Gratitude and the pursuit of happiness
- karynkybus
- Apr 26, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 27, 2019
The effects of practising gratitude on improved levels of both physical health and mental well-being are becoming increasingly researched and documented. Gratitude and journaling (the process of consciously stating gratitude) are tools used by many experts in the psychology and education fields.
What is gratitude?
Many definitions of gratitude are overly simplified, such as Cambridge Dictionary’s “feeling or quality of being grateful”. Harvard Medical School elaborates by describing gratitude as “a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible” and that with this comes an acknowledgement of goodness in one’s life.
Robert Emmons, the world's leading scientific expert on gratitude, takes this explanation a step further and describes gratitude as having two components.
- The first is an affirmation that there are good things in the world and that we receive gifts and benefits. Emmons importantly points out that an acknowledgement of gratitude does not mean that we must disregard the difficulties and challenges of life and the emotions that comes with that; a statement of gratitude is not synonymous with a belief that life is perfect.
- The second component of gratitude is determining the source of our gratitude; gratitude is generally not a personal trait of our own but something we have received and appreciated external to ourselves. As such, the process of conscious gratitude is humbling and allows you to connect with others and your world.
Similarly, Geelong Grammar School, a leading Positive Education school, sees gratitude being fulfilled in two stages – feeling appreciation and then acting on that appreciation and gratitude in some way, which they summarise as ‘feeling good’ then ‘doing good’.
Why practise gratitude?
As stated earlier, there is an increasing focus and importance placed on the effects of gratitude on well-being levels within the field of psychology. The Positive Psychology Program details this well - below is a summary of their findings which mirrors the general consensus among the positive psychology community:
* HAPPINESS! The majority of research into the effects of gratitude strongly link the outcomes to the pursuit (and attainment) of happiness. Most studies conducted in the area show very clearly improved levels of feeling happy when gratitude is expressed and practised.
* Related to this, is the promotion of mental well-being via catharsis – expressing gratitude promotes the release of emotions and directly requires a focus on positivity in life.
* Greater physical health – some studies have shown that expressing daily gratitude has resulted in improved sleep and better stress management which affected cardio-vascular health.
* Relationship building through reciprocity – the exchange of a positive emotion, in a similar fashion to ‘paying it forward’, can be a way to express appreciation towards others which forges connections between people.
* Religious/spiritual connection – many religions encourage gratitude, often towards their respective God, however this could also be a spiritual connection with the universe and mother nature in general.
If you need a smile today, the following feelgood clip tugs on the heart strings and also highlights the impact of expressing gratitude on both the expressor and the recipient (the statistics at the end are especially interesting!)
Gratitude and Positive Education
The array of concepts and beliefs underpinning positive psychology and positive education are incredibly vast and complex, however, to simplify, Positive Education centres around the concept of 24 key character strengths, arranged into 6 virtues. All of us possess each of the 24 character strengths, though to varying degrees, and these positive human traits acts as buffers against poor mental wellbeing. Focusing on one’s ‘top strengths’ and learning to harness those strengths (as well as working to develop those traits which present less frequently or dominantly) are believed to lead to better success and to achieve better mental health.
Gratitude appears as one of the 5 character strengths under the umbrella virtue of ‘transcendence’, along with Appreciation of Beauty, Hope, Humour and Spirituality. It is believed that these character strengths revolve around having stronger connections to your surrounding environment and help you provide meaning from the universe.
Martin Seligman, “the father of positive psychology”, and his colleague Christopher Peterson found that younger children, who have not yet developed cognitive maturity, do not naturally demonstrate gratitude but instead show an abundance of other character strengths such as love, kindness, zest and hope. By adolescent age, those who exhibit these traits as their strengths tend to demonstrate lower levels of anxiety and poor mental health than those who do not. Gratitude can, however, be actively taught and practised with children and similarly improved well-being levels were recorded in those younger subjects. With diagnoses of child and adolescent anxiety and depression on the rise, gratitude can be a simple and effective tool to help students better deal with the pressures of schooling and life. However, gratitude, like any other skill, needs to be taught and practised regularly in order to have a genuine impact on well-being levels.
How can we practice gratitude?
The easiest and most effective methods of expressing gratitude, as suggested by positive psychologists, is giving thanks and journaling. The latter has many research-based tips for getting the most psychological reward from journaling, such as keeping your gratitude personal and keeping it simple.
In fact, many psychologists recommend limiting the reflections to finding only 1-3 things to be grateful for and focusing on them rather than a large array of things. Daily expressions of gratitude are the aim, however, weekly reflections can prevent gratitude fatigue and, for some, are more attainable.
For those who shudder at the idea of writing (either the old fashioned way or digitally) there are fantastic apps available now to help. One of my favourites is Project365 which ask you to add a photo each day and write a short summary to accompany the photo – this can be used for your statements of gratitude. The app will send you a reminder at a time and frequency of your choosing, and results in a beautiful visual diary to reflect back on.
Pro tip – the free version of this app works great, however, at the end of the year your photos need to be deleted to use the monthly calendars again. If you use the bought version for only a few dollars, you get new calendars each year!
Sadly, this app is only available for Apple devices, but for those Android users there are plenty of other options. I tested a few and found that Day One was the most user friendly, though as you can see, isn’t quite as visually pleasing. These apps are great to recommend to our students, particularly those who are older and have their own devices. Taking a photo with minimal writing required, and through the use of an app, will appeal to many kids more so than traditional writing.
CHALLENGE!
So I put the challenge to you – are you an old hand at practising gratitude and, if so, what was your experience? Did you find it hard to maintain? If yes, what was the major obstacle preventing you from making expressions of gratitude a part of your daily or weekly routine? Alternatively, who hasn’t experienced conscious gratitude expression and is willing to give it a go? Do you think this could be beneficial to set as in class tasks, as a teacher with influence over the well-being of your students? How would you go about this? Leave a comment on the post or below - can’t wait to hear some feedback!
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