What Happens To Your Brain When Someone Appreciates You
When was the last time you appreciated someone for their work? Or simply for helping you to do some small things?
When was the last time you were appreciated by someone for something you did? How did you feel about it?
How did you feel when someone said to you, “Thanks! You’ve done such an amazing work!” or “I’m so grateful for having you. Thank you!” or “Keep up the good work! I’m proud of you!” for the simple things you did?
When someone did that to me, I’d feel happy, grateful, and more motivated to do my best at the things I do. I know I’m not the only one.
According to a study conducted by Harvard Medical School and Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania,
Researchers randomly divided university fund-raisers into two groups. One group made phone calls to solicit alumni donations in the same way they always had. The second group — assigned to work on a different day — received a pep talk from the director of annual giving, who told the fund-raisers she was grateful for their efforts. During the following week, the university employees who heard her message of gratitude made 50% more fund-raising calls than those who did not.
There’s also another research that was conducted by The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI) that showed appreciations improve someone’s work’s quality.
Our data indicated that praise following motor training enhances consolidation of the learned sequence since the rate of offline improvement was significantly greater in the Self group than in the Other or No-praise groups.
So what exactly happens to our brains when we get complimented? What kind of impacts do we give to people when we compliment or appreciate people for their work? Is it true that compliments boost our performance? Is it scientifically proven?
Yes, it has been scientifically proven! That’s not just how you feel, that’s what really happens in your brain. Something does happen to your brain when you’re praised.
According to Alex Korb Ph.D in his writing on Psychology Today,
Gratitude can have such a powerful impact on your life because it engages your brain in a virtuous cycle.
Based on the writing, when you praise someone, your words trigger their hypothalamus, which is a part of the brain that controls eating, sleeping, and a very important neurotransmitter that plays a big role in people’s productivity, dopamine. When the brain gets triggered to produce more dopamine, the dopamine will boost its work and boom, your brain will work at its max to do its best.
What is exactly dopamine? What is its role? How impactful is it to your work productivity?
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter produced by the brain. Imagine, there’s something inside your brain that carries motivational message to keep your brain working well. It’s dopamine. When a high level of dopamine flows inside your brain, it’s going to encourage us to be productive, to work hard and to believe that we’re going to achieve our dreams.
It’s proven in the study that was conducted by the Vanderbilt scientists,
The researchers found that “go-getters” who are willing to work hard for rewards had higher release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in areas of the brain known to play an important role in reward and motivation, the striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
Another researcher who’s been doing a study regarding dopamine, John Salamone, professor of Psychology, said,
Low levels of dopamine make people and other animals less likely to work for things, so it has more to do with motivation and cost/benefit analyses than pleasure itself.
Thus, it is undeniable that simple appreciation can inspire people to work better and harder. There’s no excuse for us not to say, “Thanks! You’ve done an amazing job!” or “Great job!” or something like that when someone did something good, whether…
they did something for us,
or they won a gold medal,
or they achieved something,
or simply they’re just Grab/Gojek drivers who had taken us home or brought our food,
or simply they’re just ordinary cashier people who had just processed our things to buy in the market.
It’s scientifically proven that such gratifying words can inspire people’s mind to do better, and even change the world into a better place!
So, I guess, if you ask me,
What is the simplest thing you can do to make the world a better place?
It’s to praise people for their work, not only for their achievements but also for the simple things they do.
References are linked on the underlined words.
