The Development of Gratitude in Guatemalan Children and Adolescents

Expressing gratitude is central to the lives of Guatemalan youth. Despite limited empirical evidence on gratitude in Guatemala, anecdotal reports and cultural values point to its importance, providing a rich cultural context to continue Baumgarten-Tramer’s work. We have situated the current sample of 104 Guatemalan youth (M = 10.85, SD = 2.28, 53.8% girls) as autonomous and related using Ka？？t？？ba？？’s framework, given their relatively advantaged socioeconomic status and the cultural importance of family. Participants’ responses to the Wishes and Gratitude Scale and the Imaginary Windfall resource distribution activity revealed that older children were more likely than younger children to express connective gratitude. Regardless of age, expressions of verbal gratitude were frequent, while concrete gratitude was extremely rare. Older participants were more likely to spend their hypothetical resources saving for the future; younger children’s resources were often allocated to buying gifts for others. These findings reflect both participants’ cultural and developmental contexts