What is gratitude, how is it practiced and what are its benefits?

Giving thanks for all the good that life has given us, for the experiences lived and enjoyed, or simply for being alive, could be considered a virtue possessed by those people who are capable of enjoying every moment, thus appreciating even the simplest details that may arise during the day a day.

Gratitude could be defined as a feeling of appreciation and appreciation for those actions that other people do in favor of oneself; although it can also be expressed in more ways and does not always have to be focused on the good deeds that other people have done towards us, but we can also show gratitude for the good things that life has given us or the experiences lived

In this article We will see what gratitude is, how it is practiced, and what benefits for well-being the fact of doing it brings habitually, when we express our gratitude for all the good things that life has given us.

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What is gratitude and what are its characteristics?

It is clear that all of us have difficult days and even stages in which we have suffered a lot of uncertainty and discomfort due to various events and, given this, it may be difficult for us to show gratitude for what life has given us (p. g., because of the good family and friends we have, etc.). But that doesn't make it any less important.

incorporate gratitude into our daily lives.

The term gratitude comes from the Latin word "gratia", whose meaning is gratitude, and can be defined as that positive affective state resulting from having perceived that one has been benefited thanks to something or someone in a disinterested, supportive and gratuitous way. Gratitude can help us appreciate every detail of life's enriching experiences, which will promote a flattering effect on our well-being.

Gratitude could also be defined as a feeling of valuation and appreciation for those actions that other people do in favor of oneself, thus implying a kind of moral debt with those who do us good, being a concept that has been incorporated into the field of psychology, and above all everything to the area of ​​positive psychology due to the relevance that gratitude was found to have for the well-being of people and, therefore, for their happiness.

In addition, we could say that experiencing feelings of gratitude for all the good that has been received in life, as well as other positive factors (eg. g., life satisfaction, positive self-esteem, self-actualization, etc.), may have a protective effect against various mental health disorders.

How is gratitude practiced?

When it is directed towards people, gratitude is articulated mainly towards assertiveness and honest communication. This usually happens by putting aside personal differences, formalities or other aspects that usually interfere with direct communication, and leaving the comfort zone by expressing our feelings about an action that we liked: if we limit ourselves to providing textual information (which can be totally reduced to words), we are not practicing the gratitude. We have to open up and show part of our vulnerabilities, tastes, sensitivities, etc.

On the other hand, since gratitude is not always directed to a specific person or group of people, we can also learn to apply it to more abstract aspects of life that make us feel good.

One of the ways to put gratitude into practice is to show full attention to the present moment, focusing on each detail perceived by the five senses and trying to enjoy that moment, leaving aside the melancholy for moments of the past that cause us sadness and also the moments of the future that cause us feelings of restlessness and nervousness in front of the uncertainty.

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Research on the effects of gratitude on mental health

Next we will see two interesting investigations carried out on the effects of gratitude on mental health.

1. Emmons and McCullogh Gratitude Research

In 2003, American researchers Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough conducted a series of studies on the effects of gratitude on mental health, in which three groups of students participated, chosen in a random.

The students in the first group had to complete the task of writing once a week, for the course of ten weeks in a row, five things for which they felt grateful. Those in the second group had to write down five things that had made them angry, writing them down with the same frequency as those in the first group. Finally, those in the third group had to write about experiences that had influenced them, both negative and positive.

The results of this study showed that the students belonging to the first group, the who had practiced gratitude every week for the entire duration of the experiment, were happier and more satisfied with their lives compared to participants in the other groups, especially with respect to those in the second group who could only write down negative things. However, although the students in the first group were generally more satisfied, this exercise did not influence the fact that they showed negative and positive feelings in their daily life.

On the other hand, these researchers carried out a second experiment in which they proposed an increase in the doses of gratitude, so that those in the gratitude group now had to write down their gratitude in a diary each day and also had to assess their own welfare. The others said to write down what bothered them in their day to day or compared themselves with others socially; the last one, had to write down both.

The results showed that those in the first group they had expressed more positive feelings and also showed a greater predisposition to help others than those of the other groups; although there were no differences in relation to experiencing negative feelings on a daily basis.

In a third experiment with patients suffering from neuromuscular diseases, these researchers sent that half of them wrote in a gratitude diary for 3 weeks, being able to observe that these patients had cultivated their gratitude and, therefore, showed a greater optimism than those of the other group; At the same time, they also felt more satisfied with their lives and had developed a greater confidence in themselves to face the challenges that the following week might present.

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2. Dickens Gratitude Research

Psychologist Leah Dickens conducted an investigation in which she analyzed 38 studies that had been published between 2003 and 2016, involving more than 5,000 people.

In this research he was able to observe mild to moderate effects of gratitude training, having put into practice tasks such as writing a gratitude journal, writing a letter about the different aspects of well-being, etc.

On the other hand, although the observed effects of gratitude training were mild to moderate, it was also observed that maintained for up to a few months, as was verified by means of questionnaires that the participants of all these studies had to answer analyzed. Therefore, the conclusion that Dickens drew from it was that the effect of gratitude training is quite remarkable in the short and medium term; In addition, putting these exercises into practice is not costly, neither financially nor in terms of the time required to put them into practice, so it is within everyone's reach.

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The benefits of gratitude

Putting gratitude into practice towards the good things that other people do for us in our daily lives can be very beneficial for our mental health and also for that of those people who have been kind to us. us, creating a positive emotional connection between both parties promoted by the displays of mutual positive affection and all those prosocial behaviors.

Although gratitude can be expressed in more ways and does not always have to be focused on the good deeds that other people have done towards us, but we can also show gratitude for the good things that life or experiences have given us, and we can even show it to ourselves for having acted as we believed was the right thing to do, so that our actions bring us peace and satisfaction without expecting anything in return beyond being satisfied by always acting in a manner consistent with our values, reasoning and beliefs.

That is why we could say that gratitude is a dimension that can go beyond the mundane. A person can also be grateful for the family that has touched him, for enjoying a walk through some natural terrain that brings him peace and also offers good views, etc. For this reason, people who tend to express gratitude for everything good, and not so good, that happens to them and has given them life, usually enjoy a better health, both mental and physical, which gives them well-being and that allows them to have greater strength in the face of possible obstacles that could Appear.

In this sense, gratitude allows us to appreciate and savor the beautiful aspects of life and it can also be of great help to us in those hard moments that could arise throughout our lives at certain times.

Thus, we could say that gratitude causes an effect that promotes the well-being of people who tend to show gratitude out of habit and, at the same time, is a protector of mental health against some mental disorders such as anxiety or depression.

It makes it possible to create networks of help and collaboration between people and that, even when no one is helping us directly, let's live better by feeling protected and understood.