Gratitude
Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness is a feeling of appreciation (or similar positive response) by a recipient of another's kindness.
[7][8] Gratitude is prized in the Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Baháʼí, and Hindu traditions.
It is one of the most common emotions that religions aim to evoke and maintain in followers and is regarded as a universal religious sentiment.
According to the Hebrew worldview, all things come from God and, due to this, gratitude is essential to the followers of Judaism.
The concluding prayer, the Alenu, also speaks of gratitude by thanking God for the particular destiny of the Jewish people.
[4] Not simply a sentimental feeling, Christian gratitude is a virtue that shapes not only emotions and thoughts, but also actions and deeds.
[10] Jonathan Edwards wrote in his book A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections that gratitude and thankfulness toward God are among the signs of true religion.
Muslims commonly express their gratitude using the term "Alhamdulillah" (praise be to God), which is one of the four beloved words of Allah.
For example, the Pillar of Islam that calls for daily prayer encourages believers to pray to Allah five times a day in order to thank him for his goodness, and the pillar of fasting during the month of Ramadan is for the purpose of putting the believer in a state of gratitude.
[4] It is important to note that cultural and linguistic factors play a significant role in shaping expressions of gratitude worldwide.
A study showed that these scales all measure the same way of approaching life; this suggests that individual differences in gratitude include all of these components.
[30] Grateful people tend to exercise greater levels of control over their environments, experience personal growth, find purpose in life, and accept themselves.
They are more likely to seek support from other people and to reinterpret and grow from experiences, and they spend more time planning how to deal with problems.
[39] For example, in one study, teens who wrote letters expressing gratitude to other people over the course of a month were more inclined to eat healthier food.
[39] This phenomenon might be explained by the notion that when people experience gratitude, they are more motivated to reciprocate the kindness shown by others.
Therefore, rather than engaging in behaviors that may undermine their own health, they feel driven to adopt healthier lifestyles as a way of acknowledging the support they have received from others.
Moreover, gratitude is known to trigger positive emotions, which in turn direct individuals' attention towards optimistic possibilities in the future.
Another study found similar correlations between gratitude and empathy, generosity, and helpfulness towards the creation of social reciprocity, even with strangers, that is beneficial to the individuals in the short and in the middle terms.
For example, one experiment found that customers of a jewelry store who were called and thanked showed a subsequent 70% increase in purchases.
[43] In another study, a restaurant's regular patrons gave bigger tips when servers wrote "Thank you" on their checks.
[46] A study of the feelings of migrant adolescents towards their parents noted that "gratitude serves and indebtedness challenges intergenerational relations after migration".
[47] Unlike compassion or sadness, gratitude decreases cigarette craving suggesting a potential role in public health reductions of appetitive risk behaviors.
