing references. 

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Journal of Positive School Psychology is a peer-reviewed journal covering positive psychology and provides an international forum for the science of positive psychology in education and school settings. The JPSP, which is published two times a year, is an open-access that publishes research outcomes with significant contributions to the understanding and improvement of the positive psychology of education and services in school settings. The JPSP publishes research regarding the education of populations across the life span

Journal of Positive School Psychology is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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