Are Some Ways of Expressing Gratitude More Beneficial Than Others? Results From a Randomized Controlled Experiment

Abstract

Gratitude activities have been shown to increase well-being and other positive outcomes in numerous experiments to date. The current study tested whether self-directed gratitude interventions that vary by type (i.e., social vs. nonsocial) and format (i.e., long-form letters vs. shorter lists) produce differential benefits. To that end, 958 Australian adults were assigned to one of six activities to complete each day for 1 week, including five gratitude activities that varied by type and format and an active control condition (i.e., keeping track of daily activities). Regressed change analyses revealed that, overall, long-form writing exercises (i.e., essays and letters) resulted in greater subjective well-being and other positive outcomes than lists. Indeed, those who were instructed to write social and nonsocial gratitude lists did not differ from controls on any outcomes. However, participants who wrote unconstrained gratitude lists—that is, those who wrote about any topics they wanted—reported greater feelings of gratitude and positive affect than did controls. Finally, relative to the other gratitude conditions, participants who wrote gratitude letters to particular individuals in their lives not only showed stronger feelings of gratitude, elevation, and other positive emotions but also reported feeling more indebted. This study demonstrates that not only does gratitude “work” to boost well-being relative to an active neutral activity, but that some forms of gratitude may be more effective than others. We hope these findings help scholars and practitioners to develop, tailor, implement, and scale future gratitude-based interventions.

Introduction to Special Issue: Interventions to Modify Psychological Well-Being and Population Health

“…To date, we have limited understanding of whether expressing gratitude in these different forms similarly affects psychological well-being or if the intervention's potency depends on the way gratitude is expressed. Regan, Margolis, et al (2023), Regan, Walsh, et al (2023) compared effects across two dimensions of self-directed gratitude activities, type (social versus nonsocial) and form (a letter or list), in a large communitybased sample of adults. Findings suggest writing longform letters that were social in nature (i.e., expressed gratitude to other people versus for particular things or circumstances) provides the strongest effects on psychological well-being.…”

“…However, no experiments have compared the unique feelings elicited by prosocial behavior compared to several alternative positive activities. Regan, Margolis, et al (2023) , Regan, Walsh, et al (2023) set out to evaluate this question by randomly assigning adults to engage in one of four positive, socially desirable activities (i.e., prosocial behavior, kind acts for oneself, extraverted behavior, open-minded behavior), over the course of 15 days and measured various emotions using momentary assessments. Compared to all other conditions, participants engaging in prosocial behavior reported greater competence, self-confidence, and meaning.…”

Do Character Strengths-Based Interventions Change Character Strengths? Two Randomized Controlled Intervention Studies

“…Given substantial variability in samples, outcomes, and designs across studies, it is difficult to make sound conclusions when comparing their results. Previous studies have already systematically compared variants of popular positive psychology interventions such as "three good things" (Bahník et al, 2015), "acts of kindness" (Ko et al, 2021), or "gratitude letter" (Regan et al, 2023). In the present study, we aim to narrow this gap by systematically comparing different variants of personalized CSIs in one study, which allows for meaningful comparisons between the different variants.…”