From the classical philosophers, to the ancient religions, all the way to the modern self-improvement industry – gratitude has been offered as a way of increasing our basic happiness and satisfaction with life. It is only in recent years, though, that positive psychologists have conducted scientific research on gratitude. Does it really work?
In a word, yes. Although results are not universal, the practice of gratitude has been correlated with increased positive emotion and reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Given that the practice of gratitude is very popular in personal development, I thought it will be interesting to present the results of these studies – and more importantly, how these findings can maximise and extend the benefits of your practice.
While there is some debate over what gratitude is, most recent studies examine it as an emotion – a feeling of joy and thankfulness that comes from the recognition we have received something positive.
However, there is more. Have you ever noticed how you feel after something good happens in your life? Most people will naturally feel happier. Then after some time – hours, days, maybe weeks – what happens? We adapt to it, and eventually return to our “starting level” of happiness.
This leads to what is often called a hedonistic treadmill, where we constantly seek new pleasures, rewards, people, and objects to keep up our happiness levels. As you can imagine, it is a losing battle – we are trying to fill a bottomless pit.
The good news is – gratefulness for the good things in our lives can counteract this adaptation. In other words, if we are grateful for what we have, we don’t adapt as much, and we don’t “take them for granted”. We can savour and enjoy these things, events, and people instead of constantly looking for more.
And yes, in case you are wondering, adaptation also applies to unhappy events, although possibly to a lesser extent.
A popular gratitude exercise is counting one’s blessings. These instructions are paraphrased below from the landmark series of studies by Emmons and McCullough:
Make an effort to think about the many things in your life, both large and small, that you have to be grateful about. These might include particular supportive relationships, sacrifices or contributions that others have made for you, facts about your life such as your advantages and opportunities, or even gratitude for life itself, and the world that we live in. In all of these cases you are identifying previously unappreciated aspects of your life, for which you can be thankful. Each day you will write about the things for which you are grateful (e.g., a nice cup of coffee, a warm smile received from a stranger, an income, a hug from your partner, having food, any assets you have like good communication skills, having a caring nature or sporting excellence). Some of the things for which you are grateful might be the same on some days whereas others might be unique to that day.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? This is the gratitude exercise tested in many studies, and have been demonstrated to work quite well. But there are ways we can maximise these benefits.
For instance, other studies have analysed the differences between people who are more likely to be grateful (high in trait gratitude, for fellow psych geeks), and those who are less prone to gratitude. Some of the most relevant are:
Therefore, pay attention to the source of the positive things and events in your life, and spend a few moments thinking about why you received it.
Let’s take something really tiny as an example. Imagine that a stranger gave you a warm smile for no apparent reason. Now imagine reacting in these ways:
Would there be a difference in how much happiness you extract?
Some people might wonder how they might apply this for events with no apparent source – for example, witnessing a beautiful sunset. The only thing I can think of is, for those who have religious or spiritual beliefs, directing your gratitude towards a higher power.
Related to this topic, some research is also being done on person-activity fit. This simply means that each activity works differently for different people, depending on how well the activity fits with their goals, personality, motivation, and so on. So if the gratitude exercise – or anything else you might come across in the psychological/self help/spiritual world – doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t mean that it is worthless. It just means it doesn’t fit well with you, and it will be a good idea to try something else.
Of course, some aspects of fit can be controlled. One of the most important is timing. With most exercises like these, many people recommend doing it daily – but this can be a bad idea, because most exercises need a recovery period in between each “usage” to keep it fresh and effective. Finding your own timing is important; do it too much and it gets stale, do it too little and it has no effect.
And that is a quick overview of the most interesting studies on gratitude. Many readers will have a regular practice of gratitude; hopefully these findings will add to any benefits you already get. And if you don’t practice gratitude already, why not give it a shot? It only takes a few minutes.
A big thanks to Michal Tokarczuk for use of his pictures.
Since all this info comes from dozens of different studies, I can’t reference all of them. So the credits for this article go to the pioneers of gratitude research (in random order): Emmons, Crumpler, Lyubomirsky, McCullough, Tsang, and many others.
One of the most interesting things in this research was the “set point” of happiness. It is suggested that this set point is largely genetic, but some spiritual traditions give a different theory. If anyone wants to know more please let me know and I will write a short article on it.
