Notes on: Gratitude and Positive Psychology

'Gratitude and Positive Psychology' is taken from the course 'Managing Happiness' by Arthur Brooks on edX.org.

In a classic study, students who were asked to reflect on their good fortunes every day or at least once a week, had a more optimistic outlook on life, and reported higher measures of wellbeing and sleep than their control group. The effects of positive psychology are measurable.

Gratitude derives from the Latin word 'gratia', which means grace, which includes kindness and generosity, and a large amount of research shows that gratitude as a strategy improves our psychological wellbeing. Just by reflecting on our blessings we can experience feelings of joy and happiness.

The field of positive psychology is dedicated to increasing human flourishing, through meaning, purpose, community, relationships and positive emotions. The belief is that ordinary people can become happier by actively pursuing different ways to manage our feelings, instead of having them manage us.

Gratitude enables people to build a source of positive emotions that we can leverage to combat negative feelings or even improve our mood. Focusing on positive emotions is like building a muscle, you are making it stronger for when you may need it. It provides a feeling of contentment and satisfaction about the past, hope and optimism about the future, and feelings of flow and happiness in the present.

According to Martin Seligman, at the individual level, positive psychology is about positive individual traits, and at the group level, it is about the civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship.

What role do positive emotions play within positive psychology?

Positive Psychology maintains that the experience and practice of positive emotions broadens our capacity for greater positive experiences and builds our resilience to negative emotions.

There is a 'broaden and build' theory that suggests, even though positive emotions may be fleeting, they also have more long-lasting effects like building enduring personal resources that enable us to manage difficult times in the future. Positive emotions are conduits for individual growth and social connection.

Positive psychology isn't concerned with simply helping us to survive, it came about to help us find ways to truly thrive, and get more people to feel a sense of fulfilment in life. Even though many people do not have a mental illness, they are also not thriving in life. Their day to day is kind of mundane and they do not live life to the fullest.

Sometimes negative experiences become the foundation for some of the best experiences in life, so understanding these negative experiences helps us to understand how to truly thrive, and it is important not to exclude the negative, even in positive psychology.

People with a mental illness can also find ways to thrive. Some people may struggle but that does not mean they cannot live well. Think of an asthmatic athlete, they can be very fit and active as long as they manage their symptoms. The same holds true for people who may be suffering from a mental illness, they can control their illness with therapy or medication, but they can supplement that by learning skills that will also enable them to enjoy life, despite the challenges they may face.

Focusing on gratitude is one of the best ways to build a reserve of positive emotions that also helps you grow more resilient to negative emotions. It may not cure everything, but you will appreciate its value more if you practise it.