Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized controlled trials across three experimental cohorts
PubMed 12585811 · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.84.2.377
What was done
Three randomized experimental studies evaluated the effect of a gratitude outlook on psychological and physical well-being. In Studies 1 and 2, participants were randomized to one of three conditions (gratitude listing, hassles, and either neutral life events or social comparison) and maintained weekly (Study 1) or daily (Study 2) records tracking moods, coping behaviors, health behaviors, physical symptoms, and life appraisals. In Study 3, individuals with neuromuscular disease were randomized to either a gratitude condition or a control group.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, effect sizes, or p-values. Participants in the gratitude-outlook conditions exhibited higher well-being relative to comparison groups across several, but not all, measured outcomes across the three studies. The enhancement of positive affect was identified as the most robust outcome.
Why it matters
This study provides experimental evidence that deliberately cultivating gratitude can yield measurable psychological and emotional benefits, rather than gratitude merely being a passive trait correlated with well-being.
Limits
The abstract does not state sample sizes, participant demographics (beyond the inclusion of neuromuscular disease patients in Study 3), adherence rates, or quantitative effect sizes and confidence intervals. Outcomes were self-reported, and findings were not uniform across all measured physical and coping variables.
Cited by
- partial Writing a list of five things you are grateful for on Sunday and reviewing them nightly makes the average person 12% happier after 10 weeks.