A shout out to an old friend Evelyn Lim, from Abundance Tapestry. You might know her from her other blog, Attraction Mind Map, one of the premier self-improvement blogs around, and her new blog is just as good. A recent post you might like: How to Restore Inner Harmony
Another blog you might like is Storied Mind, stories and reflections of recovery from depression and other mood disorders. A post, although not so recent, that I really enjoyed was: The Flow of Becoming a Person
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Thanks for this article on gratitude. I think it is one of the most important things for us to become more happier in our lives, because it helps us identify the small things we have in life and makes bigger rewards more meaningful to us. And, as you say, it doesn’t time a lot of time to do in a day.
As always, another great article, my friend. Gratitude is a wonderful thing, and I find that a good dose of it helps lift me out of sadness whenever I need it.
Gratitude is essential for addiction recovery and it works! I’m glad that you’ve covered this for those who don’t know it because they aren’t addicts, but could still use the benefits of gratitude. Great article!
Man, I love positive psychology. This gratitude practice can be one of the most powerful things we can do, from my perspective. Because habituation is such a powerful phenomenon, it can easily screw with our happiness and make us run around in a rat race. Gratitude is THE solution out of this rat race.
Eduard
Awesome post! I’m going to add this as a link on my post today!!
@ Tristan: Thank you – you’re right, it is important to be grateful for the little things as well, for it adds up.
@ Jay: Thanks buddy! Good to see you here
@ Dan: That’s interesting, I didn’t know it was part of addiction recovery too. I will have to go read up more on that
@ Eduard: Yes, and the funny thing about positive psych is that even a simple exercise like this needs dozens of scientific studies before it becomes accepted.
@ Positively Present: You’re awesome!
Gratitude is so important!
If you look at it honestly the LOA has made gratitude into a sort of reward system.
In my experience, gratitude is something we stop doing instead something we try to do. When we stop holding on to delusion, gratitude shows up as the love of life.
Thanks for an important post!
Love the references to research.
Because this is Thanksgiving week,we are seeing posts on how to cook a turkey, how to survive the family reunions, BUT, very little on being THANKFUL.
Thanks for not only bringing up the important topic, but putting some weight behind your points with the research.
@ Kaushik: That is a beautiful point – like Love (with a capital L, not the little “l”), gratitude is a natural state, but covered up just like you suggest.
@ Mary: Thanks – it’s absolute coincidence that this came at Thanksgiving (we don’t have it in Aus, at least in my little hermit cave in Aus heh). But a very happy coincidence
Albert, I would say it’s absolutely NOT coincidence.
Love this post! Practicing gratitude keeps our focus positive, and whatever we focus on tends to expand!!!
In the end, we all create our experience through perception, and gratitude allows us to choose the most uplifting perspective available to us.
Great stuff!
Blessings,
Andrea
Hi Albert,
Beautiful post as always. I definitely believe in the importance of gratitude and do practice it daily.
In my mind, gratitude is not in so much a thought process but a feeling process too. I used to be an admirer of positive psychology but after attending the first world congress meeting on that subject, I became a bit disappointed.
Having positive thoughts are essential but what is more important is to feel those thoughts. I think we all can have positive thoughts but not all of us are happy. So I think positive psychology needs to really focus on the importance of feelings too. Just my two cents.
Hello Albert,
Thanks for the link love! What a lovely surprise!
The practice of gratitude was one of the very first lessons I had to learn when I looked into the suffering that I was putting myself through. I soon found out that gratitude kept me in the present. It helped to anchor my mind in the now, instead of fretting about the past or the future.
Thanks for a firm reminder to continue to express my gratitude each day! You are a great inspiration to me. I have got lots to learn from you!
With love,
Evelyn
@ Mary:
@ Andrea: Hey! Definitely, although widespread, gratitude is IMHO one of the most underrated practices out there.
@ Nadia: Hey my friend! Personally, I think positive psych has its heart in the right place but is looking in the wrong direction in some cases. Or is it prideful to say that about some very distinguished thinkers and scientists? Hehe.
@ Evelyn: My pleasure! You are always so kind with your comments.
Hi Albert — one important thing I got from this post was that the extent to which we’re grateful depends a lot on the lens through which we see others’ actions. I know that some people, if a stranger smiled at them, would feel threatened and worry “what do they want from me? Are they some kind of psycho?” Noticing the ways in which we’re conditioned to see people and situations as a threat or a problem, and letting go of those, can naturally lead to gratitude, I think.
