Grateful and Sanctified: Exploring the Parent-Child Context

This study tested links between gratitude and sanctification of the current parent-child relationship for 452 college students and 194 of their parents. Intrapersonal religiousness and spirituality have clear links to gratitude, but there is a dearth of studies that explore sanctification of the family context in relation to gratitude. The cognitive process of sanctifying a family relationship that hinges on perceiving the parent-child relationship as having significant spiritual qualities may have important implications for gratitude. Thus, sanctifying a family relationship may be a contributor to gratitude. To test this assumption, an incremental validity model was employed. Hierarchical regression analyses predicting college students' and parents' gratitude were conducted, but only parents' reports of parent-child relationship sanctification through manifestation of God was significant after controlling for gender, parents' general religiousness/spirituality, and parent-child relationship quality. A discussion ensues focused on relational spirituality and gratitude in a family context.