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Practise gratitude

Regularly writing down or deliberately noting things you are grateful for, usually as a short daily or several-times-weekly practice.

At a glance

  • Evidence: Gratitude exercises raise self-reported wellbeing by a small amount, and no more than an active comparison exercise does.Self-reported psychological wellbeing and gratitude · Limited certainty · Randomized intervention
  • What’s uncertain: Benefits are small and disappear against equally active comparison exercises; self-reports are vulnerable to expectations.
  • First step: Write a short list of specific things you are grateful for on several days each week.
  • Before you try it: Gratitude practice should not replace treatment for significant depression or anxiety. All precautions
Read the full takeaway

Trial findings

Gratitude practice is a reasonable, free thing to try and the evidence is not empty: meta-analyses of randomised trials find small improvements in self-reported wellbeing and gratitude, and workplace trials that keep people practising for long enough report improvements in perceived stress and depression. But the size of the effect matters, and the same meta-analysis that found a benefit against a measurement-only control found that gratitude did no better than a psychologically active comparison exercise (d = -0.03).

Limits by outcome

Anxiety was not improved. Physical and clinical outcomes are largely unstudied, and the effects on wellbeing in working adults were inconsistent across studies.

Overall interpretation

The most defensible reading is that gratitude is a cheap, pleasant practice with a small and probably non-specific effect on how people rate their own wellbeing, not a treatment for depression or anxiety.

An open journal for writing down things to be grateful forDiscussed byAndrew HubermanView statements ↓
Long-term healthStress & wellbeingUnder 10 min · Easy · Free
Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
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Scientific evidence

What the research shows

Outcome assessments based on research, including its uncertainties and limitations.

Self-reported psychological wellbeing and gratitude

Finding: Benefit supportedCertainty: Limitedstudies found a benefit from doing this

Evidence basis: randomised trials

Gratitude exercises raise self-reported wellbeing by a small amount, and no more than an active comparison exercise does.

Population: Participants in randomised gratitude intervention trials pooled in meta-analyses of 4-20 studies per outcome (Ns 395-1,755); nine randomised controlled trials in healthy working adults; narrative review of individual-difference and intervention research.

Research details

Summary

A meta-analysis of gratitude interventions found that they outperformed a measurement-only control on psychological wellbeing (d = 0.31, 95% CI 0.04-0.58; k = 5) but not on gratitude itself (d = 0.20, 95% CI -0.04 to 0.44; k = 4), and outperformed an alternative-activity condition on gratitude (d = 0.46, 95% CI 0.27-0.64; k = 15) and wellbeing (d = 0.17, 95% CI 0.09-0.24; k = 20). Against an activity-matched comparison the wellbeing effect was smaller still (d = 0.14, 95% CI 0.01-0.27; k = 18), and against a psychologically active comparison gratitude interventions performed as well as but not better than the comparator (d = -0.03, 95% CI -0.13 to 0.07; k = 9). A systematic review of nine randomised trials in healthy workers found significant improvement in perceived stress and depression with gratitude-list interventions but inconsistent effects on wellbeing, and noted that interventions with four or fewer gratitude lists reported no significant changes in any outcome. The original narrative review behind much of this literature concluded that gratitude interventions are promising while cautioning that the positive psychology literature may have neglected its own limitations. A systematic review of gratitude interventions that measured physical health and health behaviour found 19 eligible randomised studies out of 1,433 articles, with subjective sleep quality improved in 5 of 8 studies, blood pressure, glycaemic control, asthma control and eating behaviour understudied but improved (all 1/1), inflammation markers mixed (1/2) and self-reported physical symptoms mixed (2/8); the majority of included studies had some risk-of-bias concerns.

Why this certainty

Several randomised trials and three meta-analytic syntheses agree that gratitude practice moves self-reported wellbeing in a positive direction, so this is better than Very limited. It is rated Limited rather than Moderate because the effects are uniformly small, they are not distinguishable from an active comparison condition, the comparator quality across the literature is poor, and heterogeneity in the workplace trials is explicitly described as high.

Limitations

Effects are small, and the confidence interval for the wellbeing effect against a measurement-only control nearly includes zero (0.04 to 0.58). Most trials use waitlist or measurement-only comparators, which inflate effects, and when gratitude is compared with an equally active exercise the advantage disappears (d = -0.03). The worker review reports high heterogeneity between studies and concludes that further studies are needed. Outcomes are self-reported, so expectancy and demand characteristics cannot be separated from effect, and the meta-analysis pools small studies with no evidence in the retrieved abstract of publication-bias assessment. The physical-health review reached a mixed and largely understudied evidence base, and the entry records no physical-health outcome for that reason.

