Does Giving Thanks Really Make Us Feel Good?

Researchers have found that the expression of gratitude gives positive effects on our both mental and physical health.
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[@Master_Therion]

So if I "happily give thanks for Hank," is that a Happy *Hanksgiving?* Seriously though, thanks to the whole SciShow team ^_^

[@hvseul]

I want to thank Hank Green for spiking my curiousity making me subscribe to all scishow channels making me smarter every day

[@vancel35]

I grew up in a family that didn't really express gratitude. What we did was expected of us, so no gratitude was given (chores... really anything). Fast Forward to today, and if someone thanks me for something or expresses gratitude in any way, my first reaction is that they're trying to manipulate me. Especially when I don't think what I did deserved any gratitude.

[@eruyommo]

I thank you for building a healthy KZbin community even outside your channels, Hank and SciShow staff, while inspiring other great KZbinrs to DFTBA. Kudos and love.

[@BothHands1]

For some reason, instead of gratitude, I always feel guilt instead - guilt for being a burden. I feel grateful, for sure, but the guilt usually trumps it. I wonder why that is..

[@hippocampus6514]

Do you find yourself apologizing a lot? Like "Sorry I'm late, sorry I'm loud, etc"? You have to make an effort to switch that to "Thank you for being patient, thank you for listening, etc" Now the people around you feel appreciated and you're being grateful instead of admitting guilt. Hank says unless your 'thanks you's are genuine, it doesn't make a real difference, but sometimes you HAVE to make it a habit first before you start to benefit from it. It's actively making you more aware of what you have when you remind yourself to express gratitude. I hope this helps.

[@eruyommo]

Danielle Spargo I also have that feeling of debt when I am the only beneficiary. However, what I like is when people do things only because, and I happen to be the beneficiary. Then I'm genuinely thankful. That's what I have with people like Hank.

[@LMacNeill]

Because you were raised Catholic, and guilt is the default mode for us. ;-)

[@eruyommo]

LMacNeill Not necessarily. I don't know Danielle Spargo, but I was raised Mormon and I still feel guilt. However I do agree with the point that nurture is highly related.

[@Prizzlesticks]

Hippocampus ....That might actually be life-changing advice... I'm the type of person who apologizes just for existing, feeling both guilty and excessively, painfully grateful to others for the simplest acts for their ability to tolerate me. Everything is filtered through a feeling of guilt and fear of being a burden. And while I say thank you often, it always follows an apology. Sorry to bother you, sorry for making you do that, sorry for interupting, sorry, thank you, sorry. Perhaps the first step to divesting oneself of guilt and shame is to simply and solely be grateful, and to express that sentiment clearly. Not sorry, thanks. Just thanks. I'm sorry, I know I'm rambling, but I don't think I've ever been so tripped up by a KZbin comment before. I think this will give me a lot to mull over in the coming weeks....

[@thenulookatme]

I like how you have indirectly correlated facets of kindness to gratitude. I think kindness is a great topic for this channel.

[@Bethelehem2458]

Here here to gratitude!!🍻...all day every day!

[@farlandslongstryder5898]

I am thankful that Sci Show exists. 😊

[@JaiKrishna787]

Thanks Scishow psych and its Patreon supporters as it is truly because of you that I am able to get such informative videos for free. 👌👌👌 Keep doing I am really grateful to you 😘😘😘.

[@RoseDragoness]

Thank you for sharing knowledge with us, Hank!

[@morganbiddlecom]

"Being reminded makes people feel more greatful." It's sure working for me right now! A big thanks to Hank and everybody else up there in Missoula making all this great content for us!

[@RosheenQuynh]

Gratitude is great because being able to look back on the year and being thankful about whatever is _really_ humbling. Our lives are so busy and it's nice to take one day of the whole year to appreciate what we have with our entire family. This is why I wish Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's were all one holiday. Poor Thanksgiving is the middle child 'tween Halloween and Christmas...

[@sebastianelytron8450]

Anyone else say thank you all the time, but actually mean it 5% of the time?

[@lastshadow2542]

Sebastian Elytron no, more like 1.4005724165%

[@dutchik5107]

Sebastian Elytron nah. like 30% of the time. i never say thanks. so people call me arrogany

[@jmanj3917]

Yes.

