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The science of gratitude

Posted by Editor • November 4th, 2007 • Printer-friendly

Thanksgiving is one day set aside for giving thanks, but researchers are finding that a daily dose of gratitude promotes health, happiness and social relationships. Researchers are finding that gratitude is a key element of human well-being. It’s getting increasing attention from psychologists, especially those within the growing movement known as positive psychology, which studies well-being. They are finding that grateful people are optimistic and energetic and deal better with stress and illness. Gratitude, in short, can make you happier. Socially, gratitude builds connections. When parents teach their children to say thank you, they are not only teaching good manners, but also fundamental ways of getting along with other people. While gratitude is a new subject for researchers, it’s a foundational part of all the world’s religions. Sacred scriptures teach gratitude, and religious prayers of thanksgiving reinforce an attitude of appreciation for what one is given.

Why it matters

Gratitude crosses religious and cultural boundaries. It is both a theological and social virtue. Part of contemporary interest in it is scientific; it is a “prosocial” behavior that lubricates human relationships. Recent research has also pointed to mental and physical health benefits for those who make a habit of “counting their blessings.” Yet gratitude is an age-old, simple practice that requires no special equipment and little training to make it into a habit.

Angles for reporters

  • “Gratitude journals” – in which people write down each day a short list of things they are thankful for – have become a popular practice. Try contacting therapists, counselors and ministers for their take on this, as well as those who keep such journals.
  • Check with nursing homes and senior centers; some gratitude research has looked at the effects of recalling blessings. What do those who work with older people say about the empirical evidence about gratitude? How does it fit with their observations?
  • Graces before meals – prayers of thanksgiving for food – can be found in a wide variety of faiths and cultures. What kind of graces do your readers/viewers use?
  • Research – and some of the new books that spotlight the growing research on gratitude – can add context to narratives about people who practice gratitude in their lives, particularly in challenging circumstances.
  • Gratitude is helpful as people experience grief and loss in their lives. Grief counselors and psychologists can speak to research addressing this, as can clergy.
  • America’s Thanksgiving is related to events in early American history, but gratefulness is a universal attitude. A good seasonal story might explore other cultures’ rituals and practices of gratitude. The Web site Gratefulness.org compiles prayers and expressions of gratitude from a variety of cultures.
  • Patricia Campbell Carlson, executive director of the Web site gratefulness.org, says the site draws more international than U.S. visitors. She attributes it to the site’s “Light-a-Candle” feature, which has been translated in 13 languages other than English. The ritual and cross-cultural significance of candle lighting is a story that’s easy to localize.

National sources


Regional sources
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PSYCHOLOGISTS AND OTHER RESEARCHERS

  • David DeSteno, an associate professor of psychology at Northeastern University in Boston, specializes in the study of human emotions. He is working on a National Science Foundation-funded study of gratitude, trust and risk. Contact 617-373-7884, d.desteno@neu.edu.
  • Frans B.M. deWaal is C.H. Candler Professor of Psychology at Emory University, and he directs the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. His renowned research with primates has looked at the evolution of human emotions and morals. He says it is easy to spot gratitude among apes. Contact 404-727-7898 or 404-727-3695, dewaal@emory.edu.
  • Robert Emmons is a psychology professor at the University of California-Davis. One of his primary interests is the psychology of gratitude. His latest book is Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier (2007). Contact 530-752-8844, raemmons@ucdavis.edu.
  • Barbara L. Fredrickson is a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. A specialist in positive emotions, she won the first John Marks Templeton Positive Psychology Prize for original research. She contributed a chapter on how gratitude benefits human development to The Psychology of Gratitude. Contact 919-843-0091.
  • Jeffrey Froh is an assistant professor in the graduate program in school-community psychology at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. He has worked as a school psychologist. He is researching gratitude in young people. Contact 516-463-4027, Jeffrey.Froh@hofstra.edu.
  • Todd Kashdan is an assistant professor of psychology at George Mason University, where he directs the Laboratory for the Study of Social Anxiety, Character Strengths and Related Phenomena. He has researched the relationship between gratitude and well-being among Vietnam War veterans. Contact 703-993-9486, tkashdan@gmu.edu.
  • Aafke Elizabeth Komter is head of the social science department at University College, Utrecht, Netherlands. She has studied the social and cultural meanings of gift exchange and is the author of Social Solidarity and the Gift. Contact A.E.Komter@uu.nl.
  • Michael McCullough is a psychologist at the University of Miami who also has an appointment in the department of religious studies. He has researched and published extensively on forgiveness, revenge and gratitude. He co-edited The Psychology of Gratitude. Contact 305-284-8057, mikem@miani.edu.

