What is gratitude for? The main advantages of this feeling

We all know the feeling of gratitude and have experienced it countless times throughout our lives.

However, there are aspects about it that we may not have thought about yet. Even its own definition is somewhat complex. We will dedicate, therefore, these paragraphs to clarify everything related to gratitude and to know its advantages.

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What is gratitude?

Before we can delve into the question of what gratitude is for, it is important to delve into this concept, because as we anticipated, on many occasions we have not even noticed the very concept. We could say that gratitude is a feeling of appreciation and appreciation towards another person for having brought us a certain benefit.

This benefit can be of a very diverse nature, from a favor performed, an act of generosity, a gift, etc. Even the element that represents a benefit may not have been received yet, but has been established the promise or intention to do it in the future, which already awakens the feeling of gratitude.

Answering the question of what gratitude is for was not easy until a while ago, since historically, in psychology, there has been a tendency to study more deeply emotions that can be opposed to it, such as anguish. It was already in the 21st century when research on positive emotions intensified, generating in the authors the same interest as negative ones.

As with other personality factors, researchers make a distinction between gratitude as a state and gratitude as a trait. When we speak of the state of gratitude, we refer to that feeling provoked at a given moment in response to an action of kindness towards the person.

As for the gratitude trait, it would be a tendency in the personality of the subject in question to experience this feeling, or to do so with more intensity than others.

One issue to keep in mind, before getting into the question of what gratitude is for, is that we should not confuse this concept with feeling in debt. Although both can appear at the same time, and in fact they do, after obtaining a certain benefit, as we already mentioned, their implications are different.

We have already described the case of gratitude. Regarding the feeling of debt, it implies a need to correspond to the benefit received with another similar towards the person who has provided it, establishing a reciprocity between the actions.

What is gratitude for? Its benefits

Now that we know in more detail what this concept means, we can face the question at hand: what is gratitude for? We are now going to review the different answers that can be given to this question.

1. Wellness

The simplest answer to what gratitude is for is simply because it makes us feel better. It has been proven that this type of emotions triggers a series of reactions in our body that they translate into an increase in our happiness at a mental level, but also in an increase in well-being at a physical level.

In this sense, the 2012 Patrick Hill study found that subjects with a greater tendency to be grateful also reported better physical health in their reports. A causal relationship cannot be established, but a correlation can be established, so that a person who is grateful, you may be more likely to have better mental and physical health than one that is not. be.

Perhaps one of the factors involved in this relationship is rest. Thinking about positive emotions (and gratitude is one of them) before starting the sleep period has been proven to help make it deeper and more restful. Therefore, someone who tends to be grateful may have more positive thoughts to reflect on.

This first response to what gratitude is for is already providing us with very valuable information. And it is that grateful people also tend to show other characteristics that make them happier. They can feel more self-confident, have satisfying social relationships, and have coping strategies for difficulties.

These conditions make these subjects less likely to suffer from psychological pathologies such as anxiety or depression. Ultimately, all these conditions establish a correlative relationship between being grateful in a habitual way and well-being at all levels, or happiness.

2. Motivation

As if happiness were not enough, there are other elements that can also be an answer to what gratitude is for. One of them is that of motivation. And is that the emotion of gratitude can become an excellent engine to promote certain behaviors.

A study led by Carey in 1976 found the effect of appreciation on consumer motivation, in this case a jewelry store. Three customer groups were created. The first of them, after making the purchase, were not contacted again. Contact was made with the second, but only for informational purposes regarding the transaction carried out.

As for the third party, the call was used both to inform him of the purchase made and to thank him for this action. After a while, the recurrence of all these clients was studied. In the first group, a significant rate was not appreciated, that is, customers did not buy again in that store. Those of the second, returned to buy in 30% of the occasions.

But the third group is the one that answers the question of what gratitude is for. And, these consumers, on average, returned to the establishment to buy new products in 70% of the cases. We observe, therefore, a spectacular growth, and all this based on a single factor: that of gratitude.

It is not the only investigation in this regard. Also It has been found that more tips are received when waiters write something as simple as the word "thank you" on the bill before handing it over to customers.

• You may be interested in: "Types of motivation: the 8 motivational sources"

3. Altruism

We have seen two compelling reasons for what gratitude is for. But we can still find another, and it is nothing less than altruism. Altruism could be defined as any behavior that a person exercises to help another without any type of reward for it..

Ultimately, and taking the situation to the extreme, altruism means reducing the chances of survival of oneself in favor of those of another individual. This type of behavior is common when there is a kinship relationship, especially from parents to children. However, it can also be observed among subjects who do not share genetic links, not even emotional ones.

What has been found out through different investigations is that those who feel more grateful tend to selflessly try to help more people. In other words, those people who experience gratitude on a regular basis, either by repetition of the state of gratitude or for having a trait of it, they will be more likely to exercise behaviors altruistic.

This correlation has important implications, since what we are observing is that a person who has experienced gratitude and, therefore, has obtained such benefits important such as feeling better physically and mentally, improving your well-being and even experiencing feelings of happiness, you will also try to help other people who do need.

That is, in some way, you are going to export that feeling of well-being to other individuals, to through actions that in turn will generate gratitude in them and therefore will promote happiness. Simply put, we could say, regarding what gratitude is for, that Not only does it have a series of benefits for those who experience it, but also these can become “contagious” to others.

This chain of gratitude and altruistic actions is, without a doubt, good news for all members of the society where you are. behaviors take place, as important and positive attitudes such as generosity or reciprocity are being promoted Social.

Although there are other answers, the ones that we have been able to review make us now know the answer what is gratitude for and let us know the tremendous relevance of this feeling in our lives.

Bibliographic references:

• Bartlett, M.Y., DeSteno, D. (2006). Gratitude and prosocial behavior: Helping when it costs you. Psychological Science.
• Carey, J.R., Clicque, S.H., Leighton, B.A., Milton, F. (1976). A test of positive reinforcement of customers. Journal of Marketing.
• Hill, P.L., Allemand, M., Roberts, B.W. (2013). Examining the pathways between gratitude and self-rated physical health across adulthood. Personality and individual differences. Elsevier.
• Otake, K., Shimai, S., Tanaka-Matsumi, J., Otsui & Barbara, K., Fredrickson, L. (2006). Happy people become happier through kindness: A counting kindnesses intervention. Journal of happiness Studies. Springer.
• Rowland, L., Curry, O.S. (2019). A range of kindness activities boost happiness. The Journal of social psychology. Taylor & Francis.