Thanksgiving is
one day set aside for giving thanks, but researchers are finding that a daily
dose of gratitude promotes health, happiness and social relationships. Researchers
are finding that gratitude is a key element of human well-being. It’s getting
increasing attention from psychologists, especially those within the growing
movement known as positive psychology, which studies well-being. They are finding
that grateful people are optimistic and energetic and deal better with stress
and illness. Gratitude, in short, can make you happier. Socially, gratitude
builds connections. When parents teach their children to say thank you, they
are not only teaching good manners, but also fundamental ways of getting along
with other people. While gratitude is a new subject for researchers, it’s a
foundational part of all the world’s religions. Sacred scriptures teach gratitude,
and religious prayers of thanksgiving reinforce an attitude of appreciation
for what one is given.
Why it matters
Gratitude crosses
religious and cultural boundaries. It is both a theological and social virtue.
Part of contemporary interest in it is scientific; it is a “prosocial” behavior
that lubricates human relationships. Recent research has also pointed to mental
and physical health benefits for those who make a habit of “counting their blessings.”
Yet gratitude is an age-old, simple practice that requires no special equipment
and little training to make it into a habit.
Angles for reporters
• “Gratitude
journals” – in which people write down each day a short list of things they
are thankful for – have become a popular practice. Try contacting therapists,
counselors and ministers for their take on this, as well as those who keep such
journals.
• Check
with nursing homes and senior centers; some gratitude research has looked at
the effects of recalling blessings. What do those who work with older people
say about the empirical evidence about gratitude? How does it fit with their
observations?
• Graces
before meals – prayers of thanksgiving for food – can be found in a wide variety
of faiths and cultures. What kind of graces do your readers/viewers use?
• Research
– and some of the new books that spotlight the growing research on gratitude
– can add context to narratives about people who practice gratitude in their
lives, particularly in challenging circumstances.
• Gratitude
is helpful as people experience grief and loss in their lives. Grief counselors
and psychologists can speak to research addressing this, as can clergy.
• America's Thanksgiving is related to events in early American history,
but gratefulness is a universal attitude. A good seasonal story might explore
other cultures' rituals and practices of gratitude. The Web site Gratefulness.org
compiles prayers
and expressions of gratitude from a variety of cultures.
• Patricia Campbell Carlson, executive director of the Web site gratefulness.org,
says the site draws more international than U.S. visitors. She attributes it
to the site's "Light-a-Candle"
feature, which has been translated in 13 languages other than English. The ritual
and cross-cultural significance of candle lighting is a story that's easy to
localize.
Click
the map for interview sources
in your state and region
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PSYCHOLOGISTS
AND OTHER RESEARCHERS
• David DeSteno, an associate professor of psychology at Northeastern University
in Boston, specializes in the study of human emotions. He is working on a National
Science Foundation-funded study of gratitude, trust and risk. Contact 617-373-7884,
d.desteno@neu.edu.
• Frans
B.M. deWaal is C.H. Candler Professor of Psychology at Emory University,
and he directs the Living
Links Center at the Yerkes
National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. His renowned research with
primates has looked at the evolution of human emotions and morals. He says it
is easy to spot gratitude among apes. Contact 404-727-7898 or 404-727-3695,
dewaal@emory.edu.
• Robert
Emmons is a psychology professor at the University of California-Davis.
One of his primary interests is the psychology of gratitude. His latest book
is Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier (2007).
Contact 530-752-8844, raemmons@ucdavis.edu.
• Barbara
L. Fredrickson is a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill. A specialist in positive emotions, she won the first John Marks
Templeton Positive Psychology Prize for original research. She contributed a
chapter on how gratitude benefits human development to The Psychology of
Gratitude. Contact 919-843-0091.
• Jeffrey
Froh is an assistant professor in the graduate program in school-community
psychology at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. He has worked as a school
psychologist. He is researching gratitude in young people. Contact 516-463-4027,
Jeffrey.Froh@hofstra.edu.
• Todd Kashdan is an assistant professor of psychology at George Mason
University, where he directs the Laboratory
for the Study of Social Anxiety, Character Strengths and Related Phenomena.
He has researched the relationship between gratitude and well-being among Vietnam
War veterans. Contact 703-993-9486, tkashdan@gmu.edu.
• Aafke
Elizabeth Komter is head of the social science department at University
College, Utrecht, Netherlands. She has studied the social and cultural meanings
of gift exchange and is the author of Social Solidarity and the Gift.
Contact A.E.Komter@uu.nl.
