Whether feeling grateful, having a grateful outlook on life, or engaging in a gratitude practice, research shows gratitude is key to better sleep, longevity, strengthened relationships, greater life satisfaction, and so much more.
Research suggests gratitude interventions—designed to increase appreciation of positive qualities, situations, and people in one’s life—may improve psychological well-being
(e.g., Seligman et al. in Am Psychol 60:410–421, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-
066X.60.5.410). Accordingly, mental health practitioners have promoted gratitude interventions as a means of self-help. However, results from previous reviews suggest that
well-being improvements associated with gratitude interventions may be attributable to
placebo efects (Davis et al. in J Couns Psychol 63:20–31, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1037/
cou0000107; Wood et al. in Clin Psychol Rev 30:890–905, 2010, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
cpr.2010.03.005). With this meta-analysis, we examined the efcacy of gratitude interventions (k=27, N=3675) in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety at post-test and
follow-up periods. Gratitude interventions had a small efect on symptoms of depression
and anxiety at both post-test (g=−0.29, SE=0.06, p<.01) and follow-up (g=−0.23,
SE=0.06, p<.01). Correcting for attenuation from unreliability did not change results.
Moderation analyses indicated efect sizes were larger for studies using waitlist, rather than
active, control conditions at post-test and follow-up. We did not fnd consistent evidence
for efects of other moderator variables (e.g., risk of bias, depressive symptom severity,
or type of intervention used). Our results suggest the efects of gratitude interventions
on symptoms of depression and anxiety are relatively modest. Therefore, we recommend
individuals seeking to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety engage in interventions
with stronger evidence of efcacy for these symptoms.
Children and youth comprise nearly 39% of the
Indian population and are often considered the future
demographic dividend of the country. The mental health
and well-being of these young people are a pressing challenge in current times. The present study aimed to replicate
the widely popular positive psychology interventions of
Seligman et al. (Am Psychol 60:410–421, 2005) in a different culture and demographic groups of Indian adolescents. 372 students (MAge= 12.73, SD = 0.98, age range
11–13 years, 56% male) from two schools participated in
the study. Participating classrooms were randomized across
5 interventions (Three good things in life, Gratitude visit,
You at your best, Using signature strengths and Using
signature strengths in a new way) and 1 placebo control
group (Recalling early memories). Each exercise was
completed over 1 week. Self-reported measures of wellbeing, affect, happiness and depressive symptoms were
obtained at pre- and post-intervention. Participants who
undertook the Gratitude visit and signature strength-based
interventions reported gains in well-being, life satisfaction
and happiness at post-test. Interventions involving only
self-reflection and journaling showed no statistically significant impact on outcome variables. None of the interventions led to perceived gains in scores of depressive
symptoms.
Mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly report
elevated levels of stress and psychopathology compared to mothers of typically developing
children. However, there is an expanding area of research which focuses on factors that
promote positive adaptation among mothers of children with ASD. Gratitude is one factor
associated with positive outcomes in the general population and may therefore, also be
associated with positive outcomes for mothers of children with ASD.
Method: In this qualitative study, mothers of children with ASD were divided into two
groups and instructed to write letters of gratitude to either someone besides their child
(general gratitude) or their child (child gratitude). Coding and thematic analysis of their
narratives was conducted using ATLAS.ti computer software.
Results: Prominent themes for mothers in the general gratitude group included sources of
social support, characteristics of close personal relationships, inspirational others, and
other positive attributes of individuals, such as being kind-hearted. Whereas, in the child
gratitude group, emergent themes were the child with ASD making progress, the child’s
personality, inspiration, and shared experiences.
Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest that mothers are able to identify and express
gratitude for beneficial aspects of their lives. These findings have important implications
for the understanding of the experience of parenting a child with ASD and may also serve to
inform development of interventions to promote well-being in families of children with
ASD.
Although gratitude is often defined as being an emotion that motivates reciprocity and
connectedness between people, individuals can also experience gratitude to nonhuman
entities such as nature. Despite expressions of gratitude to nature being common in
cultures throughout world, little research has examined its implications for sustainability.
