Examining Psychosocial Pathways Underlying Gratitude Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Despite their unprecedented popularity, the psychological mechanisms through which gratitude journals operate are poorly understood. Also the use of gratitude journaling to enhance social relationships has been neglected in past research, despite the importance of healthy relationships for people's happiness. This randomized controlled study examined the effect of (a) a traditional gratitude journal (fostering gratitude for daily life), and (b) an interpersonal gratitude journal (fostering gratitude for one's existing social relationships), versus (c) an active control journal, on life satisfaction. Ninety-one participants were randomized to one of three conditions with 2-week and 1-month follow-ups. The traditional gratitude intervention (vs. control) showed improvements in friendship at immediate post-test and 1-month follow-up, and these effects were accounted for by changes in gratitude over time. Additionally, the traditional gratitude intervention (vs. control) predicted enhanced life satisfaction at follow-up, and this was serially mediated by 6 week changes in gratitude and perceived friendship quality. No such differences over time were observed between the interpersonal gratitude intervention and either the control intervention or the traditional gratitude intervention. Actively appreciating things in daily Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

Feeling Thanks and Saying Thanks: A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining If and How Socially Oriented Gratitude Journals Work

“…Participants completed baseline questionnaires and were randomly assigned to either the reflective‐behavioral, reflective‐only, or the control condition. Distinct journals were designed for each condition, adapted from previous research (O'Connell et al., ) and distributed with the questionnaire pack. These journals contained intervention guidelines and separate pages for each of the 9 days participants were required to write.…”

“…This inherently social/relational aspect of gratitude may predict unique pathways to well‐being (Emmons & Mishra, ) through the building of social connections (Fredrickson, ). Indeed, recent cross sectional and experimental evidence has demonstrated the indirect effect of gratitude on life satisfaction through social support and friendship quality, respectively (Kong, Ding, & Zhao, ; O'Connell, O'Shea, & Gallagher, ). These findings indicate that cultivating gratitude and directing it toward other people may be integral in the promotion of satisfying relationships, and consequently health and well‐being, and as such will be the focus of the current investigation.…”

Gratitude and Loneliness: Enhancing Health and Well-Being in Older Adults

“…Indeed, gratitude has been linked to reductions in loneliness (Ni et al, 2015; O’Connell et al, 2016), and this reduction has been argued to act as a mechanism for gratitude’s positive impact on physical health and well-being (O’Connell et al, 2016). Further, experimental interventions have successfully boosted individuals’ feelings of gratitude with concomitant boosts in positivity, well-being (Emmons & McCullough, 2003), and perceived availability of close others (O’Connell, O’Shea, & Gallagher, 2017) compared to those in control conditions. Researchers expect that recognizing the good in one’s life brought about by benevolent others is key to these positive outcomes (O’Connell et al, 2017).…”

“…Further, experimental interventions have successfully boosted individuals’ feelings of gratitude with concomitant boosts in positivity, well-being (Emmons & McCullough, 2003), and perceived availability of close others (O’Connell, O’Shea, & Gallagher, 2017) compared to those in control conditions. Researchers expect that recognizing the good in one’s life brought about by benevolent others is key to these positive outcomes (O’Connell et al, 2017). Yet no research, to our knowledge, has examined gratitude’s link to loneliness, and consequently health, in an older population.…”

Psychosocial health mediates the gratitude-physical health link

“…With research establishing if gratitude is linked to physical health, much work is also needed to determine how they are linked. As recommended in previous research (Hill et al, 2013;O'Connell, O'Shea, & Gallagher, 2017;Wood et al, 2010) examining whether psychosocial health serves as an underlying mechanism through which positive psychological constructs, such as gratitude in this instance, are related to physical health is a fruitful line of inquiry. This study seeks to respond to these calls for research by examining whether perceptions of loneliness and stress play a mediating role in the relationship between gratitude and physical health, drawing on KEYWORDS gratitude; self-reported physical health; stress; loneliness; mediation ARTICLE HISTORY insights and premises from the broaden and build theory (Fredrickson, 1998(Fredrickson, , 2001) and the find-remind-and-bind theory of gratitude (Algoe, 2012;Algoe, Haidt, & Gable, 2008).…”