Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness, from the Latin word gratus "pleasing, thankful", is a feeling of appreciation felt by and/or similar positive response shown by the recipient of kindness, gifts, help, favors, or other types of generosity, to the giver of said gifts.
The experience of gratitude has historically been a focus of several world religions. It has also been a topic of interest to ancient, medieval and modern philosophers, and continues to engage contemporary philosophers.
The systematic study of gratitude within psychology began in the year 1998 when Martin Seligman introduced a new branch of psychology: positive psychology. A type of psychology that focuses on reinforcing positive traits. The study of gratitude within psychology has included the understanding of the short term experience of the emotion of gratitude (state gratitude), individual differences in how frequently people feel gratitude (trait gratitude), and the relationship between these two aspects, as well as the therapeutic benefits of gratitude.
According to Cicero, "Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others." Multiple studies have shown the correlation between gratitude and increased wellbeing not only for the individual but for all people involved. The positive psychology movement has embraced these studies and in an effort to increase overall well-being, has begun to make an effort to incorporate exercises to increase gratitude into the movement. Although in the past gratitude has been neglected by psychology, in recent years much progress has been made in studying gratitude and its positive effects.[ Such as a recent study released in June 6th, 2017 by Berkeley that shows how gratitude can help decrease the symptoms of depression and change our brains.
A study consisting of approximately 300 college students was conducted to determine the benefits of mental health counseling. Recruited participants were divided into three groups prior to their first counseling session. The first group was instructed to write one letter of gratitude a week for three weeks; the second was asked to write about their negative experiences, and the third group received only counseling. When compared, the first group (who wrote gratitude letters) reported better mental health after completing their writing exercises. This suggests that gratitude writing can be beneficial for those who suffer from mental health issues. The study concluded that gratitude writing can work on the body and mind. While not conclusive, practicing gratitude may help the brain react more sensitively to the experience of gratitude in the future, and therefore, may also improve mental health.
The Big Five personality traits is a suggested taxonomy, or grouping, for personality traits,[1] developed from the 1980s onwards in psychological trait theory. When factor analysis (a statistical technique) is applied to personality survey data, it reveals semantic associations: some words used to describe aspects of personality are often applied to the same person. For example, someone described as conscientious is more likely to be described as "always prepared" rather than "messy". These associations suggest five broad dimensions used in common language to describe the human personality, temperament and psyche.
The theory identifies five factors:
- extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved)
- agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. critical/rational)
- openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious)
- conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. extravagant/careless)
- neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. resilient/confident
The five factors ordered according to their variability are EAOCN. However, many consider it easier for laypeople to remember the five factors using the acronyms "OCEAN" or "CANOE". Beneath each proposed global factor, there are a number of correlated and more specific primary factors. For example, extraversion is typically associated with qualities such as gregariousness, assertiveness, excitement-seeking, warmth, activity, and positive emotions. These traits are not black and white, but rather placed on continua.
Family life and upbringing affects these traits. Twin studies and other research have shown that about half of the variation between individuals results from their genetic inheritance and half from their environment. Researchers have found conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, and neuroticism to be relatively stable from childhood through adulthood.[8]
Reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratitude