Practicing gratitude may boost health and well being
A new study from our Department of Psychology found that cultivating gratitude could help people adopt healthier habits.
A recent study from the University's Department of Psychology suggests that practicing gratitude may lead to healthier habits and overall well-being. The research, published in the British Journal of Health Psychology, analyzed data from 24 separate studies involving 6,967 participants, including university students, adults from the general population, and individuals with long-term health conditions such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and cancer.
The data was collected over a nine-year period as part of an ongoing research program examining the connection between gratitude and health.
The findings indicate that individuals who are more grateful or appreciative tend to engage in a wider range of health-promoting behaviors, such as maintaining a balanced diet, engaging in physical activity, getting sufficient sleep, and managing stress effectively. Lead researcher Professor Fuschia Sirois noted that cultivating gratitude through techniques like keeping gratitude journals or lists could serve as a low-cost method to promote key health-promoting behaviors.
She further emphasized that gratitude interventions could present an alternative, strengths-based strategy for supporting healthier choices among people with health conditions, students, and the broader population.
The British Psychological Society's Division of Health Psychology highlighted the potential for gratitude interventions to contribute to a preventive approach to health. The researchers hope that these findings will spur further investigation into how gratitude-based approaches can assist individuals in developing healthier behaviors.
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