Enhancing the effectiveness of counting blessings on subjective well-being : the effects of autonomy support and implementation intention

Abstract

The study investigated whether providing autonomy support and implementation intention would enhance participants’ subjective well-being in a counting blessings intervention. One hundred and one senior secondary school students were randomly assigned into four conditions: (1) with both autonomy support and implementation intention; (2) with autonomy support only; (3) with implementation intention only; and (4) without autonomy support and implementation intention (control). They were then instructed to count three blessings daily for two weeks. The results indicated that participants’ positive affect was significantly enhanced by counting blessings intervention with autonomy support; while their life satisfaction and positive affect were significantly promoted by the intervention supplemented with implementation intentions. Implications of the findings were discussed.