As the world begins to shift into a more recognizable mode, (YEAH!!), I am taking stock of what I have learned and what I am grateful for. I have used Dr. Emmons’ short quiz below to help me see where I am, and reorient myself to an attitude of gratitude. It is a wonderful check-in to getting back on track and seeing all the blessings in our lives. I have it printed out and pinned to my bulletin board above my desk as a handy-dandy reference.
As John Baldoni, internationally recognized executive coach and author, wrote recently in Forbes Magazine/Forbes.com, “Gratitude, as a topic, is au courant. You will find it embedded in self-help books, plastered on posters, and tweeted throughout cyberspace.”
It does seem that in the last few years more and more folks are bringing up the benefits of adopting an “Attitude of Gratitude.”
I for one am thrilled, since I believe so much in gratitude’s ability to recalibrate our inner and outer worlds that several years ago I created an app featuring a gratitude meditation I have practiced and shared with people for more than a decade. We will get to that in a moment.
For now, let’s look at a few questions designed by two of the pioneering researchers and experts on gratitude and its benefits, Dr. Robert Emmons at the University of California at Davis and Dr. Mike McCullough at the University of Miami. Early in this century they devised “The Gratitude Questionnaire,” six short questions to help us identify where gratitude resides within our hearts and minds.
The Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Item Form (GQ-6)*
Using the scale below as a guide, write a number beside each statement to indicate how much you agree with it.
1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = slightly disagree, 4 = neutral, 5 = slightly agree, 6 = agree, 7 = strongly agree.
____ 1. I have so much in life to be thankful for.
____ 2. If I had to list everything that I felt grateful for, it would be a very long list.
____ 3. When I look at the world, I don’t see much to be grateful for.
____ 4. I am grateful to a wide variety of people.
____ 5. As I get older I find myself more able to appreciate the people, events, and situations that have been part of my life history.
____ 6. Long amounts of time can go by before I feel grateful to something or someone.
Scoring Instructions:
- Add up your scores for items 1, 2, 4, and 5.
- Reverse your scores for items 3 and 6. That is, if you scored a “7,” give yourself a “1.” If you scored a “6,” give yourself a “2,” etc.
- Add the reversed scores for items 3 and 6 to the total from Step 1. This is your total GQ-6 score. This number should be between 6 and 42.
Your score is your personal benchmark; no one need know the number. Some of you will score 42, and all of us are so lucky to have you walking the planet at this moment in time and raising the vibration, so thank you.
Until next time…. Be Vibrant!
*McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 112-127.
The scale was published in a scientific journal for use in the public domain. You do not need to contact any of the authors for permission to use these scales in non-commercial research. You may not use the scales for commercial purposes without permission.