[@DomyTheMad420]

2:20 "Hey you don't know me but i'd like to say that I'm really grateful for your work saving all of those orphans. You did great." HARASMEEEEEEEENT REEEEEEEEEE ?

[@patsfast1980]

Sometimes I have "thanked" and gotten a response that pointed out that other people "thanked" even better than me. That has usually made me angry. I guess maybe I am not perfect.

[@Pnospric]

I can actually explain that. I have found, from personal experience, that showing gratitude for something reminds you that you have things to be grateful for. It makes you look on your life more positively, and that leads to better relationships and feelings of happiness. When you look on a relationship as something you are grateful for, you are more positive about that relationship, and are more likely to want it to go well.

[@MarySmilodon]

As someone who used to suffer from major depression and anxiety I can vouch that being grateful is very powerful.

[@tuskinekinase]

Thank you too Scishow Psych! I'm a student of neuroscience and have to stick to my workstation for extended periods of time. Watching your quality contents in these times of boredom greatly improved my emotions ;)

[@jeralyncabaluna5819]

Thank you.

[@jynxkizs]

I appreciate all the work you've done to teach viewers and respond to comments.

[@jackielinde7568]

Hank, thank you for posting all of these lovely videos.

[@deeb3272]

Thank you Scishow for the new video!

[@josephsalomone]

I have never valued the words "Thank You" nor "Sorry" as to me these are just words. If you are actually grateful, show gratitude. If you are actually sorry, show remorse.

[@creatrixZBD]

Joseph Salomone example please? What is the specific body language/signal for gratitude ? A quick and genuine "sorry" is efficient and succinct . How do I show gratitude for someone holding the door for me when I have an armful? A hug? A happy dance? A written card? No, the one small word is a symbol of my acknowledgment that someone took a moment to do something assistive that they didn't have to. your comment shows a possible deficiency in your conditioning, and inflexible communication skills, as you have already devalued someone's attempt to redress a perceived accidental wrong, and only your evaluation of the word has any merit. Your assessment could be accurate in some cases, but not in others, but you put everyone in the same basket and find them wanting, just for trying to make amends. Rigid..

[@Blueangel1992q]

Why we find it cute to humanize animal look and "animalize" human ones? Like a girl with cute cat ears or a puppy nose. And a cat dressing as a samurai xD ❤

[@blakkwaltz]

Animals and humans both have things that make us feel empathy. So combining them let's you have the best of both worlds.

[@3mar00ss6]

I see this as silly -_-

[@cowsaresoheckingawesome2285]

I love this channel!

[@pitonas777]

Thanks Hank for making this show... Happy thanksgiving

[@PaleGhost69]

So if you think about it, giving thanks is a selfish thing to do. You're doing it for your own benefit.

[@CATboss001]

Partly, you also give happiness to the other person. Also: A thing is only truly selfish when you are the only one benefitting from it By your logic the only non selfish things would be altrustic things

[@PaleGhost69]

Random Guy Look up "Rabbi explains love"

[@0101dyon]

literally everything every living thing does, is to benefit themselfs in the end. mostly short term, sometimes long term.

[@denniselliott27]

@PaleGhost69 Just because he's a Rabbi doesn't mean he knows what he's talking about, or that it applies to everyone everywhere.

[@PaleGhost69]

denniselliott27 I'm not arguing from authority. Go watch the video.

[@nathantron]

I wish I could work for the guys on scishow. I would do it for free for a long time. I would just enjoy learning so much from them, and having the friends...

[@mrtannzr]

I appreciate you, hank.

[@Laezar1]

From the variance in the result I would bet this is something that varies a lot depending on cultural differences.

[@jeralyncabaluna5819]

Thank you... for everything.

[@SquidKing]

Here’s a good video idea: Why does water “glug”?

[@AlthenaLuna]

A neat question, but I think this is the wrong SciShow channel to be asking. I don't know if they forward messages and suggestions around the office in that way or not, but it seems like it'd work better to ask at regular SciShow?

