Individuals globally have been adopting gratitude habits in their routine with the aim of improving aspects such as their emotions, perspectives, and interpersonal relationships. Such practices can include recording items for which one is grateful in a diary or expressing thanks to other people.
A recent study was conducted to verify whether these actions truly generate any impact on people's perception of well-being. For this purpose, an international investigation was planned, involving thousands of participants from diverse contexts and nations.
Data from over ten thousand volunteers distributed across 34 countries, including Brazil, were collected. This project required the effort of a team composed of 36 researchers from different regions.
The analyses revealed advantages in mood and social interactions after adopting gratitude practices; however, these results show variation depending on the country and the specific method of exercise applied. The findings were published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
To obtain these conclusions, part of the participants was allocated to a control group, which performed generic tasks that did not constitute a gratitude practice. Both groups filled out questionnaires and wrote about recent and past events in their lives. The remaining participants were subjected to one of the six proposed gratitude approaches.
Overall, all six gratitude-focused interventions showed positive results and exerted greater influence on well-being compared to the generic activities performed by the control group.
Among the noted improvements were increased optimism, positive affect, sense of social reciprocity, and life satisfaction, along with a reduction in envy and negative affect. These effects were perceived immediately after performing the activities. A feeling of greater positivity was detected in all experiments related to gratitude.
Strategies involving some form of social interaction produced even more pronounced effects. The research observed a greater impact on the first strategy, which consisted of sending a message to someone for whom gratitude was felt. On the other hand, creating a list containing five reasons for gratitude presented the smallest effect.
The outcomes also differ according to the geographical origin of the participants. In certain locations, such as Norway, the impacts of gratitude practices were considered minimal. In contrast, in Mexico, the effects were more evident. These disparities may be attributed to cultural, religious, and other particularities of each population, requiring additional studies for a deeper understanding of the phenomenon.
In Brazil, the data collection phase involved 598 participants, who applied the gratitude strategies and subsequently answered an online questionnaire. The country positioned itself near the midpoint of the scale regarding the effects of the interventions.