Gratitude can lead to a longer life

People who are grateful for what they have tend to live longer, a new study shows.

Older women who scored highest on a questionnaire measuring gratitude had a 9% lower risk of premature death from any cause, compared with those with the least gratitude, according to findings published July 3 in the journal. JAMA Psychiatry.

The results suggest that feelings of gratitude “may extend the lifespan of older adults,” lead author Ying Chen, a research scientist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said in a press release.

For the study, researchers analyzed data collected from the long-term Nurse’s Health Study.

In 2016, more than 49,000 women in the study with an average age of 79 completed a six-question gratitude test. They had to agree or disagree with statements such as “I have so much in life to be grateful for” and “If I had to list everything I felt grateful for, it would be a very long list.”

Three years later, researchers followed up on the deaths among these women. They found that more than 4,600 participants had died, mostly from heart disease.

Those with the highest levels of gratitude had a lower risk of death from any cause, compared to those with the lowest, the results showed.

Gratitude appeared to protect against every specific cause of death included in the study, and especially against death from heart disease, researchers said. Other causes included cancer, respiratory diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, infections and injuries.

Based on this, people may be able to improve their health by focusing on things they are grateful for, researchers say.

“Previous research suggests there are ways to intentionally promote gratitude, such as writing down or discussing what you are grateful for a few times a week,” Chen said. “Promoting healthy aging is a public health priority, and we hope that further studies will improve our understanding of gratitude as a psychological resource for extending lifespan.”

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