A growing body of research has focused on distinguishing general forms of gratitude from gratitude to God. We contributed to this area of research by examining correlates of personality traits and meaning in life in a cross-sectional study (N = 1,398). General gratitude was more strongly positively related to honesty-humility, extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, and meaning in life than gratitude to God. Moreover, gratitude to God moderated the positive relationship between general gratitude and meaning in life such that the relationship was stronger at lower than higher levels of gratitude to God. The results suggest that general forms of gratitude may be more important for well-being and positive traits than gratitude to God. General forms of gratitude may be particularly beneficial among less religious people, while gratitude to God may be particularly beneficial for people's well-being among those who are less grateful in general.
Keywords: gratitude; meaning in life; personality; religion; well-being.