Gratitude in Youth: A Review of Gratitude Interventions and Some Ideas for Applications

Offering and receiving help are fundamental to human survival. The fact that children engage in beneficial social exchanges before they can even fully appreciate them underscores the importance of cooperation and altruism for human society. Gratitude is a higher-level moral emotion that enables people to notice, understand, and capitalize on beneficial exchanges with others. As an evolutionary adaptation that sustains reciprocal altruism, gratitude is a necessary ingredient for humans' survival. Securing supportive relationships early on can provide bedrock for many positive outcomes in human development. In this article, the authors review recent research on the benefits of gratitude to individuals, especially youth, and the interventions that have been empirically shown to foster gratitude in youth. They conclude by suggesting potential ways gratitude can be applied in schools to help bolster students' social and academic success.