What Is Gratitude For? The Main Advantages Of This Feeling
We all know the feeling of gratitude and have experienced it countless times throughout our lives.
However, there are aspects about it that we may not have thought about yet. Even its own definition is somewhat complex. We will, therefore, dedicate these paragraphs to clarifying everything related to gratitude and knowing its advantages
Before we can delve into the question of what gratitude is for, it is important to delve deeper into this concept, because as we already mentioned, on many occasions we have not even considered the meaning of this concept itself. We could say that gratitude is a feeling of appreciation and value towards another person for having brought us a certain benefit
This benefit can be of a very diverse nature, from a favor performed, an act of generosity, a gift, etc. It may even be that the element that represents a benefit has not yet been received, but rather the promise or intention to carry it out in the future has been established, which already awakens the feeling of gratitude.
Answering the question of what gratitude is for was not easy until some time ago, since historically, in psychology, there has been a tendency to study more deeply emotions that can be opposite to it, such as anxiety. It was already in the 21st century when research on positive emotions intensified, generating the same interest in authors as negative ones.
As with other personality factors, Researchers draw a distinction between gratitude as a state and gratitude as a trait When we talk about the state of gratitude, we are referring to that feeling provoked at a given moment in response to an action of kindness towards the person.
As for the trait of gratitude, it would be a tendency in the personality of the subject in question to experience said feeling, or to do so with more intensity than others.
One thing to keep in mind, before delving into the question of what gratitude is for, is that we should not confuse this concept with that of feeling indebted. Although both can appear at the same time, and in fact do, after obtaining a certain benefit, as we already mentioned, their implications are different.
We have already described the case of gratitude. Regarding the feeling of debt, it implies a need to correspond to the perceived benefit with another similar one towards the person who provided it, establishing reciprocity between the actions.
What is gratitude for? Its benefits
Now that we know in more detail what this concept means, we can face the question at hand: what is gratitude for? Let’s now review the different answers that can be given to this question.
1. Wellbeing
The simplest answer to what gratitude is for is, simply, because it makes us feel better. It has been proven that this type of emotions triggers a series of reactions in our body that They translate into an increase in our happiness on a mental level, but also an increase in well-being on a physical level
In that sense, Patrick Hill’s 2012 study found that subjects with a greater tendency to be grateful also reported better physical health in their reports. A causal relationship cannot be established, but a correlation can be established, so a person who is grateful may have a greater probability of having better mental and physical health than someone who is not.
One of the factors involved in this relationship may be rest. It has been proven that thinking about positive emotions (and gratitude is one of them) before starting the sleep period helps make it deeper and more restorative. Therefore, someone who tends to be grateful will have more positive thoughts to reflect on.
This first answer to what gratitude is for is already providing us with very valuable information. Grateful people also tend to show other characteristics that make them happier. They may feel more self-confident, have satisfactory social relationships, and have coping strategies for difficulties.
These conditions make these subjects less likely to suffer psychological pathologies such as anxiety or depression In short, all these conditions establish a correlative relationship between being grateful in a habitual way and well-being at all levels, or happiness.
As if happiness were not enough, there are other elements that can also be an answer to what gratitude is for. One of them is motivation. And it is that The emotion of gratitude can become an excellent engine to promote certain behaviors
A study conducted by Carey in 1976 verified the effect of gratitude on the motivation of consumers, in this case of a jewelry store. Three groups of clients were created. The first of them, after making the purchase, were not contacted again. Contact was established with the second, but only for informational purposes regarding the transaction carried out.
As for the third party, the call was used both to inform him of the purchase made and to thank him for this action. After some time, the recurrence of all these clients was studied. In the first group, a significant rate was not observed, that is, customers did not purchase again from that store. Those in the second bought again 30% of the time.
But the third group is the one that answers the question of what gratitude is for. And these consumers, on average, returned to the establishment to buy new products in 70% of the cases. We observe, therefore, spectacular growth, and all of this based on a single factor: that of gratitude.
It is not the only investigation on the matter. Also It has been proven that more tips are received when waiters write something as simple as the word “thank you” on the bill before delivering it to customers.
3. Altruism
We have seen two compelling reasons that respond to what gratitude is for. But we can still find another, and it is nothing less than altruism. Altruism could be defined as any behavior that a person exercises to help another without any type of reward for it
Ultimately, and taking the situation to the extreme, altruism involves reducing one’s own chances of survival in favor of another individual’s. This type of behavior is common when there is a family relationship, especially between parents and children. However, it can also be observed among subjects who do not share genetic ties, or even emotional ones.
What has been found out through different investigations is that Those people who feel more grateful tend to try to help more people in a selfless way In other words, those people who experience gratitude habitually, either by repetition of the state of gratitude or by having a trait of it, will be more likely to exercise altruistic behaviors.
This correlation has important implications, since what we are observing is that a person who has experienced gratitude and, therefore, has obtained benefits as important as feeling better physically and mentally, improving their well-being and even experiencing feelings of happiness, in addition He will try to help other people who need it.
That is, in some way, you will export that feeling of well-being to other individuals, through actions that in turn will generate gratitude in them and therefore will promote happiness. Simply put, we could say, regarding what gratitude is for, that Not only does it have a series of benefits for those who experience it, but these can also be “infected” to others
This chain of gratitude and altruistic actions is, without a doubt, good news for all members of society where these behaviors take place, since it would be promoting attitudes as important and positive as generosity or social reciprocity.
Although there are other answers, the ones we have been able to review mean that we now know the answer to what gratitude is for and we know the tremendous relevance of this feeling in our lives.
