How honesty shapes the personal and interpersonal benefits of gratitude

Honesty is highly valued in our close relationships, yet much of our understanding of honesty in interpersonal contexts has focused on the effects of sharing threatening information. In the current work, we examine how honesty may promote benefits in positive contexts, particularly during expressions of gratitude between romantic partners. Specifically, we examined whether expressed, perceived, and accurate perceptions of honesty about gratitude strengthen personal and relationship well-being. Romantic couples (N_couples = 214, N_individuals = 418) participated in a 14-day daily experience study (Study 1a) and a background survey, in-person lab interaction, and 3-month follow-up survey (Study 1b). Couples reported on their expressed and perceived honesty about a gratitude event, well-being, and felt appreciation. Results indicated that expressed honesty predicted intrapersonal benefits, with those who were more honest in their gratitude expressions experiencing greater personal and relationship well-being in the moment and across daily life. Perceived honesty predicted both intra- and interpersonal benefits. Those who perceived a partner to be honest about gratitude experienced greater personal well-being, relationship satisfaction, and felt gratitude in the moment, across daily life, and over time; additionally, their partners experienced greater relationship well-being in the moment and across daily life. Accurate perceptions of honest gratitude expressions did not predict any outcomes. Results could not be explained by baseline relationship satisfaction, expresser authenticity, or (perceived) gratitude intensity. Collectively, these results indicate that perceiving greater honesty about gratitude-regardless of a partner's actual honesty or accuracy in perceiving that honesty-is most consequential to couple well-being and feelings of being appreciated. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).