Gratitude Isn't a Receipt

If gratitude were a receipt, you could settle it and be done. Philosophers and psychologists who study gratitude keep finding that it does not work that way.

Things we cannot return

Van Hulzen offers critical reflections on gratitude and what we cannot return [van Hulzen (2021)]. The title carries the main point: some gifts, such as being raised, cannot be matched, and pretending otherwise misses what they are. In Filipino discussions, de la Peña brings utang na loob into conversation with Aquinas's notion of gratitude [de la Peña (2024)], which is one example of scholars comparing the two traditions.

Gratitude across cultures

Vishkin and colleagues studied cultural variation in the motivational correlates of gratitude [Vishkin et al. (2025)]. In plain terms, what gratitude pushes people to do may differ by culture. Locklear and colleagues reviewed the social science of gratitude, with the workplace in mind [Locklear et al. (2023)], showing how widely the topic is studied.

We use these sources for context, not as evidence about Filipino youth. The point is narrower: "grateful" and "obligated" are different words for a reason, and the gap between them is where the study works.

Where this leaves utang na loob

Utang na loob is often called a debt, but the debt metaphor is imperfect. A person can feel it deeply and still be free to choose how to respond, which is what kusang-loob means. When the response is no longer free, the feeling may change.

That closes Part 1. Part 2 moves from the feeling to the duty.