how do gratitude journals work? part 2
a 2003 study on gratitude opens up the potential of reflection.
in 2003, Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough performed a series of studies that attempted to link gratitude reporting with self-perception, exercise, and physical well-being:
Our primary purpose in this set of studies is to examine the influence of grateful thinking on psychological well-being in daily life and thereby put to the test popular and classical assumptions concerning the benefits of gratitude. (Emmons 2003)
in the study, participants filled out one daily gratitude report for 13 days. this was how the report started:
It is human nature to compare ourselves to others. We may be better off than others in some ways, and less fortunate than other people in other ways. Think about ways in which you are better off than others, things that you have that they don’t, and write these down in the spaces below.
after answering this question, the participant would then fill out answers like how many minutes of exercise they completed, if they had helped someone that day, and what their physical well-being was like that day.
in the end, the study found that while participants didn’t find more physical well-being in such a short period of time as 13 days, they did report more ‘pro-social’ behavior like helping others and giving others advice, and reported more positive feelings and behaviors (including descriptors like attentive, determined, energetic, enthusiastic, excited, interested, joyful, and strong).
the facilitators then recreated the study, extending it to 3 weeks and finding people with chronic diseases as participants. this allowed them to get a firmer grasp on the effects of gratitude on physical well-being and exercise routines.
what researchers found was simple enough: those who answered the gratitude question with positive responses found more satisfaction with their days and weeks; those who answered neutrally or negative found no change in their daily and weekly outlook.
physically, it seems like positive participants just got more sleep than the control group; all other physical reports were about the same.
the researchers summed up their potential findings with pithy phrase “the upward spiral”, describing it like this:
Fredrickson argued that positive emotions broaden mindsets and build enduring personal resources. These resources function as reserves to be drawn on in times of need.
Seen in the light of this model, gratitude is effective in increasing well-being as it builds psychological, social, and spiritual resources. Gratitude inspires prosocial reciprocity and indeed, is one of the primary psychological mechanisms thought to underlie reciprocal altruism.
The experience of gratitude, and the actions stimulated by it, build and strengthen social bonds and friendships. Moreover, encouraging people to focus on the benefits they have received from others leads them to feel loved and cared for by others. (Emmons 2003) [Note: Emphasis mine, and citations were removed for readability.]
with the upward spiral of gratitude, someone can reflect on the benefits they’ve received by life and others, feel more connected to life and others, and become more proactive in their relationships with others.
at the same time, as they feel more connected with others, they feel more supported and then have a higher perception of themselves… and then they reflect on their gratitude again, and the spiral moves upward!
my take on this: self-reflection breeds identity, but this can go two ways: to reflect on everything that’s gone wrong in your life, or to reflect on what’s gone right. we take each of these reflections to heart, and create a sense of self, or self-concept.
the goal of the modern gratitude journal is to recognize the stuff that feels wrong in our life, but to add an asterisk to it: that we can still find mental, social, and spiritual resources to be resilient in the face of challenges.
we know that it absolutely sucks to have huge financial credit debt right now, but we need to also appreciate that we have at least one tool—whether it’s in us or in others—to allow these sucky circumstances into our life and bear it with grace and resourcefulness.
in mindfulness meditations that i’ve participated in, i am encouraged to allow thoughts to pass through my head, but to put them in a bubble as they float.
in my mind’s eye, i see this thought that honestly felt like fact and reality itself, and now it’s in this shiny little soap bubble, floating around in my head.
what i was able to do was use my own agency to put a frame around this thought, to discover its limitations—it is not fact and reality, it is just this one tiny thought in a river of other concerns.
to make these proactive moves on our struggles—whether it’s adding the asterisk with a gratitude reflection or a bubble around an insecurity—is to take just a little bit more responsibility for our thoughts and how we react to them and live through them.
reflection breeds identity. identity breeds thought. thought breeds reflection. let’s take more responsibility of at least one of these three aspects, and we’ll find that our self is more easily transformational than we thought.
thanks for reading.
—dom
p.s. i’ll continue this series on gratitude journals until i find a natural ending point. soon, i’ll explain how a gratitude journal can best serve its user, and whether analog or digital is the best approach to gratitude.
I’ve owned one gratitude journal and was not a fan, I think they make more of an impact when they are intentional. Instead of just “what are you grateful for?”