A new study from our Department of Psychology found that cultivating gratitude could help people adopt healthier habits.
Gratitude linked to healthier behaviour
The study, published in the British Journal of Health Psychology, found that people who are more thankful or appreciative tend to practise a wide range of health-promoting behaviours.
These include healthy eating, being physically active, getting enough sleep and managing stress.
The findings suggest gratitude could support health and wellbeing across a much wider range of people than previously thought.
Findings across different groups
Researchers analysed data from 24 separate studies involving 6,967 people.
The participants included university students, adults from the wider community and people living with long-term health conditions, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and cancer.
The data was collected over nine years as part of a wider research programme exploring the relationship between gratitude and health.
Previous research has linked gratitude with individual health behaviours, such as healthy eating or following medical advice.
This new study found the relationship extends across several different behaviours and is seen in people from a variety of backgrounds.
The researchers suggest that gratitude may encourage people to focus more on positive emotions and future outcomes, helping them make choices that support their health.
A simple approach to supporting health
Lead author of the study Professor Fuschia Sirois emphasised gratitude could offer a straightforward way to support healthier behaviours.
She said: "Cultivating gratitude via gratitude journals or lists could therefore be a low resource approach for facilitating uptake of key health-promoting behaviours."
Professor Sirois added that gratitude interventions could provide an alternative, strengths-based approach to supporting healthier choices among people with health conditions, as well as students and the wider population.
The British Psychological Society's Division of Health Psychology said the findings highlighted the potential for gratitude interventions to support a preventative approach to health.
The researchers now hope the findings will encourage further research into how gratitude-based approaches could help people develop healthier behaviours.