  • Martin Seligman is one of the principal exponents of contemporary positive psychology. He is director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He is familiar with psychological research on positive traits and virtues and can speak about gratitude research. Contact him through the center Web site.

RELIGIOUS / SPIRITUAL

CHRISTIAN

  • Peter Bouteneff is an assistant professor of dogmatic theology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, N.Y. He is interested in popular culture and has worked for the World Council of Churches. He wrote the article “All Creation in United Thanksgiving: Gregory of Nyssa and the Wesleys on Salvation” in the book Orthodox and Wesleyan Spirituality. Contact pcb@svots.edu.
  • The Rev. William J. Byron is a Catholic educator and research professor at the Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola College in Baltimore. Read his column “Gratitude Leads to Happiness” in the Nov. 22, 2006, Washington Post. He is on leave for 2007-08 to act as president of St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia. Contact him at the school, 215-978-1961, wbyron@sjprep.org.
  • Galen Guengerich is senior minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in New York. Adapted from a 2006 sermon, his article about gratitude, “The Heart of Our Faith,” appeared in the spring 2007 UU World. Contact 212-535-5530, galen@allsoulsnyc.org.
  • Robert C. Roberts is a professor of ethics at Baylor University. He specializes in virtues and emotions and wrote the entry on gratitude in New Dictionary of Christian Ethics & Pastoral Theology. Contact 254-710-6363, Robert_Roberts@baylor.edu.
  • Lamin Sanneh is the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale University. He wrote the entry “Gratitude and Ingratitude” in the Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān. Contact 203-432-5336.
  • Charles M. Shelton is a Jesuit priest, practicing clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at Regis University in Denver. He has written about gratitude and is working on a book on the subject. Contact 303-458-3518, cshelton@regis.edu.
  • David Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine brother and a senior member of the Benedictine community at Mount Savior in Elmira, N.Y. He is the author or co-author of five books, including Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer: An Approach to Life in Fullness. He is a member of A Network for Grateful Living, which maintains the Web site Gratefulness.org. Contact him through the Web site.

BUDDHISM AND HINDUISM

  • Gregg Krech is the author of Naikan: Gratitude, Grace and the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection. Naikan is a Japanese method of self-examination that prompts reflection on gratitude to others for what you have been given. Based on Eastern spiritual teachings and Japanese psychology, Naikan is used to promote mental health. Krech is the executive director of the ToDo Institute in Monkton, Vt., which promotes Japanese techniques for mental health. Contact him at the institute, 800-950-6034.
  • Dr. Uma Mysorekar is president of the Hindu Temple Society of North America and a practicing obstetrician-gynecologist. She has represented Hinduism at interfaith conferences sponsored by the White House.She has written about the Hindu view of gratitude. Contact her through the society, based in Flushing, N.Y., 718-460-8484.
  • K.L. Seshagiri Rao is professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of Virginia. He is chief editor of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism project. He has written about the Hindu perspective on gratitude. Contact him at the project, based at the University of South Carolina, 803-978-7498, srao-eh@sc.edu.

JEWISH

  • Solomon Schimmel is a professor of Jewish education and psychology at Hebrew College in Newton Centre, Mass. He is a prolific writer and has written about gratitude in the Jewish tradition. Contact 617-559-8621, sschimmel@hebrewcollege.edu.

SPIRITUAL

OTHER

Background

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

  • Tal Ben-Shahar is the New York-based author of Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment and has taught a popular introductory positive psychology course at Harvard University. Read a March 10, 2006, Boston Globe article about the class. Contact him through Speaking Matters, 212-725-5547.
  • Edward V. Vacek is a Jesuit priest and professor of moral theology at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass. He has written about gratitude and love. Contact 617-492-1960 ext. 212, evacek@wjst.edu.

