Feeling Blue? Be Grateful, Scientists Say

Gratitude Improves Sense of Well-Being

Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. may be over, but people wanting to lead happier, healthier lives may want to make gratitude a part of everyday practice.  The Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness finds that subjects who practice gratitude enjoy psychological, emotional and physical benefits.

The look of gratitude is apparent on this person who celebrated Thanksgiving Day somewhere between 1910 - 1915.

During a 2003 experiment, people who kept weekly gratitude journals exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives overall and were more optimistic about the coming week compared to those who were either in the neutral condition or who recorded life’s tribulations.

When the test conditions were extended to a group with neuromuscular disease, the gratitude group felt greater amounts of high-energy positive moods, an increased sense of interconnectedness with others, higher optimism and better sleep duration and quality.

While grateful people do not deny or ignore negative aspects of life, the gratitude disposition apparently enhances pleasant feelings more.  Despite acknowledgement of daily trials, the grateful group had lower levels of depression and stress and higher levels of life satisfaction and vitality. 

The positive effects were noticed by others as well.  Grateful people were rated as being more generous and helpful by people in their social networks.  The study found that people in the grateful group demonstrated greater empathy than people in the other groups.

Although gratitude doesn’t require the practice of religious faith, those who regularly attend religious services and activities are more likely to be grateful and to acknowledge a belief in a connection with and responsibility for others.  Study participants in the gratitude condition were more likely help someone with a problem or provide emotional support to another.

Grateful people are less envious and more willing to share possessions, because they place less importance on material goods.  They’re also less likely to judge others or themselves based upon the accumulation of possessions.

The grateful group was more likely to have made progress in personal goals compared to those in the other experiment conditions.  Steps forward were observed in the goal areas of academic progress, interpersonal issues and health-based ambitions during a two-month observation of subjects.

There do not seem to be any negative effects of having grateful feelings, and the cost to implement a personal program can be a little as the cost of a notebook and a pen - about $4. 

From a personal perspective, I have implemented gratitude in my own life, and it works quite well.  I was struggling to keep my business afloat, monetary pressures were coming in from all sides and several long-term and highly significant personal relationships were dissolved during the struggle.  With nothing to lose, I tried the practice as recommended in the best-selling book, The Secret.

Although the practice doesn’t mask or mitigate the daily challenges, it seemed to turn the personal focus toward possibilities.  Like flipping a switch, the days seemed to improve and stress levels dramatically fell in my own personal experience.  Different directions immediately became apparent and those newly-realized alternatives ultimately led to better outcomes.

Anyone reading this article who is experiencing challenges or emotional pain is urged by the author to give five minutes in the morning to outlining what one is grateful for in life.  The cost is low; the time investment is neglible; the outcome could be remarkable. 

The Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness is led by Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis and Michael E. McCullough from the University of Miami.  The project is funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.