Psychology of gratitude: benefits of being grateful

What really is gratitude and in what ways does it benefit us in our day-to-day lives?

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

The psychology of gratitude: Thanksgiving

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

Its origin takes place in Plymouth, in the year 1621, when a group of pilgrims shared their autumn harvest with the Wampanoag Indians, in gratitude for having taught them farming and hunting techniques.. That celebration of harmony and thanksgiving 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 of November. However, it was not until 1941 that the U.S. Congress established it officially, under the leadership of President Franklin Roosevelt.

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

A new meaning for being thankful

According to the ethical and philosophical view, gratitude is defined as a moral virtue that denotes good behavior. 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 done to us or has been wanted to be done to us, according to the Royal Spanish Academy. However, gratitude produces in us something more than just wanting to reciprocate a good deed.

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

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

Northrup (2012), says that when we find something to be grateful for, no matter how small, and maintain that feeling of gratitude for 15 to 20 sec, our body undergoes a number of subtle and beneficial physiological changesFor example, stress levels decrease and the immune system strengthens; Blood flow improves; the heart rate harmonizes and 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 implies a balanced view of the positive and negative aspects of the experience (Moyano, 2011). (Moyano, 2011). In the face of life circumstances, a response of gratitude can be an adaptive psychological strategy, that is, an ability to adapt to such circumstances, as well as an important development for the person to positively interpret his or her daily experiences (McCullough and Emmons, 2003).

How to cultivate gratitude

You can start by dedicating a few minutes before going to sleepTo think about everything that happened during the day for which you can be thankful, maybe for that meeting with your friends, for having that coat that protects you from the cold when you leave home, for the message that put you in a good mood, for the family, for having yourself that you are alive and healthy.

For all those experiences and decisions that brought 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 wish, until it becomes part of you to identify the blessings that surround you.

Genuine and sincere gratitude opens the door to better health and fosters a good relationship with yourself and others. So, beyond the second Monday in October or the last Thursday in November, make every day a day of thanksgiving.

Bibliographical 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 November 15, 2018 from: http://offermaxs.com/download/e/ libro.php?asin=8479537485
• Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (2017). Diccionario de Lengua Española. Madrid: RAE.
• Valencia, J. (2016). Origins of positive psychology and the scientific study of gratitude. Rev. Psicol., 101-117.