How to give thanks and reap the rewards: the science behind gratitude
Dr Edward O’Connor, Associate Head of the Maynooth University School of Business. Photograph Moya Nolan
Edward O’Connor knows the value of gratitude. Before academia, the associate head of Maynooth University School of Business worked in industry, where he felt undervalued. That contrasts with the regular expressions of gratitude he now gets from students.
“I entered the workforce at 18 and worked in signing and branding companies over the next 20 years,” he says. “Looking back, there were times I lost my sense of purpose and I think part of that was because gratitude wasn’t practised in the workplace.”
O’Connor gives the example of a project on which everyone had to work long hours to make up for a mistake. They worked until 3am on the last day, and when they came back in the following morning, “You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. The owners had been in to inspect the project and hadn’t thanked the team for their efforts. That lack of recognition had a lasting effect. Staff weren’t as willing to go the extra mile afterwards.”
In his current role, O’Connor regularly receives thanks from students for helping them with CVs and job-interview preparation. “They thank me in person and by email, and their families thank me on graduation days,” he says. “I get such satisfaction from knowing my efforts are having an impact, which gives me a great sense of motivation.”
Natalia Inés Putrino is a psychologist and chartered member of the Psychological Society of Ireland. She defines gratitude as “an awareness of something good that is happening and an appreciation of the value it has”.
The benefits of gratitude, of feeling and expressing it, are documented. Research, including a 2019 study that followed police officers in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina shows that gratitude reduces stress.
American performance coach and positive psychology expert Sonya Looney says that “gratitude is one of the biggest levers you can pull to increase workplace performance”.
Her research focuses on mattering, or the feeling of being valued by yourself and others. “People who feel valued perform better,” Looney says. “Gallup research from 2024 found that when people feel unvalued, 30% feel invisible and 54% want to quit. But if they feel valued, engagement increases, leading to 23% higher profitability and up to 18% higher productivity.
“One of the ways we can make people feel valued is by expressing gratitude for their contributions.”
Gratitude also supports wellbeing. An ongoing study that started tracking 678 American nuns in 1986 has shown that those who demonstrate more gratitude, among other positive emotions, have better cognitive health and resilience, lower rates of dementia, and live, on average, seven to 10 years longer.
Leisha Redmond McGrath, a chartered work and coaching psychologist, argues that this could be because gratitude is linked to acceptance. “When we practise gratitude, we accept what is, rather than fighting against it and striving for more,” she says.
Scans have revealed that this mindset activates the reward systems of the brain, boosting the feel-good neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. “There are also studies that show practising gratitude brings down inflammation in the body,” says Redmond McGrath. “That’s why I think gratitude is an antidote to stress. Psychologically, it helps us put things in perspective, and we feel the physical benefit of this in our bodies.”
And gratitude has pre-emptive power. A 2025 study found that acknowledging someone before a challenging project was complete helped them over the finish line.
“That’s the self-fulfilling effect in action,” says Putrino. “If your boss believes you can do it, you’re more confident you can do it. When you’re under pressure, feeling seen and supported makes a difference.”
Despite the mounting evidence of gratitude’s value, Irish workers can be suspicious of it. We tend to be wary of compliments, assuming someone is buttering us up, so that they can ask something of us later, or we expect them to follow up their positive comment with a criticism.
Putrino points to a 2022 study that compared responses to expressions of thanks in Ireland, England, and Canada. Dr Natalia Putrino, a psychologist and chartered member
“Canadians were very open to being thanked and responded in a warm, friendly manner,” she says. “But Irish and English people were more likely to downplay their helpfulness by responding with ‘no problem’ or ‘that’s grand’. Could this be because they felt uncomfortable with gratitude?”
Putrino accepts that cultural norms can be challenging to overcome, but urges us all to try. “Giving and receiving gratitude in the workplace has so many advantages, with a study published just this year finding that it could even have a role to play in preventing or improving burnout. Showing gratitude doesn’t take much time or cost any money, but it can have a big impact.”
So what are some simple ways to cultivate a more grateful mindset at work?
Redmond McGrath recommends the American psychologist Martin Seligman’s method of highlighting three good things. “In the morning, you could identify three things you’re looking forward to that day; or, in the evening, you could recognise three good things that happened that day,” she says. “This practice gradually teaches you to notice what is good in your life and, over time, it can change how you experience life for the better.”
If you struggle to identify three things, Looney advises starting small. “There are always things to be grateful for, even on challenging days. Maybe you showed resilience by not giving up. Or had people to support you through a time of stress.”
Another idea is to keep a gratitude folder of thank-you emails from clients. Redmond McGrath does this and finds it “a great source of motivation and a helpful way to refocus attention on my sense of purpose, if ever I doubt myself”.
Sharing gratitude is important, too. Looney suggests that team leaders start meetings by asking everyone to name one thing that went well that day and to identify who contributed to making it happen. She says it’s a subtle way to get “everyone in the room looking for the good”.
Redmond McGrath adds that it also “shifts the energy in a room and strengthens connections between people”.
However, she acknowledges there can be a gratitude gap.
“Research shows that gratitude doesn’t always land, so we should be careful how we thank people,” she says. For Putrino, it starts with authenticity. “People recognise when gratitude isn’t genuine, and it doesn’t have the same impact,” she says. “At the Greater Good Science Centre in California’s University of Berkley, they have a formula for giving thanks.
“It’s to be specific about what you are thanking the person for, acknowledging the effort they put in to their kind act, and explaining the positive effect it had on you.”
Looney stresses the importance of decoupling gratitude from negative feedback or from being a precursor to asking for help.
“If gratitude is regularly paired with feedback or before asking someone for something, it won’t be taken seriously,” she says.
“We should let gratitude stand on its own, thanking people for their behaviours and strengths to make them feel more valued, motivated, and energised. And we should practice grace in accepting gratitude. It’s a sign that others recognise we matter.”
Redmond McGrath believes that we all intuitively understand the good that comes from being grateful.
“Count your blessings is an old saying we’ve all heard many times,” she says.
“The philosophy isn’t a new one, but science now backs it up. Gratitude can help counterbalance the stress of our busy modern world, which is a good enough reason for us all to try it.”
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