IN THE EAST

  • Tal Ben-Shahar is the New York-based author of Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment and has taught a popular introductory positive psychology course at Harvard University. Read a March 10, 2006, Boston Globe article about the class. Contact him through Speaking Matters, 212-725-5547.
  • Mark E. Graham is an associate professor of moral studies and of theology and religious studies at Villanova University in Villanova, Pa. He wrote Sustainable Agriculture: A Christian Ethic of Gratitude. Contact 610-519-4703, mark.graham@villanova.edu.
  • Brenda Shoshanna is a New York psychologist, Zen practitioner and author of 365 Ways to Give Thanks: One for Every Day of the Year. Contact 212-288-0028.
  • Taz Tagore is the author of Seasons of Thanks: Graces and Blessings for Every Home. She is also founder and executive director of the Reciprocity Foundation, which works with homeless youth in New York. Contact 347-546-2670.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

  • Jonathan Haidt is an associate professor of social psychology at the University of Virginia. His research interests are morality and emotion. He can speak about gratitude as a positive moral emotion. He wrote The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. Contact 434-243-7631.
  • Lorne Ladner is a Virginia psychotherapist who wrote The Lost Art of Compassion: Discovering the Practice of Happiness in the Meeting of Buddhism and Psychology. He can comment on the significance of gratitude from a psychological and Buddhist perspective. He is former director of the Guhyasamaja Center in Washington, D.C., and teaches there. Contact him through the center, 703-774-9692.

IN THE SOUTH

  • David Patterson holds the Bornblum Chair of Excellence in Judaic Studies at the University of Memphis. His book Hebrew Language and Jewish Thought looks at the role of gratitude in Jewish thought. Contact 901-678-2919, dapttrsn@memphis.edu.
  • Barbara J. McClure is an assistant professor of pastoral theology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Her interests include human flourishing and spiritual formation, and she has worked as a pastoral counselor. She can speak to the idea of gratitude and human flourishing. Contact 615-322-2776, barbara.j.mcclure@vanderbilt.edu.

IN THE MIDWEST

  • Jack Bauer is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Dayton in Ohio. He researches personal growth and self-identity. He can speak about the role that gratitude plays in determining personal well-being. Contact 937-229-2617.
  • Stephen C. Berkwitz wrote “History and Gratitude in Theravada Buddhism.” He is an associate professor of religious studies at Missouri State University in Springfield. Contact 417-836-4147, stephenberkwitz@missouristate.edu.
  • Dan P. McAdams is the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence, professor of psychology and director of the Foley Center for the Study of Lives at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. McAdams’ research examines how people develop their identities, and he has studied “generativity,” adults’ concern for the next generation. His book The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live By, which finds personal redemption a major theme in the lives of highly generative people, won several awards. He can speak about the role of gratitude in personality development. Contact 847-491-4174, dmca@northwestern.edu.
  • Christopher Peterson is a psychology professor at the University of Michigan. He has studied optimism and differences in how people explain things. He did a study after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to measure American character strengths; it showed that gratitude was one of six virtues, or character strengths, that had risen. Contact chrispet@umich.edu.
  •  Jay Marshall wrote the 2007 book Thanking and Blessing: The Sacred Art (SkyLight Paths). He is dean of the Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Ind., and a Quaker minister. Contact marshja@earlham.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

  • Tatiana Androsov is executive director of Thanks-Giving Square, an interfaith effort in Dallas to promote nationally and internationally the value of giving thanks. It hosts a variety of educational programs. Contact 214-969-1977.
  • Joan Borysenko of Colorado is an author and Harvard-trained medical scientist who specializes in mind-body topics. She has written about gratitude. Contact 303-440-8460.
  • Edward J. Harpham is a professor of political science at the University of Texas at Dallas. As a political theorist, he focuses on the role of philosophical ideas in the liberal political tradition and in American government. He has written about gratitude within the history of ideas and in the work of the political economist Adam Smith. Contact 972-883-6729, harpham@utdallas.edu.
  • Jo-Ann Tsang is an assistant professor in the department of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She has researched gratitude extensively. Contact 254-710-2259.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

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