Is gratitude a moral affect?

Gratitude is conceptualized as a moral affect that is analogous to other mo ral emotions such as empathy and guilt. Gratitude has 3 functions that can be conceptualized as morally relevant: (a) a moral barometer function (i.e. , it is a response to the perception that one has been the beneficiary of a nother person's moral actions); (b) a moral motive function (i.e., it motiv ates the grateful person to behave prosocially toward the benefactor and ot her people); and (c) a moral reinforcer function (i.e., when expressed, it encourages benefactors to behave morally in the future). The personality an d social factors that are associated with gratitude are also consistent wit h a conceptualization of gratitude as an affect that is relevant to people' s cognitions and behaviors in the moral domain.