To be grateful is very profitable! Bashny.Net

Science and political journalist Chris Mooney wrote for a webzine Nautilus article about the evolutionary nature of gratitude — it was one of the key factors in the survival of our species and continues to bring people many benefits.

In the beginning of psychological science has proven that being grateful is very beneficial is the feeling provides increased optimism on account of their future, hope for a better, more effective ability to cope with adversity and stress, less susceptibility to depression, destructive habits and even better sleep. Our degree of gratitude can affect the diversity of the enjoyment of life through love, forgiveness, social intelligence, and humor.





Modern science considers gratitude among emotions and moral affects, which have been formed through evolution. Together with empathy, guilt and shame they serve as a compass for making urgent, immediate action on which you can not think twice. Gut feelings provides high speed of decision making, thereby helping us to survive.

Scientists believe that gratitude is meant to ensure trust between people. By nature we try to help our family to ensure continuity of our genes. But why do we help strangers, if there's a chance that our efforts may eventually be ignored? Researchers believe that such behavior — a contribution to building a society of mutual aid, which can better protect itself in hard times.

If the evolutionary explanation is correct, then we should find similar examples in the animal world. And they are. Primatologist Frans de Val found feelings like gratitude in chimpanzees — they tend to share their food with those who recently took care of them and to whom they, as expected, feel grateful.

Martin Novak, Director of the Harvard program for evolutionary speaker, covered the incentives that ensure the Central role of interaction in human behavior, in his recent book SuperCooperators. Starting with the basic manifestations of gratitude to the level of "I scratch your back if you scratch mine", he argues that in his personal evolutionary altruistic initiative lies the benefit for the entire group, and for the most proactive participant. Such ideas Nowak brings together under the concept of "kuchkovaniya of survival."

And the further moves of evolutionary psychology, the clearer it becomes that defining human feature is mutual support, not competition. Gratitude is an important component of decent behavior, which causes others to be good to ourselves. Often and loudly uttering words of gratitude, we translate our good intentions in a very realistic benefit. published

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Source: theoryandpractice.ru/posts/8228-the-science-of-gratitude