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Researchers have shown that about 40% of our happiness is accounted for by intentional activity whereas 50% is explained by genetics and 10% by circumstances (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon & Schkade, 2005). Consequently, efforts to improve happiness might best be focused in the domain of intentional activity: willful and self-directed activity (Sheldon & Ly...
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... simple effects analysis between groups for each time was not significant for happiness. Figure 2 illustrates the interaction between the two groups on gratitude. In this case, the scores on gratitude for the non letter-writing group actually decreased over time, whereas the scores for the letter-writing group somewhat increased. ...
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... The regular practice of grateful thinking leads to enhanced psychological and social functioning (Emmons and McCullough, 2003). Gratitude journaling and writing gratitude letters also significantly boost well-being (Sheldon and Lyubomirsky, 2006;Toepfer and Walker;2009 ...
... The regular practice of grateful thinking leads to enhanced psychological and social functioning (Emmons and McCullough, 2003). Gratitude journaling and writing gratitude letters also significantly boost well-being (Sheldon and Lyubomirsky, 2006;Toepfer and Walker;2009 ...
Amidst the adversity of conflict, the educational landscape is severely disrupted, causing students to face profound emotional and psychological challenges. Traumatic experiences jeopardise students' ability to succeed in their academic pursuits, regulate their emotions, and create meaningful social relationships. This paper delves into the transformative potential of expressive writing in a second language (L2) as a therapeutic tool for fostering resilience among Ukrainian English language students affected by the ongoing war. Pennebaker and Beall's (1986) Written Emotional Disclosure (WED) Paradigm and Carello's (2020) Principles of Trauma-Informed Teaching and Learning (TITL) are employed as frameworks to facilitate the intervention of expressive writing practices. Drawing on the exploratory research conducted with 30 Ukrainian university students, this study presents empirical insights into the impact of L2 expressive writing on emotional regulation and resilience. The study incorporated trauma-informed pedagogy principles to create a culturally-sensitive, compassionate learning environment for research participants. Intervention sessions featured various forms of expression, including poetry, reflective writing, narrative writing, free writing, and journaling, which also incorporated mindfulness exercises. Samples of the writing journals are presented to demonstrate students' progress and provide qualitative insights into how these practices have contributed to their resilience and coping strategies during times of conflict. Thematic analysis of participants' feedback revealed central themes of emotional management, resilience, gratitude, self-awareness, and personal growth. By providing empirical evidence and methodological insights tailored to the Ukrainian context, this research contributes to the development of a resilience-oriented curriculum and L2 therapeutic intervention for supporting Ukrainian students in their healing journey.
... Indeed, there is a robust body of experimental studies showing that expressing gratitude in written form contributes to well-being (Davis et al., 2016;Diniz et al., 2023;Jans-Beken et al., 2019;Wood et al., 2010). For example, research suggests that young adult college students experience improvements in their happiness when they engage in a reflective writing practice (e.g., composing multiple gratitude letters over time; Toepfer, 2009). Also, research suggests that adults experience more gains in their positive affect and life satisfaction when they participate in openended gratitude writing activities such as gratitude letters or essays compared to close-ended gratitude writing activities such as writing gratitude lists (Regan et al., 2023). ...
Gratitude writing exercises are a common tool used to promote gratitude. However, understanding of the specific writing features that are associated with written expressions of gratitude is limited. In this study, we investigated how fundamental characteristics (words, punctuation marks) of early elementary student’s writing relate to their gratitude. Specifically, we reexamined a subset of data from Nguyen and Gordon (J Happ Stud 25(34), 2024). The data included 4932 gratitude expressions composed by kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders (N = 2806) who had participated in an annual community writing activity that prompted them to write about what they were thankful for. During this activity teachers submitted students’ writing to local newspapers for publication and circulation online. We found that the number of gratitude categories expressed by students correlated with features of their writing, namely word count and punctuation marks. We also found that student grade level influenced the breadth of gratitude categories they wrote about. These findings have implications for education, providing a basis for developing innovative classroom gratitude writing activities that may foster students’ gratitude across a myriad of categories.