Effect estimate

Psychological wellbeing d = 0.17 (95% CI 0.09-0.24) versus alternative-activity control

Sources for this outcome:

Depressive and anxiety symptoms

Finding: Mixed evidenceCertainty: Very limitedstudies disagree, or the effect depends on who is studied

Evidence basis: randomised trials

Anxiety was not improved by gratitude practice in meta-analysis, and the depression evidence is mixed and comes partly from combined programmes.

Population: Randomised trials pooled for the anxiety outcome (k = 5); nine randomised trials in healthy workers; 413 Kenyan adolescents aged 13-18 with elevated depression or anxiety symptoms; 65 adults with a major depressive episode and recent suicidal ideation or attempt.

Research details

Summary

In the meta-analysis of gratitude interventions, gratitude practice did not outperform an alternative-activity condition on anxiety (d = 0.11, 95% CI -0.08 to 0.31; k = 5), a null result with a confidence interval that includes zero. A systematic review of nine randomised trials in healthy workers found that gratitude-list interventions significantly improved perceived stress and depression, but that review also reports high heterogeneity and inconsistent effects on wellbeing. The strongest positive depression findings in this literature come from multicomponent programmes rather than gratitude alone: a Kenyan trial of a four-week intervention teaching growth mindset, gratitude and value affirmation in 413 adolescents with elevated symptoms found greater reductions in depressive symptoms than an active study-skills control at post-treatment (Cohen d = 0.35, 95% CI 0.09-0.60), at two weeks (d = 0.28, 95% CI 0.04-0.54) and at seven months (d = 0.45, 95% CI 0.19-0.71), with smaller anxiety effects (d = 0.37 at post-treatment, 0.26 at two weeks with a confidence interval crossing zero, and 0.44 at seven months). In the opposite direction, a randomised trial in 65 adults recently hospitalised for depression with suicidal ideation found a cognition-focused control intervention produced significantly greater improvements in hopelessness at six weeks (effect size -0.84, p = 0.04) as well as in depression, suicidal ideation, optimism and gratitude than the telephone-based positive psychology intervention that included gratitude exercises.

Why this certainty

Randomised evidence exists, so this is not Not assessed, but it is rated Very limited because the direction of the findings differs by population, the positive results are confounded by multicomponent programmes, the anxiety result is null against an active control, and at least one trial in a high-risk clinical group found the control intervention superior. That combination does not support a claim that practising gratitude reduces depression or anxiety.

Limitations

The cleanest evidence is negative: gratitude does not beat an active control for anxiety, and in a high-risk clinical sample the positive psychology programme was outperformed by the control. The positive depression signal comes from interventions that bundled gratitude with growth mindset and value affirmation, so the effect cannot be attributed to gratitude. The worker review's depression findings rest on nine heterogeneous trials with a risk of confounding by co-interventions, and no retrieved trial tested gratitude alone against an active comparator in a clinically diagnosed sample.

Effect estimate

Anxiety d = 0.11 (95% CI -0.08 to 0.31) versus alternative-activity control

Sources for this outcome:

What people say

Who discusses this?

Public statements, with positions specific to each source and topic. These views do not determine the scientific evidence assessment.

What the research shows ↑

Practical steps and precautions

How to try it

  1. Write a short list of specific things you are grateful for, most days or at least several times a week; in the workplace trials, four or fewer gratitude lists produced no significant change in any outcome, so frequency appears to matter.
  2. Be concrete about particular events and people rather than repeating general statements, because the meta-analytic comparisons suggest the practice works better when it involves effortful engagement.
  3. Pair the practice with something already fixed in your day, such as a meal or bedtime, so it becomes a routine rather than a burst of enthusiasm in week one.
  4. Give it a few weeks before judging it, and compare it against something else you could do with the time - the trials show gratitude performs no better than an equally active alternative exercise.

Precautions

  • Do not use gratitude practice as a substitute for treatment if you have significant depression or anxiety; the randomised evidence in clinically impairing symptoms comes from multicomponent programmes, not from gratitude alone, and one trial in recently hospitalised suicidal patients found a cognition-focused intervention outperformed a positive-psychology one.
  • If listing things you are grateful for reliably makes you feel worse or highlights what you lack, stop; the trial literature reports average effects and does not establish that the practice suits everyone.
  • Do not expect measurable physical health changes. The systematic review of physical outcomes (19 randomised studies) found subjective sleep quality improved in 5 of 8 studies but the remaining categories were understudied and mixed, and most included studies carried some risk-of-bias concerns.

