IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v26y2025i3d10.1007_s10902-025-00882-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gratitude Training for Promoting Subjective Well-Being: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Journaling to a Personalized Menu Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Conner L. Deichman

    (Brigham Young University)

  • Jared S. Warren

    (Brigham Young University)

Abstract

Gratitude practices have been shown to increase subjective well-being and other positive outcomes; however, research on gratitude training has focused primarily on the practice of journaling. Further research examining alternative gratitude practices may yield valuable insights on the comparative efficacy of various gratitude interventions, and could suggest additional gratitude practices that warrant further study. This study examined the efficacy of the My Best Self 101 (MBS101) gratitude module: an online training resource that provides psychoeducation about gratitude along with a menu of empirically-based gratitude practices anchored in the research literature. Using mixed effects models of repeated measures, we examined gratitude and subjective well-being outcomes for participants assigned to either the MBS101 gratitude module or a traditional gratitude journaling practice. Participants were 290 adults recruited online from the general population and from a university student research pool. Mixed effects models of repeated measures were also used to analyze the interaction between time spent on gratitude practice, group assignment, and timepoint (post-test). Although both groups showed significant improvements, compared to the gratitude journaling group, the MBS101 group had significantly better outcomes on gratitude and subjective well-being. Additionally, when the time, group, and timepoint interaction was added, the MBS101 group had limited benefits for gratitude and mixed benefits for subjective well-being with increased time spent. These findings support the possibility that using a flexible, menu-based approach to gratitude training may yield improved outcomes and increase the likelihood of ongoing engagement with gratitude practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Conner L. Deichman & Jared S. Warren, 2025. "Gratitude Training for Promoting Subjective Well-Being: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Journaling to a Personalized Menu Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1-29, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10902-025-00882-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-025-00882-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-025-00882-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-025-00882-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dunigan Folk & Elizabeth Dunn, 2023. "A systematic review of the strength of evidence for the most commonly recommended happiness strategies in mainstream media," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(10), pages 1697-1707, October.
    2. David R. Cregg & Jennifer S. Cheavens, 2021. "Gratitude Interventions: Effective Self-help? A Meta-analysis of the Impact on Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 413-445, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Houdek, Petr, 2024. "Nudging in organizations: How to avoid behavioral interventions being just a façade," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    2. Mª Dolores Merino & Marta Sánchez-Ortega & Elvira Elvira-Flores & Inmaculada Mateo-Rodríguez, 2023. "Centenary Personality: Are There Psychological Resources that Distinguish Centenarians?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(8), pages 2723-2745, December.
    3. Lisa C. Walsh & Madison Montemayor-Dominguez & Calen Horton & S. Gokce Boz & Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2023. "Worker Well-Being: A Continuous Improvement Framework," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(6), pages 2993-3017, December.
    4. Amelia Dennis & Jane Ogden, 2022. "Nostalgia, Gratitude, or Optimism: The Impact of a Two-Week Intervention on Well-Being During COVID-19," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2613-2634, August.
    5. van Rooij, Maarten & Coibion, Olivier & Georgarakos, Dimitris & Candia, Bernardo & Gorodnichenko, Yuriy, 2024. "Keeping Up With The Jansens: Causal Peer Effects On Household Spending, Beliefs And Happiness," CEPR Discussion Papers 19133, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Bin Li & Qin Zhu & Aimei Li & Rubo Cui, 2023. "Can Good Memories of the Past Instill Happiness? Nostalgia Improves Subjective Well-Being by Increasing Gratitude," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 699-715, February.
    7. Jannis Kraiss & Kleinjan Redelinghuys & Laura. A. Weiss, 2022. "The effects of psychological interventions on well-being measured with the Mental Health Continuum: a meta-analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 3655-3689, October.
    8. Guillaume Tachon & Aïcha Rouibah & Blaire Morgan & Rebecca Shankland, 2022. "A Prototype Analysis of Self-Gratitude: Towards a Broadening of the Concept of Gratitude," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 1867-1885, June.
    9. Noortje Kloos & Judith Austin & Jan-Willem ‘t Klooster & Constance Drossaert & Ernst Bohlmeijer, 2022. "Appreciating the Good Things in Life During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial and Evaluation of a Gratitude App," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(8), pages 4001-4025, December.
    10. Lung Hung Chen & Yen-Ping Chang & Yun-Ci Ye, 2023. "Top-Down or Bottom-Up? The Reciprocal Longitudinal Relationship Between Athlete’s Domain-General Gratitude and Sport-Specific Gratitude: A Latent Difference Score Analysis," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(5), pages 2639-2659, October.
    11. Michael A. Busseri, 2025. "Informing the Structure of Subjective Well-Being Using Preregistered Intervention Studies," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 1-33, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10902-025-00882-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.