Most of us know how important it is to say thank you. It’s one of the first things we teach our kids. But, did you just how much it means? To both parties? A new study says – a lot!
A pair of researchers have published the results of a series of trials in which they studied how people gave and received letters of gratitude. What they found was that expressing and receiving appreciation increased well-being for both parties. The study also found that people’s self-consciousness made them less likely to express their appreciation in the first place.
In the experiments, the researchers asked hundreds of participants to write an email to someone close to them expressing their appreciation for the relationship and also asked them to share a specific example of how that person bettered their lives.
The writers were then asked to predict the recipient’s possible reactions to the letter.
Across all races, gender, and age, the writers consistently underestimated the positive impact that the email would have on the recipient.
The letter recipients were consistently more appreciative, warm, surprised, and understanding to the emails than the writers predicted them to be.
The study was published in the journal Psychological Science.
So next time you’re feeling hesitant about expressing your appreciation for your friends, family, coworkers or strangers – remember just what a simple ‘thank you’ can mean – not only to the recipient, but to you as well!
Thank you for reading this!! 🙂
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