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Giant Brain Candy: Gratitude Helps You Wait. In one experiment, people made to feel grateful were more patient with real money at stake, more willing to wait for a larger reward, and the effect wasn’t just from feeling happy. Source: Gratitude and patience.
Growing evidenceThe research
  1. DeSteno, D., Li, Y., Dickens, L., & Lerner, J. S. (2014). Gratitude: A tool for reducing economic impatience. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1262–1267.

Journey 5 · Gratitude

Gratitude Helps You Wait

In one experiment, people made to feel grateful were more patient with real money at stake, more willing to wait for a larger reward, and the effect wasn’t just from feeling happy.

Source: Gratitude and patience · Growing evidence

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More from Gratitude

Giant Brain Candy: It’s the Meaning, Not the Gift. People who read the very same story of being helped felt more grateful when they saw the help as more valuable, more costly to the helper and more freely given. Changing those features changed how grateful people felt. Source: Appraising a kindness.
Giant Brain Candy: The Thank-You Letter Visit. In an online trial of happiness exercises, writing a thank-you letter and delivering it in person gave the biggest immediate lift of all. The boost lasted about a month. Source: The gratitude visit.
Giant Brain Candy: Your Thanks Mean More Than You Think. People writing thank-you letters underestimated how surprised and pleased recipients would be, and overestimated how awkward recipients would feel. The more awkwardness they expected, the less willing they were to write. Source: Undervaluing gratitude.
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