Effect of the “Thank You-T” gratitude education program (TYGEPT) on gratitude levels of Turkish elementary school teachers1

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop and examine the effectiveness of the “Thank You-T” Gratitude Education Program (TYGEP-T) for Turkish elementary school teachers. TYGEP-T aims to contribute elementary school teachers to develop their skills to recognize and express gratitude and review the school-based activities they can do to make gratitude a part of their “school culture”. A pre-test, posttest, and follow-up experimental design with one treatment and one none-treatment control group were used to examine the effectiveness of the program, with a sample of 23 elementary school teachers. Results revealed that after the TYGEP-T a significant difference appeared between the total gratitude scores of the experimental group and the control group. This difference disappeared in the follow-up test. Moreover, in this study in a more different way than the former studies, the effects of the program on the sub-dimensions of gratitude, Lack of Sense of Deprivation (LOSD), Simple Appreciation (SA) and Appreciation of Others (AO), were examined. In terms of subscale scores, while the program is considered effective in increasing LOSD and AO scores, permanency was only observed in AO scores.