If the only prayer you said in your whole life was “thank you” that would suffice.

—Meister Eckert

The Importance of Gratitude

One of the greatest contributing factors to overall happiness and well-being is the amount of gratitude that a person experiences. Gratitude involves noticing and appreciating the positives in life. Gratitude is both (1) an attitude and (2) a practice.

Gratitude is universal and found across all cultures and all people.¹ It is considered a virtue and is different from optimism, hope, and trust. Emmons and McCullough state that the root of the word gratitude is the Latin root gratia, which means “grace, graciousness, or gratefulness… all derivatives from this Latin root having to do with kindness, generousness, gifts, the beauty of giving and receiving, or getting something for nothing.”²

What Does the Research Tell Us?

An increasing range of empirical research has found that gratitude can improve a sense of personal well-being in the following two ways:^2,3

1. As a direct cause of well-being
2. Indirectly, as a means of buffering against negative states and emotions, and making us more resilient to stress.

A number of researchers have proposed a theoretical relationship between gratitude and well-being. Experiencing gratitude, thankfulness, and appreciation tends to foster positive feelings, which in turn contributes to one’s overall sense of well-being.⁴

Gratitude has been linked to a host of psychological, physical, and social benefits, such as:

• Self-reported physical health⁵
• More feelings of happiness, pride, and hope⁶
• A greater sense of social connection and cooperation with others—feeling less lonely and isolated⁷
• Helps maintain intimate bonds ⁸ and is linked to increased prosociality⁹
• Increased motivation for self-improvement and positive change ¹⁰
• A reduction in risk for depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders¹¹
• Improvement in body image¹²
• Increased acts of kindness, generosity, and cooperation^13,14
• Resilience in the face of trauma-induced stress, recovering more quickly from illness, and enjoying more robust physical health¹⁵