... Participant 44). A curious line of study revolving around expressive writing could also come into play; numerous studies have found that letter writing improves mental health (e.g.: King, 2001;Toepfer & Walker, 2009). Additionally, Pennebaker and Seagal (1999) found that where a letter contains more positive than negative emotion words, and increased insight words, it will lead to positive effects on participants. ...
... Four different AAWs were employed during experimentation: (i) control, (ii) emotional voice, (iii) non-emotional voice, and (iv) synthesized emotional voice. At the beginning of the session, the participant wrote a gratitude letter in accordance with the Toepfer and Walker protocol [39] in a quiet, private room. ...
... Hz), beta (12-29.9 Hz), and gamma (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45). Solid lines within the violins indicate the mean value. ...
Emotional communication is a multi-modal phenomenon involving posture, gestures, facial expressions, and the human voice. Affective states systematically modulate the acoustic signals produced during speech production through the laryngeal muscles via the central nervous system, transforming the acoustic signal into a means of affective transmission. Additionally, a substantial body of research in sonobiology has shown that audible acoustic waves (AAW) can affect cellular dynamics. This pilot study explores whether the physical–acoustic changes induced by gratitude states in human speech could influence cell proliferation and Ki67 expression in non-auditory cells (661W cell line). We conduct a series of assays, including affective electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements, an affective text quantification algorithm, and a passive vibro-acoustic treatment (PVT), to control the CO2 incubator environment acoustically, and a proliferation assay with immunolabeling to quantify cell dynamics. Although a larger sample size is needed, the hypothesis that emotions can act as biophysical agents remains a plausible possibility, and feasible physical and biological pathways are discussed. In summary, studying the impact of gratitude AAW on cell biology represents an unexplored research area with the potential to enhance our understanding of the interaction between human cognition and biology through physics principles.
... Furthermore, gratitude writing can help individuals recognize positive aspects of other people, promote a feeling of appreciation towards others, recognize the support they receive from others, and promote positive social relationships, thus promoting their well-being (Algoe, 2012;Algoe et al., 2020;Toepfer & Walker, 2009). In addition, gratitude writing practices can promote classroom adjustment among students . ...
... Therefore, teachers and parents should pay more attention to those who have not high trait gratitude, especially for male student teachers, just like helping them to bolster their levels of trait gratitude by taking some actions and interventions. It is useful to practice gratitude exercises, such as counting blessings (Emmons & McCullough, 2003) or writing a gratitude letter (Toepfer & Walker, 2009), due to they have been shown to be associated with higher levels of state gratitude and increased levels of trait gratitude over time (Davis et al., 2016;Wood et al., 2010). ...
Student teachers have become an increasingly important group in university. Some scholars have begun to study the influencing factors of student teachers’ subjective well-being. However, few studies explored the potential positive factors, such as profession-related support, professional identity and gratitude, especially whether and how profession-related support affects student teachers’ subjective well-being, and how this relationship varies across trait gratitude and gender. Student teachers’ subjective well-being not only concerns their own mental health and personal professional development, but also concerns their future student’s academic performance, lifelong learning and development, so they should be given more importance in scholarly research on well-being. Based on the conservation of resource theory, this study examines the relationship between profession-related support from significant others (teachers, parents) and subjective well-being in a sample of Chinese student teachers, and proposes a moderated moderated-mediation model to reveal the mediating (professional identity) and moderating (trait gratitude×gender) effects of this relation. A time-lagged design was used to collect two waves of data (N = 575). Results indicated that both profession-related teacher support and parent support had positive effect on subjective well-being, professional identity mediated this effect, respectively, and profession-related teacher support made slightly greater contribution to subjective well-being than parent support. Meanwhile, trait gratitude moderated the relationship between profession-related teacher support, parent support, and professional identity (two-way interaction), and this moderating effect was further moderated by gender (three-way interaction). Furthermore, trait gratitude×gender moderated the strength of the indirect effect of profession-related teacher support on subjective well-being (through professional identity), and the mediated relationship was stronger for female (versus male) student teachers who have high (versus low) trait gratitude (moderated moderated-mediation). Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions were discussed.
... Expressive writing has been shown to help with multiple aspects of one's well-being (Pennebaker, 1997(Pennebaker, , 2004. Toepfer and Walker (2009) found that through expressive writing two aspects of well-being, happiness, and gratitude flourished. Adair et al. (2020) empirically concluded that writing about 3 good things, a gratitude letter, and reflecting forward improves well-being and reduces healthcare workers' burnout levels significantly. ...
