Work engagement refers to a positive, fulfilling state of mind towards one's work. It plays a key role in supporting both personal well-being and company success. However, ways to strengthen work engagement over the long term remain limited.
A new study led by Professor Noriko Yamagishi from Ritsumeikan University, in collaboration with Dr. Norberto Eiji Nawa from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), and Mr. Shota Isomura from NTT Data Institute of Management Consulting, Inc., suggests that a simple practice, namely gratitude journaling, can make a meaningful difference. Published in BMC Psychology on October 6, 2025, the study invited 100 Japanese employees aged 30 to 49, working in industries such as IT, logistics, and manufacturing, to keep daily journals for 12 days. One group wrote about things they were grateful for each day, while the control group simply recorded daily events.
Results revealed that employees who kept gratitude journals experienced a clear rise in overall work engagement, particularly in the absorption aspect: how deeply they became involved and focused in their daily tasks. No such improvement was observed in the control group. Analysis of the journal entries further revealed that writing about gratitude helped participants become more aware of workplace resources such as encouragement from supervisors and cooperation among colleagues. These findings align with the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model of employee engagement, which emphasizes the importance of recognizing personal and social resources in fostering work engagement. "This study fills a key gap in the field," says Prof. Yamagishi. "Previous research has largely been correlational, whereas our results demonstrate a causal link between gratitude and increased work engagement."
The researchers also identified several secondary outcomes that shed light on the broader effects of journaling. Both groups, whether they wrote about gratitude or simply described their daily events, showed small but steady improvements in overall gratitude disposition, general life satisfaction, and competitive work motivation. This pattern suggests that the very act of sitting down to write each day can be inherently meaningful. Journaling gave participants a space to pause, reflect, and bring some order to their experiences, which seemed to encourage a gentle rise in well-being across the board. Even without a focus on gratitude, the discipline of daily writing appeared to create space for self-awareness.
While both groups showed some positive changes, subtle differences also emerged. Participants who kept the daily life journal demonstrated a slight decline in autonomy and purpose in life of psychological well-being scale over the course of the trial, whereas this trend was not observed in the gratitude journal group. Although exploratory, this contrast may indicate that unstructured reflection on daily events sometimes highlights routine demands or frustrations. By comparison, focusing on gratitude appeared to guide participants toward recognizing positive aspects of their experiences, helping to maintain a balanced perspective.
Together, these findings underline an important truth: gratitude does not simply grow out of casual reflection. It requires conscious effort. Without a guiding structure, the benefits of journaling can remain shallow or even drift into unintended consequences. With a gratitude focus, however, the practice becomes a reliable way to nurture engagement and protect well-being.
This makes gratitude-based exercises a practical tool in work environments. Prof. Yamagishi explains, "Given its low-cost, scalable nature, gratitude journaling may serve as an accessible tool for fostering work engagement, well-being, and positive work culture." These comments highlight how easily this kind of intervention can be introduced without significant resources or long training programs.
On a theoretical level, the research expands the Job Demands-Resources Model by demonstrating how gratitude can heighten awareness of workplace resources. On a practical level, it demonstrates that simple positive psychology practices can make a measurable improvement in how people experience their work. Gratitude is no longer just a fleeting emotion; it can actively foster work engagement, a cornerstone of a fulfilling professional life.