In two studies, the current research explored how writing letters of gratitude to nature
might increase pro-environmental behavior by leading people to see nature as large and
by leading to more inclusion of nature in one’s self-concept. Study 1 compared the
effects of nature gratitude letters to gratitude letters to built environments and to a neutral
control condition, finding that nature gratitude letters led to greater inclusion of nature in
self and greater nature size. Although there was no direct effect on intentions to act proenvironmentally, the nature gratitude letter had indirect effects leading to greater
intentions via both increased nature size and nature inclusion. Study 2 aimed to replicate
these findings and extend them by testing the role of two potential moderators: biospheric
value orientation and personal norms of positive reciprocity. First, we found that the
nature gratitude letter led to more nature inclusion, greater nature size, more selftranscendent emotion, and more pro-environmental behavioral intentions compared to the
built gratitude letter. Second, an interaction was found such that the effect of the nature
gratitude letter on pro-environmental behavioral intentions was only significant among
those with average or greater endorsement of biospheric values. Implications for
sustainability and emotion research are discussed.
Close relationship partners often share successes and triumphs with one another, but this experience is rarely the focus of empirical study. In this study, 79 dating couples completed measures of relationship well-being and then participated in videotaped interactions in which they took turns discussing recent positive and negative events. Disclosers rated how understood, validated, and cared for they felt in each discussion, and outside observers coded responders’ behavior. Both self-report data and observational codes showed that 2 months later, responses to positive event discussions were more closely related to relationship well-being and break-up than were responses to negative event discussions. The results are discussed in terms of the recurrent, but often overlooked, role that positive emotional exchanges play in building relationship resources.
The effectiveness of expressed gratitude interventions in enhancing psychological wellbeing has been explored in a number of studies. The present meta-analysis synthesized results from 25 randomized controlled trials, including a total of 6,745 participants, to examine the effect of expressed gratitude interventions on positive indicators of psychological wellbeing, including life satisfaction, positive affect, and happiness. The results showed that expressed gratitude interventions had a significant effect on psychological wellbeing relative to neutral comparison groups, Hedges’ g = 0.22, 95% CI [0.11, 0.33], p < .001. The significant effects applied to each of the three elements of positive wellbeing. Intervention length and duration from baseline to final assessment did not significantly moderate effect sizes across studies. The present findings indicate that expressed gratitude interventions have value in improving psychological wellbeing.
The emotion of gratitude is thought to have social effects, but empirical studies of such effects have focused largely on the repaying of kind gestures. The current research focused on the relational antecedents of gratitude and its implications for relationship formation. The authors examined the role of naturally occurring gratitude in college sororities during a week of gift-giving from older members to new members. New members recorded reactions to benefits received during the week. At the end of the week and 1 month later, the new and old members rated their interactions and their relationships. Perceptions of benefactor responsiveness predicted gratitude for benefits, and gratitude during the week predicted future relationship outcomes. Gratitude may function to promote relationship formation and maintenance.
For those who are able-bodied, gratitude may well comprise a comfortable and unproblematic response to kindness, but for disabled people it can signify an unbearable state of perpetual obligation. A recent study which took a grounded theory approach to the exploration of the feelings of loss experienced by people living in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom in response to becoming ‘disabled’ demonstrated that the prime distinguishing feature between those who were ultimately able to reconcile their need for support and those who continued to feel diminished by it was signified by the presence or absence of formal care arrangements. People who had access to paid personal assistants, whether through community-based services or the marketplace, tended to feel more comfortable and in control of their lives, while those who relied on the goodwill of others commonly experienced a great deal of shame and frustration in relation to their ongoing needs. It is argued here that those whose identities suffered from the experience of unrelenting reliance on informal care have effectively been disabled by their lack of access to the kinds of services which have the potential to remove the tendency to feel, and be constrained by, shame and irrevocable gratitude.
The purpose of these studies was to develop a valid measure of trait gratitude, and to evaluate the relationship of gratitude to subjective well-being (SWB). Four studies were conducted evaluating the reliability and validity of the Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test (GRAT), a measure of dispositional gratitude. This measure was shown to have good internal consistency and temporal stability. The GRAT was shown to relate positively to various measures of SWB. In two experiments, it was shown that grateful thinking improved mood, and results also supported the predictive validity of the GRAT. These studies support the theory that gratitude is an affective trait important to SWB.
In four studies, the authors examined the correlates of the disposition toward gratitude. Study 1 revealed that self-ratings and observer ratings of the grateful disposition are associated with positive affect and well-being, prosocial behaviors and traits, and religiousness/spirituality. Study 2 replicated these findings in a large nonstudent sample. Study 3 yielded similar results to Studies 1 and 2 and provided evidence that gratitude is negatively associated with envy and materialistic attitudes. Study 4 yielded evidence that these associations persist after controlling for Extraversion/positive affectivity, Neuroticism/negative affectivity, and Agreeableness. The development of the Gratitude Questionnaire, a unidimensional measure with good psychometric properties, is also described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
