Psychology

Robert Emmons : Thanksgiving a blessing

November 17, 2010

Although gratitude is often the “forgotten factor” in happiness research, psychologists at UC Davis and the University of Miami are engaged in a long-term research project to help rediscover its importance.

UC Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons and University of Miami Professor Michael E. McCullough have shown that people who count their blessings — not just on the fourth Thursday of November, but in daily gratitude journals — exercise more regularly, complain of fewer illness symptoms and feel better about their lives overall.