Gratitude and Emotional Intelligence: What's the Link?

Gratitude isn’t just about making others feel good. Dozens of studies over the last decade have shown that gratitude—for anything, not just work stuff—is a key component of happiness.

For instance, psychological research has shown that:

• Gratitude is statistically linked to happiness, pride, and hope in a college freshmen.
• Gratitude is a key component of “subjective well-being” in adults.
• A lack of gratitude is characteristic of narcissistic personalities.
• People who feel grateful are 25% happier than those who aren’t (and also tend to sleep better).

Why is gratitude so important? To put it most simply: developing a sense of gratitude allows you to see the good aspects of your life, which allows you to be more content. This, in turn, helps you to get along with people more easily: Research shows, in fact, that grateful people are more likely to be emotionally supportive of others, as well as kind and helpful.

As such, cultivating gratitude is important to emotional intelligence because it involves an emotional awareness (“Am I grateful or ungrateful”?); and emotional self-regulation (“How can I make myself more grateful, so that I’m happier and more effective in my daily life?”).

That's good for your personal life, of course. But it's also good for your business life.

More articles from AllBusiness.com:

• Showing Gratitude in the Workplace Matters
• The Business Benefits of Showing Gratitude to Customers, Clients, and Colleagues
• Customer Appreciation: 10 Ways Businesses Can Show Their Gratitude
• Gratitude Should Be a Year-Long Habit for Your Small Business
• Assessing Your Business EQ Strengths and Weaknesses