Gratitude Intervention Psychology

While taking the “Happiness Quiz,” I found the explanation for answer #2 regarding Denmark being the happiest country to live in quite interesting. From the sounds of it, Denmark has the makings of good attitudes and life balance. The fact that Denmark realizes the toll stress and imbalance takes on our lives and has incorporated things such as fathers also having the ability to take leave with new babies, seems promising. Another portion that peaked my interest was #4 explaining how happy people generally do not have higher incomes or superior intellect than others. The practice of gratitude was addressed in question #12; I came to realize in reading that section, the importance of the act of engaging in gratitude. It is one thing to verbalize

In life, there are so many things we take for granted. Some of the most beautiful things we see and

In everything we do, from our jobs to family back home, the little things matter.

Also, the ability to think outside the box and see opportunities and possibilities becomes much greater when gratitude is in your life. Your perspective on life changes, and you see the connection between the things that come into your life and where you want your life to go. You are more capable of making decisions that benefit your future, and you avoid making decisions that impact your life negatively.

Research in SWB has provided a foundation for its application in the form of evidence-based interventions to increase SWB. A growing literature has emerged demonstrating how brief experimental manipulations of a number of different activities can increase SWB (Parks & Schueller, 2014; Quoidbach, Mikolajcak, & Gross, 2015). For example, cultivating and expressing gratitude through counting one’s blessings (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005) or writing and sharing letters of gratitude (Boehm, Lyubomirsky, & Sheldon, 2011; Lyubomirsky, Dickerhoof, Boehm, & Sheldon, 2011; Seligman et al., 2005) has been shown to increase SWB. Performing acts of kindness fosters similar effects (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005; Sheldon, Boehm, & Lyubomirsky, 2012).

According to Heffernan and Boniwell (2011) gratitude promotes the savouring of positive events and may counteract hedonic adaptation. Heffernan and Boniwell (2011) continue to mention that when people count their blessing once a week there is an increase in well-being. Gratitude has been shown to contribute to not only an increase in positive affect and other desirable life outcomes but also to a decrease in negative affect and problematic functioning as demonstrated in diverse samples such as among patients with neuromuscular disease, college students, hypersensitives, and early adolescents (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Froh, Sefick, & Emmon, 2008; Shipon, 2007). McCullough et al. (2001) showed that grateful individuals were especially appreciative of the contribution of others to their happiness. However, it is thought that when people count their blessings more than three times a week the exercise becomes a chore and loses meaning. Therefore, implementation of the gratitude intervention is highly important for its fruition. According to Robert A. Emmons and Anjali Mishra gratitude motivates moral behaviour, enhance the ability to access positive memories, builds social resources, increases self-esteem and reduces materialistic

While these moments may seem trivial or insignificant, those small moments provide clarity on what makes the lives we live so beautiful. All moments may be fleeting, but they provide hopefulness and understanding about important aspects of our lives. The future is bright; and sometimes it takes appreciation of the present to

We believe that the most beneficial intervention for making people happier is “Three Good Things In Life”. This intervention includes writing three good things that happened to you during the day and way they happened to you, every day before going to sleep. We think that this intervention will increase happiness and decrease depression, for the following reasons: there are studies that confirms this; we think this intervention will make people think through their day about three good things to put on their list; and, we think this intervention will cause people to look more on the bright side of life.

Altruism, Self-Worth, and Happiness. A multiple liner regression analysis was conducted to determine how altruism and self-worth predicted overall happiness. For the regression analysis, the total model was significant, R2 = 0.11, F(2, 1098) = 67.79, p < 0.001. Overall happiness was significantly predicted by altruism (β = 0.06, t(1098) = 2.21, p = 0.03) and self-worth (β = 0.32, t(1098) = 11.11, p < 0.001). However, self-worth was a better predictor for overall happiness.

This next part of developing a positive mindset is to record how you feel throughout the day. Set a reminder for yourself for the following times:

Students did not say they felt “elevated” during their family trips, but they shared memorable moments of happiness, benevolence, and gratification. Algoe and Haidit introduced traditional and recent empirical research on the effects and benefits of gratitude, which provides commentary on the students’ memories with their families. “Recent evidence suggests that gratitude often serves a broader social function, namely, promoting relationships with responsive ones,” (p. 3). “We recently demonstrated that the two most robust predictors of gratitude were the perception that the benefactor was being responsive to the needs and wishes of the recipient (i.e. thoughtful), and liking the benefit,” (3). Again, this goes back to being mindful and practicing mindfulness. Positive psychology focus on positive emotions that included a wide

The essence of gratitude is acknowledging and appreciating the good in your life and doing so surfaces endless benefits that contribute to well-being. While this hypothesis seems rather indisputable there is evidence and research to further convince the sceptics. Emmons and McCullough garnered their conclusions through an experiment in which different groups documented their lives in different manners. Through daily and weekly journals the participants were asked to record negative occurrences, neutral events, or things they were grateful for respectively. The findings were conclusive; the group that kept tabs on things they were grateful for consistently reported a greater sense of well-being (Sansone and Sansone, 18-22). The methods Emmons and McCullough used to conduct this experiment were very professional and free of any bias. By tailoring the experiment to allow for as much participant control as possible there is little room for influence on their part. Additional research from Froh and Sefick in partnership with Emmons echoes these sentiments. The trio conducted a study in which 221 adolescents were tracked and those who routinely counted their blessings experienced enhanced life satisfaction and overall well-being. (Froh, J., Sefick, W. J., & Emmons, R. A. 2008). In a very in depth study conducted at the University of California, Riverside by psychologists Sonja Lyubomirsky, Rene

This exercise can be in conjunction with What Went Well or it can be completed separately on its own. The practice of journalling allows individuals to ponder what they are currently grateful for, ranging from the simplistic to the lavish experiences. Research has shown that individuals who have partaken in weekly gratitude journalling increased their overall happiness and gratitude, and were more likely to obtain goals regarding academic performance (Chan 2010 & Seligman 2011).

When you practice gratitude on a consistent level, you move into a higher state of being where you are able to feel the goodness around you and in yourself and bring better things into your life.

Gratitude doesn't always come naturally. In our day to day lives, it’s easy to get caught up in the things that go wrong and feel like we’re living under our own private rain cloud: at the same time, we tend to adapt to good things and people in our lives. Taking them for granted. As a result. We often overlook everyday beauty and goodness a kind gesture from a stranger, say hi or hello. In Thanks! Robert Emmons teaches us about the power of showing gratitude, of exposing our many blessing. He also shares the challenges that we can face in being able to show gratitude, especially in times of suffering and hardship. However, showing gratitude benefit us in many ways: we become healthier and happier, have better relationship, treat other better.