Gratitude Psychology: Benefits of Being Thankful

Gratitude has more impact on our lives than we think. In this article we will see what positive psychology tells us about the habit of being thankful.

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Gratitude Psychology: Thanksgiving

Each year, on different dates, the United States and Canada celebrate Thanksgiving, originally known as Thanksgiving. Americans celebrate it on the last Thursday in November, while on Canadian soil, the second Monday in October.

Its origin takes place in Plymouth, in the year 1621, when a group of pilgrims shared their autumn harvest with the Wampanoag Indians, as a thank you for teaching them farming and hunting techniques. That celebration of harmony and gratitude between pilgrims and Native Americans lasted three days.

Several years later, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that distant event as a national holiday in 1863, to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November. However, it was not until 1941 that the Congress of the North American country officially established it, under the command of President Franklin Roosevelt.

To the present day, This tradition consists of meeting as a family at the table and having a turkey for dinner roast or baked, which is the main dish; in addition, salads, bread and cakes serve as accompaniments. That night, the households enjoy a special moment in which each member shares their blessings and gives thanks for it.

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A new meaning to being thankful

According to the ethical and philosophical view, gratitude is defined as a moral virtue that denotes good behavior (McCullogh, Kilpatrick, Emmons and Larson, 2001); since it is a feeling of esteem that leads us to reciprocate the benefit that has been made to us or we have been wanted, according to the Royal Spanish Academy. However, gratitude produces more in us than just wanting to reciprocate a good deed.

Positive psychology, which scientifically studies everything that provides psychological well-being, started research on the effects of gratitude in the late 1990s, through Robert Emmons of the University of California and Michael McCullough of the University of Miami.

This study consisted of forming three groups of people, randomly assigned, with the indication of keeping a weekly diary. The first group would have to write in their journal the things they were grateful for; the second, he would write down everything that annoyed them; while the third group would focus on neutral events. After ten weeks, the results revealed that people who wrote only acknowledgments had better health than the rest of the participants.

Northrup (2012), says that when we find something to be grateful for, no matter how small, and we maintain that feeling of gratitude for 15 to 20 seconds, our body undergoes various subtle and beneficial physiological changesFor example: the reduction of stress levels and the strengthening of the immune system; better blood flow; the heart rate harmonizes and the breathing becomes deeper, thus increasing the amount of oxygen in the tissues.

Developing gratitude requires will and discipline, like any other activity, so continuous practice produces physical and emotional benefits. In this way, grateful people could see the positive even in moments of suffering, valuing these elements to integrate them into their existence.

Thus, gratitude involves a balanced view of the positive and negative aspects of the experience (Moyano, 2011). Faced with life circumstances, a response of gratitude can be an adaptive psychological strategy, that is, an ability to adapt to such circumstances, thus it can also be an important development for the person to positively interpret their daily experiences (McCullough and Emmons, 2003).

How to cultivate gratitude

You can start by spending a few minutes before sleeping, to think about everything that happened to you in the day for which you can thank, perhaps for that meeting with your friends, for having that coat that protects you from the cold when leaving home, for the message that put you in a good mood, for the family, for having yourself that you are alive and have Health.

For all those experiences and decisions that led you to this moment; because even from bad experiences you learn, you acquire maturity, they strengthen your character and prepare you to make better decisions tomorrow. You can do this practice as often as you like, until it is part of you to identify the blessings around you.

Giving thanks in an authentic and sincere way opens the doors to better health, as well as fostering a good relationship with yourself and with others. So beyond the second Monday in October or the last Thursday in November, make every day Thanksgiving.

Bibliographic references:

• McCullough, M. and Emmons, R. (2003). Grateful moods to individual’s differences and daily emotional experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 377-389.
• McCullough, M.; Kilpatrick, S.; Emmons, R. & Larson, D. (2001). Is gratitude a moral affect? Psychological Bulletin, 127, 249-266.
• Moyano N. (2011). Gratitude in positive psychology. Psicodebate, 10, 103-117.
• Northrup C. (2012). Woman's body, woman's wisdom (Personal growth). Retrieved on November 15, 2018 from: http://offermaxs.com/download/e/ book.php? asin = 8479537485
• Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (2017). Dictionary of Spanish Language. Madrid: RAE.
• Valencia, J. (2016). Origins of positive psychology and the scientific study of gratitude. Rev. Psicol., 101-117.