The Be aware and grateful for little things: The Relative Contribution of Mindfulness and Gratitude in Predicting Satisfaction

Abstract

Background: Indeed, both Mindfulness and Gratitude go hand in hand. As one goes into a state of mindfulness and opens their heart to gratitude, one may experience more positive feelings toward life and make choices of all types of events with an open-eyed sense in a nonjudgmental way. That may be leading to being overly focused on life circumstances in a constructive way and enhancing people's life satisfaction. The present study aims to recognize the different influences of gratitude and mindfulness in contributing to life satisfaction; and investigate the levels of mindfulness, gratitude, and life satisfaction among university students.

Methodology: In the study, 256 young adults were drafted from 4 educational institutes in Karachi. However, the random sampling method was used to recruit them. The mean age of the sample was 20 years, with the range of 18-25. The research tools included Mindful Attention Awareness Scale1, Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Item Form (GQ-6)2, and Satisfaction with Life Scale3 by using a brief demographic sheet and consent form, through which data was obtained.  

Results: Descriptive statistics and regression analysis was used to clarify the pattern of the result, and the findings were highly significant at p< .001. The outcomes demonstrated that the level of mindfulness comes in the low range (49.6%) of the study sample, while the range of gratitude was moderate (52.5%) to high levels (42.3%) correspondingly. Almost half of the participants reported a moderate level (49.3%) of life satisfaction. Further, the results showed that mindfulness and gratitude are the highest contributors to Life Satisfaction. As gratitude pointed out, 42% and mindfulness predicted 23% to expect contentment.

Conclusion: The study proposed a theoretical paradigm that mindfulness impacts satisfaction cognitively, while gratitude influences satisfaction emotionally. Thus, the benefits of both constructs are evident and improve people's lives.