Abstract: Gratitude is a common psychological experience across time and cultures and has been studied as both a personality trait and an emotional state. Existing reviews have primarily focused on trait gratitude and state gratitude, with particular attention to their beneficial effects on individuals themselves. However, gratitude can also be expressed through interpersonal behavior. In organizational contexts, gratitude expression refers to the verbal and nonverbal behaviors through which individuals convey their gratitude to others. A growing body of empirical research has examined gratitude expression, yet this literature has not been systematically integrated. Moreover, although gratitude expression is generally assumed to convey positive social signals and produce beneficial psychological and behavioral outcomes, existing studies show that its effects may vary across contexts. The mechanisms underlying such variation also remain unclear. Thus, a systematic understanding is needed of both the effects of gratitude expression in organizations and the mechanisms that explain why these effects differ across contexts.
To clarify the effects of gratitude expression, we systematically review existing empirical research and develop a classification framework along two dimensions: the scope of effects (intrapersonal vs. interpersonal) and the valence of effects (positive vs. negative). This framework distinguishes between the effects of gratitude expression on the expresser and those on others (i.e., recipients or observers), and integrates both positive and negative outcomes. Based on these two dimensions, we identify four types of effects: intrapersonal positive effects, interpersonal positive effects, interpersonal negative effects, and intrapersonal negative effects. We further organize these effects across four domains: health, ethics, relationships, and performance. Together, this framework provides a structured overview of the current literature on gratitude expression.
To explain why the effects of gratitude expression differ across contexts, we draw on social relational theory and propose an explanatory framework centered on communal and exchange relationships. We argue that the key lies in how individuals perceive their relationships during interpersonal interactions. When gratitude expression strengthens perceptions of a communal relationship, it generally promotes positive outcomes. In contrast, when contextual cues (e.g., competitive contexts) make an exchange relationship more salient, gratitude expression may produce unintended negative consequences. Importantly, communal and exchange relationships are not mutually exclusive; rather, their relative salience varies across contexts. We therefore categorize the contextual cues that shape relational perceptions into two types: individual cues and interactional cues. These cues influence individuals' information-processing orientations and, in turn, shape the relative salience of communal versus exchange relationship perceptions.
Building on the literature review and theoretical framework, we propose three directions for future research. First, future research could further examine intrapersonal and negative effects that remain insufficiently understood. Second, future research could develop a more systematic framework for understanding boundary conditions by examining how different situational characteristics shape relational perceptions and outcomes. Third, future research could adopt a temporal perspective to examine how relational perceptions accumulate and change across repeated interactions and how these dynamics shape the long-term effects of gratitude expression.
This study systematically integrates and extends the literature on gratitude expression in organizations. First, we develop a two-dimensional classification framework that provides a structured map of the diverse effects of gratitude expression. Compared with existing reviews, this framework not only integrates the positive effects but also distinguishes between interpersonal and intrapersonal negative effects and their underlying psychological mechanisms. In doing so, it moves the literature beyond a predominantly positive view toward a more balanced and comprehensive understanding of gratitude expression. Second, we propose a theoretical framework to explain why gratitude expression may produce different effects across contexts. By focusing on whether gratitude expression strengthens perceptions of a communal relationship or makes an exchange relationship more salient, this framework offers a unifying explanation for previously fragmented findings and provides a theoretical basis for systematically examining the boundary conditions of gratitude expression effects.

Key words: gratitude, gratitude expression, positive effects, negative effects, context