As a gratitude researcher, I’m encouraged by its growing popularity in mainstream culture. Most people like gratitude and want to be grateful. And the benefits are undeniable. Grateful people tend to be more psychologically healthy, less lonely, and engage in more positive social behaviors.
But can gratitude become a problem? Far less attention has been paid to its dark side. Yet the idea that a virtue can, under certain circumstances, become a vice shouldn’t surprise us. Aristotle observed that virtue involves doing the right thing at the right time, in the right way, with the right motive, toward the right objects and people. Context matters—and more isn’t necessarily better. So let’s unpack the ways gratitude can go rogue.
Performative Gratitude
Performative gratitude occurs when we express thanks not out of genuine appreciation but to burnish our social image. Like other forms of virtue signaling, it thrives on public display—especially on social media. After all, one can’t boost their status without an audience.
Sometimes, it’s obvious, like that LinkedIn post thanking everyone who helped, which doubles as a résumé in disguise. But it can also take subtler forms—publicly thanking others not primarily to honor them, but to showcase ourselves as thoughtful and humble.
Researchers have even identified a group of people called communal narcissists, who are less obsessed with looking smart or being good-looking and more fixated on appearing good, caring, and grateful. They may be particularly drawn to performative gratitude.
Of course, not all forms of public gratitude are fake. I’ve publicly thanked others because I genuinely wanted to honor them, and you probably have, too. The difference, as Aristotle might say, lies in our motive. Is our goal to spotlight our benefactors—or ourselves? If we’re unsure, it’s often wiser to thank them privately.
Weaponized Gratitude
Gratitude can also be weaponized as a tool of control. Think of the abusive boss or partner who demands gratitude as proof of loyalty. Or the parent, exasperated with a child, who shouts, “You should be grateful for everything I’ve done for you!”—a dynamic known as “shoulding.” Far from fostering gratitude, this usually breeds resentment.
The Roman philosopher Seneca recognized this paradox long ago: Gratitude is something that can be offered but never demanded. Research backs this up: One study found that, ironically, the more benefactors expect gratitude, the less gratitude their beneficiaries feel. Parents are more likely to help children cultivate gratitude by modeling authentic expressions of thanks than by lecturing them about it. As the saying goes, more is caught than taught.
Toxic Gratitude
Toxic gratitude emerges when we pressure others or ourselves to “just be grateful,” and to ignore painful feelings amid suffering. Here, again, Aristotle is instructive. It’s not that gratitude has no value during a stressful situation. The problem is its timing and approach. When offered too soon or too forcefully, gratitude can invalidate real pain. Like its cousin, toxic positivity, toxic gratitude rushes to find the silver lining, leaving no space for grief or anger. Telling someone to “be grateful for what you have” when they’re hurting isn’t comforting; it’s dismissive.
A more compassionate response is empathy: Listen, care, and validate someone’s pain. Ironically, that genuine support often becomes the very thing people feel grateful for. Research on individuals engaged in writing their deepest thoughts and feelings about stressful experiences found that those who made the most gains in physical health after writing used more positive emotion words—but also a moderate number of negative ones. So embracing the duality of our emotions—both positive and negative—may be an important part of the healing process.
Corrupted Gratitude
Gratitude can also become corrupt when it drives people to commit unethical acts to repay their benefactors. My colleagues and I have argued that gratitude is closely tied to moral concerns—especially in how we reciprocate our benefactors. Sometimes, that repayment leads us astray. Indeed, a series of studies suggests that gratitude can lead people to violate the moral norms of honesty and justice if it protects their benefactors from harm.
Imagine a coworker who once championed your promotion. You’re deeply grateful. Months later, they’re under investigation for billing irregularities and ask you to “fix a few documents.” Would you help? If so, your gratitude risks becoming complicit with unethical and even criminal acts.
Some acts of corrupted gratitude are more subtle. Daily, people make countless decisions tainted by favors they owe others. A politician might vote for legislation they secretly oppose, out of gratitude to a mentor who supports it. Or consider the old boys’ network, where job opportunities, promotions, and contracts are forged—not solely based on merit but on lingering debts of gratitude. Someone receives help in their career, and the favor is repaid through preferential treatment in the hiring process for their benefactor’s friends or family members. In these moments, gratitude turns into a currency that sustains systems of privilege and injustice.
Gratitude Essential Reads
When gratitude causes us to betray fairness or justice, it fails as a virtue. Repaying kindness is noble—until it costs us our integrity.
When Gratitude Goes Rogue and When It Shines
As we reflect on what and who we’re grateful for, it’s worth remembering Aristotle’s wisdom. Virtue requires discernment—expressing gratitude the right way, for the right reasons. Indiscriminate gratitude can slip into vanity, manipulation, Pollyannaism, or misplaced loyalty—and lose sight of virtue along the way.
The answer isn’t to be less grateful, but to be wisely grateful. Virtuous gratitude doesn’t silence our conscience or cloud our judgment. When practiced with integrity, gratitude makes us more humble, more compassionate, more human.
That’s the kind of gratitude worth giving thanks for.
