The Science of Happiness – An Experiment in Gratitude

If Gratitude is your top strength you are aware of the good things that happen to you, and you never take them for granted. Your friends and family members know that you are a grateful person because you always take the time to express your thanks.

Virtue Category:

Gratitude falls under the virtue category of Transcendence. Transcendence describes strengths that provide a broad sense of connection to something higher in meaning and purpose than ourselves.

Key Concepts:

There are two types of gratitude:

Benefit-triggered gratitude= the state that follows when a desired benefit is received from a benefactor.
Generalized gratitude= the state resulting from awareness and appreciation of what is valuable and meaningful to yourself.

There are two stages of gratitude:

Acknowledging the goodness in your life.
Recognizing the source of this goodness is outside yourself.

Exercises For Boosting Gratitude:

• Write down three good thing that you are grateful for each day.
• Over dinner, talk with your loved ones about two good things that happened to them during the day.
• Set aside at least ten minutes every day to savor a pleasant experience.