References

Thankful for the little things: A meta-analysis of gratitude interventions.

Davis DE, Choe E, Meyers J, Wade N, Varjas K, Gifford A, Quinn A, Hook JN, Van Tongeren DR, Griffin BJ, Worthington EL · Journal of counseling psychology · 2016

Meta-analysis of randomized gratitude intervention studiesVerified from abstract
Open original source

Effects of gratitude intervention on mental health and well-being among workers: A systematic review.

Komase Y, Watanabe K, Hori D, Nozawa K, Hidaka Y, Iida M, Imamura K, Kawakami N · Journal of occupational health · 2021

Systematic review of randomized controlled trialsVerified from full text
Open original source

Gratitude and well-being: a review and theoretical integration.

Wood AM, Froh JJ, Geraghty AW · Clinical psychology review · 2010

Narrative review and theoretical integrationVerified from abstract
Open original source

A systematic review of gratitude interventions: Effects on physical health and health behaviors.

Boggiss AL, Consedine NS, Brenton-Peters JM, Hofman PL, Serlachius AS · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · 2020

Systematic review of randomised gratitude interventionsVerified from abstract
Open original source

Effect of Shamiri Layperson-Provided Intervention vs Study Skills Control Intervention for Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescents in Kenya: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Osborn TL, Venturo-Conerly KE, Arango G S, Roe E, Rodriguez M, Alemu RG, Gan J, Wasil AR, Otieno BH, Rusch T, Ndetei DM, Wasanga C, Schleider JL, Weisz JR · JAMA psychiatry · 2021

Randomized clinical trialVerified from full text
Open original source

Psychological interventions to reduce suicidality in high-risk patients with major depression: a randomized controlled trial.

Celano CM, Beale EE, Mastromauro CA, Stewart JG, Millstein RA, Auerbach RP, Bedoya CA, Huffman JC · Psychological medicine · 2017

Randomized controlled trialVerified from full text
Open original source

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Related habits

Explore other habits in a shared category. Each has its own evidence and precautions.

Editorial history and review method

Revision 3 · Approved for publication · Codex (publication approval explicitly authorized by site owner; category migration)

Prepared and checked with AI. Publication approval does not imply independent expert review. Request a correction.

Audit correction pass (group 6). Missing source added: boggiss-2020-gratitude-physical was relied on by precaution 3 and by this record's change notes but was absent from the cited sources; it is now in content/sources.json (DOI 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.110165, abstract retrieved from Europe PMC) and cited from the wellbeing outcome, so the precaution is auditable. The wellbeing outcome summary now carries the review's own numbers (19 of 1,433 studies; sleep quality 5/8; blood pressure, glycaemic control and asthma control 1/1; inflammation 1/2; physical symptoms 2/8) and a sentence in limitations records that the physical-health evidence is mixed and understudied. Precaution 3 reworded to the same retrieved facts rather than the unquantified 'mixed and understudied despite consistent self-reported wellbeing benefits'. The wellbeing finding label stays Benefit supported with Limited certainty, but the outcome text already states that the effect is present against measurement-only and alternative-activity controls and absent against a psychologically active comparator (d = -0.03, 95% CI -0.13 to 0.07), so the label cannot be read as comparative effectiveness. A second reviewer must re-check: (1) that no sentence implies gratitude treats depression or anxiety — the anxiety result is null and the adolescent depression trial bundled three techniques; (2) that the Komase finding about four or fewer gratitude lists is transcribed correctly, since it is the basis of the implementation advice about frequency; and (3) whether the Boggiss sleep-quality result (5/8 studies) should now be promoted into a third outcome, which was again deliberately not done because coverage is Standard and the evidence is thin and at risk of bias. Publication release 2026-10-04: site owner authorized a bounded AI audit and release of this exact revision. See docs/release-audit-2026-10-04.md for source-check findings and limits. No independent health-professional or peer review is claimed. Category migration 2026-10-04: removed the separate goals field; categories: Long-term health → Long-term health, Stress & wellbeing. Research assessments, sources, guidance, precautions, and evidence review dates are unchanged. This revision awaits publication approval; no new evidence review is claimed. Publication approval 2026-10-04: site owner explicitly accepted all current category-migration revisions for deployment and requested that remaining limitations be retained in docs/content-review-backlog.md. Approval applies to this exact content revision. No new evidence review, independent expert review, or clinical validation is claimed; existing precautions and disclosures remain in effect.