What are the Benefits of Gratitude Journaling?

The health benefits of expressing gratitude are amazing, and some of them might even surprise you!

For centuries, scholars, spiritual leaders, and scientists have explored the power of gratitude. Recently, thanks to research from experts like Robert Emmons and Martin Seligman, we’ve come to understand just how important gratitude really is.

Gratitude isn’t just about saying “thank you”—it’s a practice with real benefits. Studies show that keeping a gratitude journal can increase happiness, and that expressing gratitude may even reduce inflammation in the body. These studies offer valuable insights into how gratitude can improve overall health and well-being.

As you read this article, you’ll learn how expressing gratitude can reduce stress, boost optimism, and even change the way your brain works.

Before you continue, we’d like to offer you three free Gratitude Exercises. These science-based exercises will help you (or your clients) connect with more positive emotions and experience the powerful benefits of gratitude.

Table of Contents

What are the Benefits of Gratitude?

The Greater Good Science Center has tons of information on the benefits of gratitude. In their 2018 white paper, The Science of Gratitude, they highlight several positive effects of practicing gratitude.

For individuals, gratitude can lead to:

Increased happiness and a more positive mood
Greater satisfaction with life
Being less materialistic
A lower chance of experiencing burnout
Better physical health
Improved sleep
Less fatigue
Lower levels of cellular inflammation
Greater resilience
The development of patience, humility, and wisdom

For groups, gratitude can:

Increase prosocial behaviors
Strengthen relationships
Improve employee effectiveness
Boost job satisfaction

In a study by Emmons & Mishra (2011), they found that gratitude strengthens relationships and encourages prosocial actions. They concluded that gratitude helps build social resources and enhance well-being. As you keep reading, you’ll discover even more reasons to make gratitude a daily habit.

A Look at the Research on Showing Gratitude

Showing gratitude isn’t just about saying “thank you.” Wong and Brown (2017) wanted to know how gratitude affects us mentally and physically, so they did a study with students. They divided the students into three groups:

Group one wrote a gratitude letter to someone every week for three weeks.
Group two wrote about their thoughts and feelings on negative experiences.
Group three didn’t write anything.

All three groups received counseling, but only Group one reported better mental health four and 12 weeks later. Their research shows that combining gratitude practice with counseling can be more effective than counseling alone.

The researchers found that gratitude has four key effects:

It helps us break free from toxic, negative emotions and the cycle of overthinking. Writing a gratitude letter shifts our focus toward positive emotions.
Expressing gratitude benefits us even if we don’t share it with someone. Simply doing the exercise makes us feel happier and more satisfied.
The positive effects of gratitude build over time. A daily or weekly practice may not show immediate benefits, but after a few weeks or months, you’ll notice a difference.
Gratitude trains our brain to focus on the positives, creating more positive experiences.

Their findings support what other researchers, like Emmons, have shown.

Bartlett & DeSteno (2006) found a link between gratitude and helpful behavior. They discovered that grateful people are more likely to help others, both those who have helped them and strangers. Even just reminding people of past kindness encourages them to help others, without relying on the idea of reciprocity.

Dickens and DeSteno (2018) found that gratitude is connected to self-control. Grateful people tend to delay immediate rewards more than those who are less grateful, and this can have a positive impact on health behaviors as well.

However, not all research supports the idea that gratitude always leads to positive outcomes. For example, Sansone & Sansone (2010) mention studies that show mixed results. One study by Kashdan (2006) found that gratitude only improved well-being in people with PTSD. Another study by Henrie (2006) found no improvement in life satisfaction in middle-aged women who practiced daily gratitude journaling after a divorce.

Similarly, a study by Ozimkowski (2007) found that writing and delivering a gratitude letter didn’t enhance well-being in children and adolescents. And Gurel Kirgiz (2007) found that temporary gratitude (state gratitude) didn’t impact well-being, but lasting gratitude (trait gratitude) did.

