E. L. Kersten

Gratitude has received little serious attention in the literature on job attitudes. This may be because most people see it as a spontaneous emotional response to an external event. But University of California psychologist Robert Emmons makes a compelling argument that gratitude is better thought of as a discipline or a skill, more akin to goal-setting or time management, rather than simply another dimension of job satisfaction. It’s something that you choose to do, and,for most people, it requires practice—that is, consciously making an effort to be more grateful. It involves a reexamination of the benefits that you have experienced and simply learned to take for granted.

It’s important to note that practicing gratitude doesn’t mean pretending that everything in life is going well when it isn’t. It doesn’t eliminate negative emotional responses to negative events. If you are passed up for a promotion, you’re still right to feel disappointed. The difference is that being grateful for the things that are going well provide context that helps stabilize negative emotions.

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