Expressing gratitude and its impact on the psychological well-being of children and youth

Abstract

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This article aims to present the results of research on the effects of expressing gratitude on the psychological well-being of children and youth. Gratitude is a character trait or feature which is manifested in a tendency or ability to recognise positive deeds in others and reacting to them with the emotion of appreciation. It also represents a social emotion which surfaces in the moment when a person becomes aware of a positive and unexpected experience, while subjective psychological well-being represents a mental state related to positive or negative evaluation of one’s own life, and to pleasant and unpleasant affective reaction caused by evaluation of one’s own life experience. Former researchers mostly engaged in evaluating the effects of gratitude on the psychological well-being of people in general. In regards to children and youth, they proved that expressing gratitude also has a positive impact on their psychological well-being as it develops a pleasant mental state which is reflected in the cognitive plane as a general satisfaction with life, optimism, hope and expectation of positive outcomes in life and satisfaction with school, whilst on the emotional sphere it develops pleasant emotions. In the social sphere, it is shown, that it enhances the inclination to forgive, and help others and assists integration within a society.  These researches also proved that expressing gratitude can be practised as a skill by children and youth, through various techniques of gratitude, and in this way, we can make a contemplated intervention to improve their psychological well-being.