Hi Chris – thanks for your comment! That’s a very interesting phenomenon. Feeling threatened from a smile – is that reflective of the times we live in, or of the person, I wonder?
Dear Albert
My heartfelt gratitude for your articles and passion to help others in their
personal development journey.
You certaintly help me thru my lowest point of life, in dealing with my husband’s infidelity. With your articles, I felt I was not alone in this difficult journey.
Thank you.
Jenny, your comment really put a warm feeling in me. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing some great points on how our perspective of events changes our experience of those events. It definitely makes a difference when we can notice the blessings that surround us rather than taking them for granted. Happy Thanksgiving
Hi Albert,
Interesting article, particularly the bit about the source of gratitude, something which I haven’t come across before.
I’m having a bit of trouble of being grateful in the first place. Although I have food, shelter, clothing etc., I can’t seem to appreciate what I have, and faking my thanks isn’t helpful at all. Do you have any ideas about how to resolve this, or possibly a follow-up article to this one?
Have a nice day,
Sai
@ Amanda: Thank you, and happy holidays to you to. (I’m assuming Thanksgiving is a holiday?)
@ Sai: Hi buddy! Hmm… you could try an exercise I heard about, but I forgot the exact details. Basically, realise that all the things you own don’t really belong to you. If you have religious or spiritual beliefs, they really belong to a higher power, and you are just given temporary care of it. Just contemplate that realisation for a while.
I don’t know how well that will work as I’ve never tried it myself, but give it a shot. If it is too religious for you, then perhaps you could try imagining yourself without all these things – give it time and you might begin to appreciate them.
Hope that helps
Thanks Albert, I shall give that a go! Weirdly, I just read an article by Steve Pavlina about property ownership where he said the exact same thing:
“You’re not really the owner of anything. You’re simply a temporary steward.”
Time to practise!
Hi Albert
Thought I’d tell you what someone taught me ‘temporary ownership’ about thirty years ago when I was experiencing a loss. My apartment was broken into, many irreplacable things were taken, along with normal type stuff.
I was scared knowing someone had been thru my entire home and all my stuff. But I was more heartbroken about the sentimental things now gone.
A friend, trying to console me said “If you can remember that all things are yours to use and enjoy while you have them, and now they are someone else’s to do the same; you will have new things to use and enjoy, so this loss won’t be a loss for long.”
I never forgot that and he was right, I suffered less and then not at all. It at times even seemed to be a generosity, a gift in the lesson and the passing on of things.
With most exercises like these, many people recommend doing it daily – but this can be a bad idea, because most exercises need a recovery period in between each “usage” to keep it fresh and effective. Finding your own timing is important; do it too much and it gets stale, do it too little and it has no effect.
This was a WOW part for me. I’ve experienced the too much/too little part and thought I was just failing. This has encouraged me to keep trying and to find my timing.
Sorry for the delay in reply, I was down with a throat infection.
@ Sai Choo: Let me know how it works.
@ Barb: Seeing that event as a lesson in generosity is something I am not sure I can do. Hats off to you, that is amazing.
@ Suzanne: Thanks – glad it helped, and it’s good to see you here.
Gratitude is underrated. Nice job with the topic. Noticing the small and lovely things in our day does make a difference in our lives. It is the nice cup of coffee, hearing laughter of a small child, or the smell of fresh baked bread that we should count as blessings. Perhaps we are always in search of the big things.
Hi Erin, thanks for your comment. I think you’re right, at least one study showed that one major difference between happy and less-happy people is the ability to appreciate all these small things (in the study the external factors like income,etc, were all the same).
Albert you little ninja legend. legend, i say, legend!!
“Therefore, pay attention to the source of the positive things and events in your life, and spend a few moments thinking about why you received it.”
- really really liked that. at first i read it as paying attention to the source of all positivity that comes from YOU as opposed to the positivity that arises out of others. i like both. specially my misinterpretation.
kinda tickled my soul.
the thought of it ya know. feeling that source of infinite yumness.
or summen like that
really feel good glory
hope all’s well mate.
alex – unleash reality
LOL, that is the first time anyone’s ever called me a ninja
Gratitude is so important – for living a balanced life, and for your relationships. Having gratitude for those who are in your life is a wonderful thing.
Have you ever started a “Gratitude Journal” where you start the day by writing things you’re grateful for?
Interesting take on the “The Practice Of Gratitude”.
Thanks for sharing, didn’t know this was such a formally studied area.
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