The power of gratitude

Thursday, March 18, 2010

By Wray Herbert

Like most parents, I drilled my young kids on the importance of saying “thank you” to others. Nagged them, really. After all, words of gratitude are an important social convention, a way of letting others know you value and appreciate them and their support. Plus saying “thank you” is the right thing to do.

What I didn’t teach them—because I didn’t know it at the time—was how they themselves might benefit from saying “thank you.” An emerging body of research is now showing that genuine expressions of gratitude can be tonic not just for the recipient, but for those who are saying “thank you” as well. Indeed, being grateful—and saying so—can change the very way we think about our closest relationships.

One scientist who has been rigorously deconstructing gratitude is Nathaniel Lambert of Florida State University. In a recent study, he and several colleagues decided to explore whether the simple act of expressing thankfulness might be linked to a deeper sense of commitment and responsibility toward someone else. To find out, the psychologists recruited a large group of young men and women and gathered information on their most intimate relationships, including the frequency and manner in which they expressed their gratitude toward their partner. They also questioned them about the strength of their relationship, focusing especially on feelings of responsibility for their partner’s happiness and welfare.

They wanted to see if there was any connection between thankfulness and the quality of the partnership. And there was, clearly. Those who were more expressive of their gratitude toward their partner saw their commitment as deeper and the relationship as more mutually supportive. They also measured these perceptions six weeks later, to see if gratitude was linked to an increase in relationship quality over time. And, again, it was.

These findings are intriguing—but limited. They don’t say anything about whether expressing thanks actually leads to improved feelings about a relationship. So Lambert and his colleagues decided to run another experiment to sort this out. In this study, they actually manipulated gratitude. They had a group of volunteers deliberately increase their verbal or written expressions of thanks toward a close friend. They were instructed to “go the extra mile” in really demonstrating their feelings of gratitude. For comparison, other volunteers merely thought grateful thoughts—without expressing them—while others focused on positive memories of time together. At the end of the three weeks, they compared the volunteers’ attitudes toward their relationship.

There was no doubt about cause-and-effect this time. As reported on-line in the journal Psychological Science, those who more frequently spoke or wrote their words of thanks saw their relationship as more mutual and cooperative as a result. Importantly, merely thinking about being grateful did not improve relationships. So words count.

What’s going on here? The scientists believe that saying “thank you” sends a message not only to one’s partner but to oneself as well. It changes our self-perceptions. The very act of saying “thank you” reinforces one’s desire for a mutually supportive relationship and increases dependency, which triggers trust and in turn deepens a relationship. In this way, saying “thank you” initiates a spiral of kindness and appreciation in relationships. And what's more, it’s not complicated.

For more insights into the quirks of human nature, visit the “Full Frontal Psychology” blog at True/Slant. Excerpts from “We’re Only Human” appear regularly in the magazine Scientific American Mind.


posted by Wray Herbert @ 3:15 PM

4 Comments:

At 7:00 PM , Blogger Lian said...

Thank you for sharing this post. :)

 
At 10:17 AM , Blogger Kelly said...

Thank you!

 
At 3:59 PM , Blogger Medusae said...

Saying thank you IS very important, I agree, but this also reminds me of a quote I've always enjoyed:

"Gratitude is an ill-fitting tunic that can chafe and smell if worn too long."
(McCaffrey)

Words to the wise.
I've seen lots of old ladies burn themselves out with anger over grandchildren that don't think to send 'thank you' cards in gratitude. You shouldn't go around doing things to receive thanks. And feeling TOO much gratitude to someone will eventually wear you down, also.
I think just moderation is key.

And stop nagging your kids! ;P

 
At 1:14 PM , Blogger Dorothy Sander said...

This is a fascinating article. Seeing scientific proof of something sometimes makes following our instincts feel better. Many spiritualists and positive thinking gurus will tell you it's good for the person doing the thanking but it's easy to be skeptical as in the last comment. There are always extremes in every situation ~ the point remains. Thanks for sharing this.

 

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