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<center>For lessons on Gratitude, follow this link.</center>

<center>For lessons on Gratitude, follow this link.</center>

==Description==

==Description==

'''Gratitude''', thankfulness, or appreciation is a positive [[emotion]] or [[attitude]] in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. The [[experience]] of gratitude has historically been a [[focus]] of several world [[religions]],[1] and has been considered extensively by moral [[philosophers]] such as Adam Smith.[2] The [[systematic]] study of gratitude within [[psychology]] only began around the year 2000, possibly because psychology has [[tradition]]ally been focused more on understanding distress rather than understanding positive emotions. However, with the advent of the [[positive psychology movement]], [3] gratitude has become a [[mainstream]] focus of psychological [[research]]. [4] The study of gratitude within psychology has focused on the understanding of the short term experience of the emotion of gratitude (state gratitude), individual [[difference]]s in how frequently people feel gratitude (trait gratitude), and the relationship between these two aspects.[5][6]

'''Gratitude''', thankfulness, or appreciation is a positive [[emotion]] or [[attitude]] in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. The [[experience]] of gratitude has historically been a [[focus]] of several world [[religions]],[1] and has been considered extensively by moral [[philosophers]] such as Adam Smith.[2] The [[system]]atic study of gratitude within [[psychology]] only began around the year 2000, possibly because psychology has [[tradition]]ally been focused more on understanding distress rather than understanding positive emotions. However, with the advent of the [[positive psychology movement]], [3] gratitude has become a [[mainstream]] focus of psychological [[research]]. [4] The study of gratitude within psychology has focused on the understanding of the short term experience of the emotion of gratitude (state gratitude), individual [[difference]]s in how frequently people feel gratitude (trait gratitude), and the relationship between these two aspects.[5][6]

===Gratitude as an Emotion===

===Gratitude as an Emotion===

Gratitude is an [[emotion]] that occurs after people receive help, depending on how they interpret the situation. Specifically, gratitude is experienced if people perceive the help they receive as (a) valuable to them, (b) costly to their benefactor, and (c) given by the benefactor with benevolent [[intention]]s (rather than ulterior motives). [5][7] When faced with identical situations where they have been given help, different people view the situation very differently in terms of [[value]], cost, and benevolent intentions, and this explains why people feel differing levels of gratitude after they have been helped). [5][8] People who generally experience more gratitude in life habitually interpret help as more costly, more beneficial, and more beneficially intended; and this habitual bias explains why some people feel more gratitude than others.[5]

Gratitude is an [[emotion]] that occurs after people receive help, depending on how they interpret the situation. Specifically, gratitude is experienced if people perceive the help they receive as (a) valuable to them, (b) costly to their benefactor, and (c) given by the benefactor with benevolent [[intention]]s (rather than ulterior motives). [5][7] When faced with identical situations where they have been given help, different people view the situation very differently in terms of [[value]], cost, and benevolent intentions, and this explains why people feel differing levels of gratitude after they have been helped). [5][8] People who generally experience more gratitude in life habitually interpret help as more costly, more beneficial, and more beneficially intended; and this habitual bias explains why some people feel more gratitude than others.[5]

===Interventions to increase gratitude===

===Interventions to increase gratitude===

Given that gratitude appears to be a strong determinant of people's well-being, several psychological interventions have been developed to increase gratitude.[4][25] For example, Watkins and colleagues[26] had participants test a number of different gratitude [[exercise]]s, such as [[thinking]] about a living person for whom they were grateful, writing about someone for whom they were grateful, and [[writing]] a [[letter]] to deliver to someone for whom they were grateful. Participants in the control condition were asked to describe their living room. Participants who engaged in a gratitude exercise showed increases in their experiences of positive emotion immediately after the exercise, and this effect was strongest for participants who were asked to think about a person for whom they were grateful. Participants who had grateful personalities to begin with showed the greatest benefit from these gratitude exercises.

Given that gratitude appears to be a strong determinant of people's well-being, several psychological interventions have been developed to increase gratitude.[4][25] For example, Watkins and colleagues[26] had participants test a number of different gratitude [[exercise]]s, such as [[thinking]] about a living person for whom they were grateful, writing about someone for whom they were grateful, and [[writing]] a [[letter]] to deliver to someone for whom they were grateful. Participants in the control condition were asked to describe their living room. Participants who engaged in a gratitude exercise showed increases in their experiences of positive emotion immediately after the exercise, and this effect was strongest for participants who were asked to think about a person for whom they were grateful. Participants who had grateful personalities to begin with showed the greatest benefit from these gratitude exercises.

==References==

==References==