Gratitude: Fun Facts and App Recommendations

07 Nov Gratitude: Fun Facts and App Recommendations

Fun Facts About Gratitude:

1. According to a study by researchers from the University of Minnesota and the University of Florida, having participants write down a list of positive events at the close of a day — and why the events made them happy — lowered their self-reported stress levels and gave them a greater sense of calm at night.
2. In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.
3. A study of couples found that individuals who took time to express gratitude for their partner not only felt more positive toward the other person but also felt more comfortable expressing concerns about their relationship.
4. Gratitude improves self-esteem. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology found that gratitude increased athlete’s self-esteem, which is an essential component to optimal performance.
5. A 2003 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that gratitude was a major contributor to resilience following the terrorist attacks on September 11.  Recognizing all you have to be thankful for – even during the worst times of your life – fosters resilience.

Cell Phone Apps to Foster Gratitude:

ThinkUp

On ThinkUp, users can find inspiration from professionally-curated positive affirmations — or voice record their own. There are also features to add inspiring music and track your progress. It’s by far one of the most dynamic gratitude apps out there and definitely worth the download.

Happier

Happier is essentially a gratitude Facebook, of sorts, helping users find, collect, and share positive moments in their lives with the entire Happier community. There are even bite-sized, expert-led courses you can take.

Gratitude

Each morning, Gratitude sends you a text, and you can reply to that number anytime you’re feeling grateful. Each text you send gets stored in your own personal account, which you can revisit to re-read. If you’re not feeling particularly grateful one day, you can skip it altogether. Once you’re up for it, though, your online journal will still be ready and waiting for you.

Grateful

Grateful  is a no-frills approach to gratitude journaling that makes it a go-to for people who want to ease their way into a gratitude practice. The app offers to send you daily prompts like “What made today a good day?” or “What made you smile today?” to get your creative juices flowing. It then collects all of your responses and puts them in a private timeline, which you can customize to sort by date or topic.