[@jeralyncabaluna5819]

We don't have thanksgiving in our country.😭

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Im sorry😢

[@abdulazizrushdi9154]

You don't need a holiday to gather with family members, express gratitude, or have a good feast/dinner. Honestly same thing with several holidays. Mother's day? Lol screw that I should show my mom love and gratitude daily, not one night in the entire year. No offense to those who do celebrate these holidays.

[@3mar00ss6]

abdulaziz rushdi I knew you was Arabian because you are clever and that's what makes us special xD

[@abdulazizrushdi9154]

omar oyt Lol the moment I saw "Arabian" I expected something offensive xDD. But thank you

[@3mar00ss6]

abdulaziz rushdi I was going to say "Muslim" but I have no time to roast some ignorant untimuslims xD you are welcome btw

[@MaxArceus]

But we all know the embodiment of gratitude, right? The one human whose name you merely have to utter, in order to show gratitude to the world. Tom Hanks; T.Hanks, often shortened to Thanks.

[@The_GuyWhoNeverUploadsAnything]

I really haven't been following scishow since I only now found out they launched a new channel :DD

[@pdreding]

Thank you, Hank!

[@MIBAQS]

Thank you from Uruguay!

[@amonraelias6736]

We love you guys !

[@apoco-h]

Showing gratitude to a stranger is not harassment. I think he didn't mean it the way it might have sounded. For example, you can greet a veteran you've never seen before, shake their hand, and tell them how grateful you are for them and what they did for you and your loved ones. Its nice to be told that you're appreciated, even if its from a stranger. Its true that society has a way of preventing people from revealing their feelings in public or to strangers, but in the end we are all human. I feel like that is more important than society.

[@microbuilder]

I guess the old saying is true, there's no such thing as a selfless act. I'm ok with that.

[@NewMessage]

All I know is that when you stuff an octopus in the Thanksgiving Turduckin as a prank, and shout out "It's a Whattheturduckin!!! Get it? Get it?", nobody seems to feel very grateful. In fact they get downright hostile.

[@bigcat56308]

You should do a video about how analyzing the p-value meta-distribution of these research papers has wiped out over 50% of the stuff you put on this channel.

[@annaburns4526]

When you sit at my feast table I'm the only one you can thank!

[@deeb3272]

Can you please make a video on what to do when you have panic/anxiety attacks? And how to recover from it? This is my 5th petition!

[@quantuminfidel8364]

Dee B this isn't the only psych channel, you can probably find a lot of videos on that topic easily

[@gafeht]

These videos aren't a replacement for actual help. Please make an effort to speak with a professional in person. In the meantime I'm sure there are things you can try, but you shouldn't expect to find that information here.

[@RoundPi]

It shows that you're a person interacting with the world and not some nameless stranger.

[@fnrd3858]

Hi Hank!

[@rubyrootless7324]

You're first without saying you're first. I like this channel.

[@relhen30]

Thanks for not saying first. lol

[@cryssanie]

Thank you for making interesting videos for us ;)

[@EmmyTem]

I love how 'recent' is defined as 15ish years... Like, dude, that's over 3/4 of my life!

[@camelopardalis84]

Hank's old. 😀

[@camelopardalis84]

I'm 33 myself. Hank's not at all old.

[@sasablink]

For science your age is nothing. Many studies/experiments take almost half a lifetime to be over let alone to become mainstream and proven right in different situations. Also time is a lot or not depending on the subject. We're not talking for people so 15 years it's not a lot. There are wars that lasted double my age.

[@CarolineGarland]

Can you please start citing your sources in the description? I'm often interested in a study you mention and want to learn more, but it can be hard to find (or know if I found the same one). If you could include links that would be even better. A truly genuine thank you in advance for reading this (and possibly acting on it) and also for this channel in general. When it first started, I thought to myself, "I've taken plenty of psych classes, I've gone to therapy and other doctors, I read the news - what could they tell me that I don't know?!" But this channel is different from what I expected (in a good way) and I have learned quite a lot from the videos. So thank you. (I also thank you monetarily, but at this season of thanksgiving, I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate this channel.)

[@lindenbree9188]

Haven't they been doing that for a while now though? I always see sources in their video descriptions... it's there for this video too. Unless you're looking for something else?

