Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at the University of California,
Davis, is one of the foremost authorities on the topic of gratitude in
He has published
Thanks: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, an interdisciplinary book that provides a
research-based synthesis of the topic as well as practical suggestions.
Science of Gratitude
Author and researcher Dr.
Robert Emmons has discovered what gives life meaning:
Emmons, a University of California, Davis professor,
backs up his claim with eight years of intensive
research on gratitude in his best selling book, “Thanks!
How The New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier.”
Emmons found that people who view life as a gift and
consciously acquire an “attitude of gratitude” will
experience multiple advantages.
Gratitude improves emotional and physical health, and it
can strengthen relationships and communities. Some
strategies include keeping a gratitude journal, learning
prayers of gratitude and using visual reminders.
“Without gratitude, life can be lonely, depressing and
impoverished,” said Emmons. “Gratitude enriches human
life. It elevates, energizes, inspires and transforms.
People are moved, opened and humbled through expressions
Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is tough.
It is, according to Emmons, a “chosen attitude.” We must
be willing to recognize and acknowledge that we are the
recipients of an unearned benefit.
Emmons’ research indicates that gratitude is not merely
a positive emotion; it also improves your health if
cultivated. People must give up a “victim mentality” and
overcome a sense of entitlement and deservedness.
As a result, he says, they will experience significant
improvements in several areas of life including
relationships, academics, energy level and even dealing
with tragedy and crisis.
Research has also suggested that feelings of
gratitude may be beneficial to subjective emotional
well-being (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). For example,
Watkins and colleagues (Watkins et al., 2003) had
participants test a number of different gratitude
exercises, such as thinking about a living person for
whom they were grateful, writing about someone for whom
they were grateful, and writing a letter to deliver to
someone for whom they were grateful. Participants in the
control condition were asked to describe their living
room. Participant who engaged in a gratitude exercise
showed increases in their experiences of positive
emotion immediately after the exercise, and this effect
was strongest for participants who were asked to think
about a person for whom they were grateful. Participants
who had grateful personalities to begin with showed the
greatest benefit from these gratitude exercises. In
people who are grateful in general, life events have
little influence on experienced gratitude (McCullough,
Tsang & Emmons, 2004).
Highlights from the Research
Gratitude and Thankfulness
Dimensions and Perspectives of Gratitude
Co-Investigators: Robert A. Emmons, University
of California, Davis
Gratitude is the “forgotten factor” in happiness research. We
are engaged in a long-term research project designed to create
and disseminate a large body of novel scientific data on the
nature of gratitude, its causes, and its potential consequences
for human health and well-being. Scientists are latecomers to
the concept of gratitude. Religions and philosophies have long
embraced gratitude as an indispensable manifestation of virtue,
and an integral component of health, wholeness, and well-being.
Through conducting highly focused, cutting-edge studies on the
nature of gratitude, its causes, and its consequences, we hope
to shed important scientific light on this important concept.
This document is intended to provide a brief, introductory
overview of the major findings to date of the research project.
For further information, please contact either of the project
We are engaged in three main lines of inquiry at
the present time: (1) developing methods to cultivate gratitude in daily
life, (2) developing a measure to reliably assess individual differences
in dispositional gratefulness and (3) designing experimental studies
that enable us to distinguish the differential causes and consequences
of gratitude and indebtedness.
This project is supported by a grant from the John
Templeton Foundation of Radnor, PA.
Gratitude Interventions and Psychological and Physical
In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on
a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer
physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and
were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who
recorded hassles or neutral life events (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).
A related benefit was observed in the realm of personal goal
attainment: Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely
to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic,
interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to
subjects in the other experimental conditions.
A daily gratitude intervention (self-guided exercises) with
young adults resulted in higher reported levels of the positive
states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and
energy compared to a focus on hassles or a downward social
comparison (ways in which participants thought they were better off
than others). There was no difference in levels of unpleasant
emotions reported in the three groups.
Participants in the daily gratitude condition were more likely to
report having helped someone with a personal problem or having
offered emotional support to another, relative to the hassles or
social comparison condition.
In a sample of adults with neuromuscular disease, a 21-day gratitude
intervention resulted in greater amounts of high energy positive
moods, a greater sense of feeling connected to others, more
optimistic ratings of one’s life, and better sleep duration and
sleep quality, relative to a control group.
Most people report being grateful (average rating of nearly 6 on a 7
Well-Being: Grateful people report higher levels of positive
emotions, life satisfaction, vitality, optimism and lower levels of
depression and stress. The disposition toward gratitude appears to
enhance pleasant feeling states more than it diminishes unpleasant
emotions. Grateful people do not deny or ignore the negative
aspects of life.
Prosociality: People with a strong disposition toward
gratitude have the capacity to be empathic and to take the
perspective of others. They are rated as more generous and more
helpful by people in their social networks (McCullough, Emmons, &
Spirituality: Those who regularly attend religious services
and engage in religious activities such as prayer reading religious
material score are more likely to be grateful. Grateful people are
more likely to acknowledge a belief in the interconnectedness of all
life and a commitment to and responsibility to others (McCullough
et. al., 2002).
Materialism: Grateful individuals place less importance on
material goods; they are less likely to judge their own and others
success in terms of possessions accumulated; they are less envious
of wealthy persons; and are more likely to share their possessions
with others relative to less grateful persons.
Distinguishing Between Gratefulness and Indebtedness
In a narrative study, people who write about being indebted to
others reports higher levels of anger and lower levels of
appreciation, happiness, and love relative to people who write about
being grateful to others (Gray & Emmons, 2000).
The experience of indebtedness is less likely to lead to a desire to
approach or make contact with others relative to an experience of
gratefulness. Thus, indebtedness tends to be an aversive
psychological state that is distinct from gratitude.
Robert Emmons: Professor
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
Michael E. McCullough, University of Miami