• Michael
McCullough is a psychologist at the University of Miami who also has an
appointment in the department of religious studies. He has researched and published
extensively on forgiveness, revenge and gratitude. He co-edited The Psychology
of Gratitude. Contact 305-284-8057, mikem@miani.edu.
• Martin Seligman is one of the principal exponents of contemporary positive
psychology. He is director of the Positive
Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He is familiar with
psychological research on positive traits and virtues and can speak about gratitude
research. Contact him through the center Web
site.
RELIGIOUS
/ SPIRITUAL
CHRISTIAN
• Peter
Bouteneff is an assistant professor of dogmatic theology at St. Vladimir’s
Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, N.Y. He is interested in popular
culture and has worked for the World Council of Churches. He wrote the
article “All Creation in United Thanksgiving: Gregory of Nyssa and the
Wesleys on Salvation” in the book Orthodox and Wesleyan Spirituality.
Contact pcb@svots.edu.
• The Rev. William J. Byron is a Catholic educator and research professor
at the Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola College in
Baltimore. Read his column “Gratitude
Leads to Happiness” in the Nov. 22, 2006, Washington Post.
He is on leave for 2007-08 to act as president of St. Joseph’s Preparatory
School in Philadelphia. Contact him at the school, 215-978-1961, wbyron@sjprep.org.
• Galen
Guengerich is senior minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in New
York. Adapted from a 2006 sermon, his article about gratitude, “The
Heart of Our Faith,” appeared in the spring 2007 UU World.
Contact 212-535-5530, galen@allsoulsnyc.org.
• Robert C. Roberts is a professor of ethics at Baylor University.
He specializes in virtues and emotions and wrote the entry on gratitude
in New Dictionary of Christian Ethics & Pastoral Theology.
Contact 254-710-6363, Robert_Roberts@baylor.edu.
• Lamin
Sanneh is the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity
at Yale University. He wrote the entry “Gratitude and Ingratitude” in
the Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān. Contact 203-432-5336.
• Charles M. Shelton is a Jesuit priest,practicing clinical
psychologist and a professor of psychology at Regis University in Denver.
He has written about gratitude and is working on a book on the subject.
Contact 303-458-3518, cshelton@regis.edu.
• David
Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine brother and a senior member of the Benedictine
community at Mount Savior in Elmira, N.Y. He is the author or co-author
of five books, including Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer: An Approach
to Life in Fullness. He is a member of A Network for Grateful Living,
which maintains the Web site Gratefulness.org.
Contact him through the Web
site.
BUDDHISM
AND HINDUISM
• Gregg Krech is the author of Naikan: Gratitude, Grace and the
Japanese Art of Self-Reflection. Naikan is a Japanese method of self-examination
that prompts reflection on gratitude to others for what you have been
given. Based on Eastern spiritual teachings and Japanese psychology, Naikan
is used to promote mental health. Krech is the executive director of the
ToDo
Institute in Monkton, Vt., which promotes Japanese techniques for
mental health. Contact him at the institute, 800-950-6034.
• Dr. Uma Mysorekar is president of the Hindu
Temple Society of North America and a practicing obstetrician-gynecologist.
She has represented Hinduism at interfaith conferences sponsored by the
White House. She has written
about the Hindu view of gratitude. Contact her through the society, based
in Flushing, N.Y., 718-460-8484.
• K.L. Seshagiri Rao is professor emeritus of religious studies at
the University of Virginia. He is chief editor of the Encyclopedia
of Hinduism project. He has written about the Hindu perspective on
gratitude. Contact him at the project, based at the University of South
Carolina, 803-978-7498, srao-eh@sc.edu.
JEWISH
• Solomon Schimmel is a professor of Jewish education and psychology
at Hebrew College in Newton Centre, Mass. He is a prolific writer and
has written about gratitude in the Jewish tradition. Contact 617-559-8621,
sschimmel@hebrewcollege.edu.
OTHER
• Deborah Norville,
anchor of the TV newsmagazine Inside Edition, wrote Thank
You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You (2007),
which explores the scientific research behind gratitude. Read an excerpt
in the October 2007 Reader’s Digest. Contact Norville through
her publicist, Stephanie Newton at Thomas Nelson Books in Nashville, 615-902-2320.
• M.J. Ryan is a
consultant and author whose books include Attitudes of Gratitude: How to
Give and Receive Joy Every Day of Your Life and A Grateful Heart.
Contact her in the San Francisco Bay area, 925-274-9311, mjryan@mj-ryan.com.