Despite these mixed results, Robert Emmons (2010), a leading expert in gratitude research, argues that gratitude helps people:

Appreciate the present
Let go of toxic emotions like envy and regret
Become more resilient to stress
Build stronger social connections and a better sense of self-worth

Gratitude research is ongoing, and experts continue to learn more about how it impacts our lives.

When Gratitude Doesn’t Work: Gratitude is easy to practice, but sometimes ingratitude gets in the way. Emmons (2013) describes ingratitude as:

A feeling of excessive self-importance
Arrogance
Vanity
A constant need for admiration and approval
A sense of entitlement

These traits are often associated with narcissism. Philosopher David Hume (1739) even called ingratitude the “most horrid and unnatural” of all crimes.

Thomas Gilovich (2017) explains that ingratitude often comes from adapting too easily, focusing on negative things, or having distorted views of our struggles. In his book Enemies of Gratitude, Gilovich explores how these factors stop us from expressing gratitude and offers strategies to overcome them.

The Effects Gratitude Has on Health

In 2017, the world saw a rise in stress, worry, sadness, and pain, with levels reaching new highs, according to Julie Ray (2019) from the Gallup Organization. So, how can we turn this around? Research shows that practicing gratitude could be the key to improving our mental and physical health.

Here are a few studies that highlight the positive effects of gratitude:

Writing a gratitude letter and counting blessings can boost optimism and have a significant positive impact on mental health (Huffman et al., 2014).
Gratitude letter writing helps improve mental health for adults in therapy (Wong et al., 2016).
Gratitude can protect people from stress and depression (Wood et al., 2008).
Gratitude is linked to a sense of coherence, meaning it helps people feel more in control and optimistic about future events (Lambert et al., 2009).
People who expressed gratitude and optimism two weeks after a heart attack had healthier hearts (Huffman et al., 2015).
Gratitude and spiritual well-being are linked to better mood, sleep quality, more energy, higher self-esteem, and lower inflammation (Mills et al., 2015).
Practicing gratitude can ease a worried mind, reduce overthinking, and help lessen symptoms of depression (Liang et al., 2018).

If there’s one thing a person could do to boost their health and happiness, it might just be practicing gratitude. As Martin Seligman, a leader in Positive Psychology, once said, “When we take time to notice the things that go right, we’re getting a lot of little rewards throughout the day.”

Every time we express or receive gratitude, our brain releases dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that makes us feel good, and it’s produced in two parts of the brain: one related to movement and speech, and the other to rewards (Carter, 2009). So, every act of gratitude links the feeling of goodness with the behavior, and the more we practice gratitude, the more often we get that rewarding feeling.

Proven Advantages of Keeping a Daily Gratitude Journal

One of the most popular ways to practice gratitude is by keeping a daily gratitude journal. One study found that when adolescents kept gratitude journals, they became less materialistic and even donated 60% more money to charity (Chaplin et al., 2019).

Fritz and his team (2019) discovered that after doing a gratitude writing exercise, college students showed healthier eating habits. In a second study, they found that writing a gratitude letter once a week helped students make better food choices. The teens also reported feeling fewer negative emotions during the four-week study.

Gratitude journaling might even help reduce inflammation in people with Stage B heart failure (Redwine et al., 2016). In their study, Redwine and his colleagues found that an 8-week gratitude journaling program led to improvements in both physical health and gratitude scores compared to standard treatment.

However, there’s some debate about how often you should journal. Sonja Lyubomirsky and her team (2010) found that journaling once or twice a week is actually more beneficial than writing every day.

The Benefits of Gratitude in the Workplace

We all know that many jobs or workplaces can be really stressful. So, how can gratitude help?

Focusing on things you’re grateful for at work can actually reduce stress and depression (Cheng, Tsui, & Lam, 2015). In their study, Improving Mental Health in Health Care Practitioners, they divided 102 healthcare workers into three groups:

Group 1: Wrote a work-related gratitude journal twice a week for four weeks.
Group 2: Wrote about work-related hassles twice a week for four weeks.
Group 3: Didn’t write anything.

