Overview
- UC San Diego experiments found that expressing thanks before a stressful team task produced healthier cardiovascular “challenge” responses, better performance, stronger bonds, and benefits even for onlookers, with other‑focused thank‑yous working best.
- An updated evidence base, including a UCLA Health review of 70 studies, links gratitude with lower depression and higher self‑esteem, alongside reports of better sleep and improvements in blood pressure.
- In the long-running Nurses’ Health Study, nearly 49,000 older women with the highest gratitude scores had a 9% lower risk of death over four years.
- Clinicians recommend scalable routines—brief daily reflections, journaling, prompts via apps, and pairing practice with habits—while schools, nonprofits, and first‑responder teams adopt rituals that foster connection.
- Scientists caution that average effects are small and can be short‑lived, results vary by method and study quality, and gratitude should complement—not replace—care for serious mental‑health conditions.