This concept of being thankful has been stressed in religion and philosophy for a long time.

長久以來，隨時保持感恩的心這個概念已在宗教中或哲學中都被大力強調

Back in 1820 Scottish philosopher Thomas Brown defined gratitude as “that delightful emotion　of love to him who has conferred a kindness on us.”

回到1820年，蘇格蘭哲學家湯瑪斯布朗定義了感恩是「對對我們仁慈的人來說，感恩是充滿愛的快樂情緒」

But scientifically, gratitude doesn’t qualify as a basic emotion like joy, sadness or anger.

但是科學上來說，感恩並不等於一種像喜悅、悲傷或生氣一般的基本情緒

There’s no universal facial expression for it. As an emotion, gratitude is a little hard to define.

感恩也沒有一種全球普遍的表情。以一個情緒來說，感恩有點難定義

Today the Oxford Dictionary defines gratitude as “the quality or condition of being thankful;

現在的牛津辭典定義感恩是「感到感謝的特質或情況。」

the appreciation of an inclination to return kindness.” And we’ve only really started

「感激的感覺以回報別人的仁慈。」而且我們才剛

to study gratitude scientifically in the past 30 years.

從30年前開始科學地研究感恩

In a 2015 study, participants were asked to imagine how they would feel if a complete

在2015年的一篇研究中，受試者被要求想像他們的感覺，如果當一個完全

stranger saved their life. I mean, how would you feel? The participants had to rate how

不認識的人救了他們的性命。我是說，你的感覺呢？受試者必須評價

grateful they were to strangers who provided them with gifts of food and clothing – all

他們對那些給他們衣服、食物的陌生人的感恩之心－所有人

while they had their brain scanned in an fMRI machine.

當他們接受電腦磁核共振掃描時

Researchers found their ratings of gratitude positively correlated with activity in brain areas associated with fairness and value judgements.

研究員發現他們的感恩程度評價跟他們大腦連結公平和價值評判的部分有正向的相關

It makes sense because gratitude is often thought of as a moral emotion.

因為感恩常常被認為是一種道德情感，所以相當合理

There are even benefits in just noting how grateful you are. Another study asked people

甚至有些好處是在你寫下你多麼感恩。另一個研究叫受試者

to write down three things that went well that day and why for one week. At the end

持續一個禮拜寫下一天中三件好事情和原因。在一周結束之後

of the week people were slightly happier than at the beginning, and over time, their happiness

受試者比一開始的時候更開心了一點點，然後時間繼續過去，他們的快樂

scores kept improving. After one month they were 5% happier and after six months they

指數與日俱增。一個月過後，比原本快樂五個百分點，在六個月後，他們

were 9% happier. Just from one week of writing a journal.

比原本快樂九個百分點。就只是從一周日誌開始

A similar study with participants with heart disease found that keeping a gratitude journal

一個類似的研究，有心臟病的受試者，發現繼續寫感恩日誌

increased their heart health and quality of sleep, perhaps because it reduces stress.

改善了心臟以及睡眠品質，或許因為減低了壓力

“Counting your blessings” quite literally makes people happier and healthier.

「計算你的幸福」就如同字面的讓人變得更快樂也更健康

And some people are even hardwired to be more thankful. In a recent study of 77 couples,

而且有些人甚至是天生就比較有感恩的心。在最近一個有77對受試者的研究中

those with a particular genetic variation that affects the secretion of oxytocin expressed

有特定基因變化以致催產素分泌的人比較容易

more gratitude towards their partners. Oxytocin is thought to play a big role in promoting

對他們的父母表達他們的感激之心。催產素是一種想法在加強

close social bonds, so gratitude is part of the glue that keeps these relationships together.

親密社會聯結時有重要的功能，所以感激其中一種的黏合劑可以保持這種的緊密關係

So if you think it’s the thought that counts, think again. Science shows there are some

所以如果你認為這種思想很重要，多想想。科學證明有一些

pretty amazing benefits to our mind, body and relationships when we say those two small words –

對我們心智、身體和關係都有相當驚人的益處，當我們說這兩個簡單的字

thank you.

謝謝