DOES IT MANNER?

My bachelor thesis investigates whether the manner in which gratitude is expressed—spoken, written, or not at all—affects job satisfaction, specifically measured as task enjoyability. The study starts from the premise that gratitude plays an important role in workplace relationships, employee wellbeing, and organisational performance. Prior research shows that appreciation and positive emotions can enhance job satisfaction, reduce turnover, and support healthy work environments. Yet, little is known about whether how gratitude is communicated influences these outcomes.

The theoretical background draws on politeness theory (Goffman; Brown & Levinson), which views gratitude as a social act that can affirm positive face but may also imply indebtedness. Gratitude also plays a role in relationship-building through mechanisms such as the “find-remind-and-bind” theory and positive emotion broadening. Research further shows that spoken communication carries richer cues (intonation, timing, nonverbal signals) compared to written communication, which may influence how sincere and meaningful gratitude feels.

To explore these issues, the study employed both qualitative interviews and a quantitative experiment. Preliminary interviews with professionals revealed that gratitude is generally valued more when expressed orally, personally, and sincerely; written expressions, such as generic holiday cards, are often seen as impersonal or obligatory.

The main experiment used a 1×3 between-subjects design with 103 participants in the Netherlands (final N=96 after outlier removal). Participants completed an online task and were then exposed to either a spoken gratitude message, a written gratitude message, or no gratitude. Task enjoyability was then rated on a 7-point scale. While overall enjoyability scores were relatively high, statistical analysis (Welch’s ANOVA and Games–Howell post-hoc tests) found a significant difference between conditions: spoken gratitude produced higher task enjoyment than written gratitude, confirming Hypothesis 1. However, neither spoken nor written gratitude differed significantly from no gratitude, leading to the rejection of Hypothesis 2.

The results suggest that while spoken gratitude feels more positive than written gratitude, gratitude expressions in general did not increase job satisfaction in this context. This challenges assumptions that gratitude expressions automatically enhance employee feelings and suggests that gratitude may have become socially routine, reducing its emotional impact. The study also implies that sincerity, personalisation, and context play important roles in the effectiveness of gratitude.

Limitations include the use of a single-item job satisfaction measure, an inherently enjoyable task that may have masked effects, and the impersonal nature of written messages in online environments. Future research could examine gender differences, intercultural factors, sincerity cues (e.g., facial expressions, intonation), and long-term exposure to gratitude.

Practically, the findings encourage organisations and managers to prioritise spoken, personal gratitude over written, generic messages, particularly for meaningful tasks. Written expressions such as standardised corporate cards may have limited impact. More broadly, fostering sincere interpersonal communication may support workplace wellbeing more effectively than formulaic expressions of thanks.

The full research article can be found in Radboud University's educational repository.

© Luka Paul Vethake, 2020