Students grapple with stress during university life, especially in the last semester, the transitioning period towards the practical phase of life. Self-help skills like reflective writing facilitate students by enhancing their understanding of capabilities and using their resources to deal with the challenges. Therefore, the present study focused on empirically the effects of reflective writing on the perceived stress, self-efficacy, and, well-being of students using a randomized control group pretest-posttest-follow-up research design. Following an experimental approach, a sample of 39 undergraduate female students categorized into experimental (n=19) and control (n=20) groups provided data on three measures of self-efficacy, perceived stress, and psychological well-being at pre, post, and follow-up testing. Participants in the experimental group were engaged in reflective writing intervention for two weeks while the control group was not. Data analysis through Mixed Between-Within ANOVA, indicated that the participants of the experimental group reported significantly decreased perceived stress; and an increased self-efficacy and psychological well-being at post and follow-up testing than the control group. These findings have several implications for students, teachers, parents, and psychologists who can utilize the reflective writing intervention as a potentially effective strategy for promoting self-efficacy and psychological well-being that will surely decrease stress among adolescents.
... Expressive letter-writers experienced increasing happiness levels, with significant improvement compared to the control group (n = 40) from the first to last writing session. This highlights the positive effect of letter writing on college students' well-being, showing consistent benefits after each gratitude letter (Toepfer & Walker, 2009). Emotions affects language use , this way writing capabilities helps in expression. ...
The emotional well-being of university students greatly influences their academic success and overall quality of life. Higher education often exposes students to various stressors that can harm their mental health. This study explores the impact of expressive writing therapy on mitigating embitterment, a detrimental emotional response characterized by feelings of injustice and resentment. Using the Negative Life Events Scale for Students (NLESS; Buri, 2018) and the Embitterment Scale for Students (EMBSS; Javaid & Mahmood, 2023), the study involved 20 participants in a pre-post experimental design. The results of Pearson moment correlation found that negative life events and embitterment has strong positive correlation. Further, paired samples t-test results indicate significant reduction in embitterment scores following expressive writing therapy. This research adds to the growing evidence supporting expressive writing as a valuable tool for improving emotional well-being among university students, with implications for enhancing mental health interventions in educational settings.
... Gratitude is considered one of the most powerful ingredients of аbundаnсе, hеаlth, and hаррinеѕѕ among various samples such as employees serving in the health sector (Behzadipour et al., 2018) adolescents (Gottlieb & Froh, 2019) and students (Kausar, 2018;Toepfer & Walker, 2009;Safaria, 2014). ...
The said piece of work is based on the concept behind gratitude and its various facets.
... Gratitude letter interventions have been shown to reduce distress and improve well-being. For instance, Toepfer and Walker randomly assigned college students to a gratitude letter condition (participants hand wrote or typed three gratitude letters over the course of 8 weeks) or a control condition (no-writing) [23]. Participants in the gratitude letter condition showed greater increases in happiness and gratitude than those assigned to the no-writing condition. ...
... Participants in the gratitude letter condition showed greater increases in happiness and gratitude than those assigned to the no-writing condition. A cumulative positive impact was noted after writing each letter, suggesting that writing multiple letters over time can be beneficial [23]. In a similar follow-up study, Toepfer, Cichy, and Peters randomly assigned college students to a gratitude letter condition (i.e., write three gratitude letters over the course of 3 weeks) or a no-writing control condition [24]. ...
This chapter examines positive psychology theories and research findings on how gratitude contributes to happiness and well-being. Two theories are discussed that provide insight into why gratitude enhances well-being (i.e., Broaden-and-Build Theory; Find, Remind, and Bind Theory). Empirical findings are reviewed showing that gratitude relates to lower levels of psychological distress, higher levels of psychological well-being, and better physical health. Benefits of writing-based gratitude interventions such as maintaining gratitude journals and writing gratitude letters are described. Studies showing promising benefits of gratitude across several situations are also addressed (i.e., the workplace, romantic relationships, and aging). Finally, suggestions for enhancing gratitude in one’s life are provided along with recommendations for future research.
