Gratitude exercises work, a little and reliably

Across studies of gratitude exercises, people saw small but real gains in well-being compared with doing nothing.

The study

This set of meta-analyses compared gratitude exercises with groups who only filled in the same questionnaires and with groups who did a different activity. Gratitude exercises did better than the questionnaire-only groups on psychological well-being. Compared with neutral activities, they also led to more gratitude and somewhat higher well-being, though no more than other psychological exercises did, and they did not reduce anxiety. The effects were modest.

Starting small

Gratitude practice is not a cure-all, and the gains are small. As a light, regular habit, such as noting one thing you appreciated today, it is easy to keep.