Research Symposium

BIO

Amelia Ferretti is a second year at Florida State University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. She is originally from Apex, North Carolina, and enjoys taking walks and reading outside in Florida’s warm weather. She is an active member of the Psi Chi honor society. She is particularly interested in cognitive and social psychology, with a focus on memory processes, human behavior, and social perception and affiliation. Amelia currently works as a UROP undergraduate research assistant in the Maner Lab under the mentorship of graduate student Julia Lombard, where she contributes to research in social and evolutionary psychology. She also recently joined the Individual Differences in Cognitive Development Lab as a Directed Individual Study (DIS) student, where she is learning about and supporting research on twin studies in reading and math achievement. Through these experiences, Amelia hopes to continue developing her research skills, deepen her understanding of human behavior, and pursue graduate studies in the future.

Social Cognitive Processing of Gratitude Expressions

Abstract

Although past research has shown many benefits of gratitude in facilitating and maintaining social bonds, less is known about how gratitude expressions influence first impressions. The purpose of the current study is to examine both implicit and explicit evaluations of gratitude expressions, focusing on attitudes, selective memories, perceptions, and preferences toward individuals who express gratitude compared to those who remain neutral. We predicted that individuals would show more positive evaluations of grateful targets than of neutral targets, both explicitly and implicitly. We also predicted that individuals would demonstrate selective memory for details expressed by grateful targets. To test these predictions, nearly 100 Sona participants read four fictional bios from other ostensible student participants (targets) they believed they might interact with later in the study. Two of these targets expressed gratitude in their bios, while the other two remained neutral. Currently, we are analyzing data and coding memory responses for overall and gratitude-specific accuracy. We are also exploring whether relevant individual difference variables, such as personality, dispositional gratitude, and power-attainment strategies, influence the social processing of gratitude.

Keywords: gratitude, selective memory, social relationships, first impression