[@CarolineGarland]

Linden Bree: Wow, from now on I'm not allowed to post comments after taking a sleeping pill. Thank you!

[@Goblin_Mom]

did... did no one tell them that "littles" more commonly means something else? ...should we tell them?

[@KooblyK]

I didn't know sororities used the terms Big/little so for a second there I thought Hank had just started talking about the kink community out of nowhere. And yet I was only mildly perplexed. I'm not sure if that says more about me or about Hank.

[@yungboiuwu6715]

Lhyriad me too!!

[@MusiCaninesTheMusicalDogs]

Crushing others to goo is motivating and feels good too.

[@WeirdD1986]

@SciShow can you make a video about the difference between the psychology of competition and cooperation, I was watching a video about the space race between USA and SSSR. In the end of race, space got weaponized with spy satellites and development of ICBM, but when we humans cooperate we build MIR and ISS, Economy is spinning around competition but space/science progress is mostly cooperation based, am I wrong, do I look the world with pink glasses?

[@MegaIkkuh]

isn't it the other way around? people who feel good are more gratefull?

[@lauralab13]

I love how they, for want of a better word, called out cat calling

[@malnoch3520]

Personally I find verbal expressions of gratitude to be utterly tedious and almost entirely pointless. Instead I prefer relationship that involve mutual reciprocation of aid. You don't need someone to tell you they're grateful if they actually are, it just shows. I hate it when people thank me verbally.

[@ttuanmu]

Does expressing gratitude have the same benefit if people go out right after for Black Friday shopping?

[@jorat8160]

Who else cringed when he said "littles'?

[@DestroyerMariko]

Gratitude is a funny thing, a lot of people have told me that I should be more grateful so that I'll become less depressed, but tbh I think my latest episode of depression has actually made me more grateful?? and I'm still not recovered XD I dunno how you could even make yourself more grateful on purpose anyway though, if you don't legit feel it, how do you cultivate it?

[@jkm7983]

Is there any psychological reason why we have holidays? Will we go crazy if we don't have something to break our routines one in a while

[@RosheenQuynh]

Good question

[@dumbledor22]

All the benefits of thanking for the thanker himself is of course very good, but the real reason one should thank someone is because it's moral and ethical to do so. I would say that people only feel grateful, if they received something they didn't think they deserve. The difference between feeling indebted and feeling grateful, is a bit too subtle for me. Also, i don't understand the American thanksgiving fastival, whom are they actually giving thanks "to"?

[@tiffyw92]

In other words, all I have to say is "Thanks for the food" before I fill myself up, right? Cool.

[@taramas5582]

I asked a question in scishow comments but they didn't answer, so I'll ask here. Why do I cover my ears/ shake my head when there's loud noise like a toddler even if I am a teenager?

[@nelsona9381]

Thank you chicken and turkey.

[@enesilvian4640]

You should've called the channel scishow sike =)))

[@Spargle22]

2:12 how is thanking strangers harassment? I would argue that if they did something kind or helpful it is polite if not expected that you thank them. Did I miss something or just misunderstanding what they're trying to say?

[@alexjordan8838]

Spargle22 he was talking about cat calling

[@ireallyhatemakingupnamesfo1758]

How do we know which direction these connections go? Because it seems very possible that people who have all these positive effects are more likely to be grateful?

[@MadJunkFiler]

Gratitude journals...?

[@Rasgonras]

So a random interaction with a stranger, even with kindness in mind, is harassment now? No wonder no one is friendly on the streets of the USA. I miss Germany.

[@AlthenaLuna]

Catcalling isn't kindness, it's harassment. That's the kind of interaction he's talking about.

[@Rasgonras]

No, he is talking about expressing gratitude to a stranger. Is that harassment now?

[@AlthenaLuna]

FYI sealioning - also harassment. Good to know you're not actually looking for clarification, just a fight. Bye!

[@Rasgonras]

You know what? I looked it up. Since you are such a psychic and know all about my intentions and background full with live story and CV, you will have known that your willingness to superimpose your own beliefs reciprocally on others would have led me to blocking you.

[@romajimamulo]

Rasgonras Well, you don't actually have anything to complement about them if you don't know them besides their appearance If you know enough to give a deeper complement, they're an acquaintance