The researchers checked in at the beginning, after the treatment, and again three months later. The workers who wrote gratitude journals reported less stress and fewer depressive symptoms compared to the other two groups. The second and third groups didn’t show much difference from each other.

How to Bring Gratitude to the Workplace

Creating a culture of gratitude at work can be tough, but Professor Ryan Fehr (2019) shares three research-backed tips for a more grateful workplace:

Build a gratitude habit (such as rituals or practices)
Draw from different resources (like appreciation programs, helping others, and skill-building)
Guard against negative emotions (such as envy, excessive pride, and anger)

Cultural Differences

Floyd and his team (2018) argue that much of the research on gratitude has two main issues:

It’s mainly focused on English-speaking and Western-European populations.
It mixes gratitude as an emotion with gratitude as something we say (like saying “thank you”).

They point out that social reciprocity (like helping each other) happens in all cultures, even if people don’t always say “thank you.” So, they conclude that saying “thank you” isn’t essential for maintaining social connections. Researchers should be careful when drawing broad conclusions from studies that focus on just English-speaking or Western populations.

16 Things You Can Do to Realize These Benefits

Here are some simple gratitude exercises, adapted from Sansone & Sansone (2010) and Emmons (2010), that you can easily do every day or week:

Journal about your gratitude: Write about things, people, or situations you’re thankful for. Don’t forget to include things like narrowly avoiding an accident, which can be powerful.
Think about someone you’re grateful for: Reflect on someone who has had a positive impact on your life.
Write a gratitude letter: Write a letter to someone you appreciate, and consider delivering it in person or sending it.
Meditate on gratitude: Focus on being grateful in the present moment.
Do the “Count Your Blessings” exercise: At the end of each day, write down three things you’re thankful for.
Say “thank you” meaningfully: Be specific when you thank someone. For example, “Thank you for reading this article and leaving a comment. Your insights always help me understand the topic better.”
Write thank-you notes: Some say it’s a lost art, but challenge yourself to write one handwritten thank-you note each week for a month.
Pray (if religious): Pray or use specific prayers of gratitude. Interfaith Worker Justice has examples for Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Secular Seasons offers several secular approaches, too.
Recall a negative event: Think about a tough time you went through. It can help you appreciate your current situation more.
Be mindful of your senses: Focus on how each of your five senses enhances your life.
Create reminders to be grateful: Use sticky notes, phone notifications, or even ask people to remind you to practice gratitude.
Focus on others’ good deeds: Appreciate the positive things others have done for you.
Take action: Smile, say thank you, and write gratitude letters.
Be on the lookout for gratitude moments: Be a “gratitude gazer” by staying alert to things that make you feel thankful.
Give something up: Giving up something, like a comfort or habit, can help you appreciate it more when you get it back.
Think about what your life would be like without a positive event: Reflect on how different your life would be if something important hadn’t happened—like meeting your spouse or landing your dream job.

Here are two exercises to deepen your sense of gratitude:

The Naikan Reflection Exercise

This Japanese reflection method (which takes about 10 minutes) helps you focus on gratitude for someone in your life. You think about these three questions:

What did this person give to me? (giving)
What did I return to this person? (receiving)
What trouble did I cause this person? (hurting)

This exercise helps you understand your relationship with that person and grow feelings of appreciation.

Also Read: What are Some Gratitude Exercises to Try?

The Silent Gratitude Mapping Exercise

In the workplace, this exercise helps build stronger connections between team members. It takes about 15 minutes. Here’s how it works:

Small groups (3-5 people) gather around a large sheet of paper or whiteboard with colored markers.
Each person reflects on things they’re grateful for and writes them down, surrounding each item with a circle.
Each person draws a line from their item and writes a reason for their gratitude. For example, if someone writes “my home,” they might add, “It’s where I can relax.”
After a few minutes, everyone reads the responses and adds their own reasons for similar items.

At the end, the group shares what they learned from the exercise.