The Most Effective Way To Thank Your Loved Ones Revealed
It’s been shown to make your relationships better too.
Thanksgiving focuses us on feeling thankful for our loved ones. But do you know how to thank them most effectively?
New research from the University of Toronto has revealed just that. Psychologists there found that the best way to express gratitude is to convey how responsive your loved one was to your needs.
So saying something like, “I wouldn’t have managed to ski down that slope if you hadn’t been so supportive and encouraging and known just how to help me” proved to be gratitude greatness.
As the researchers explained:
“Benefactors feel the best when they know that their kind actions have met their partner’s needs, highlighting people’s communal motivation to be a responsive partner”.
Focusing on the costliness of your loved one’s efforts instead scored less highly. So saying, “I know it used up a lot of your skiing time and energy to guide me down that slope” proved to be a less effective expression of gratitude.
The researchers conducted their study by observing 111 couples in person and using a 14-day diary.
Interestingly, the tone used or affection involved in the thanking didn’t matter. The researchers simply found that:
“The more responsiveness-highlighting was embedded in the gratitude expression, the more positively the benefactor perceived the gratitude and felt toward their relationship”.
So, in this way, focusing thanks on your loved one’s responsiveness can not only make your gratitude more effective but your relationship better too.
