Emerging studies are highlighting the effectiveness of mindfulness, gratitude and hopefulness as positive psychological tools in helping people cope with anxiety and stress. These practices have also been considered beneficial in enhancing psychological health and well-being. For the past two years, Covid-19 has considerably disrupted significant areas of people’s lives, leading to depression, anxiety, despair, and fear, thereby decreasing individuals’ overall life satisfaction and well-being.
The pandemic underscored numerous causes of mental illness, like global inequality in attaining healthcare due to race, gender, and other factors. The International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2020 reported that unemployment and job losses are highly associated with anxiety and depression. Since 63% of the Pakistani population is youth, the situation becomes even more critical for Pakistan. As reported before the pandemic, 50 million people in Pakistan face psychological disorders. A survey conducted during the pandemic highlighted that 42% of participants reported suffering from depression, high levels of anxiety, and socio-emotional problems, whereas 25% experienced suicidal thoughts.
These alarming statistics were one of the motivations of the research team to delve deeper into understanding whether hope is a critical link between mindfulness, gratitude, and wellbeing. A strong association between mindfulness and gratitude has been established in decreasing psychopathology and enhancing mental well-being. But there is little research that explains the mechanism behind how mindfulness and gratitude work together to enhance mental wellbeing. Therefore, the researchers aimed to study if hopefulness mediates the relationship between mindfulness, gratitude and wellbeing. They based the framework of the study on the broaden-and-build theory, which suggests that positive emotions broaden one’s awareness and encourage positive thoughts and actions, which lead to healthy coping styles. In this context, the authors proposed that gratitude and mindfulness will broaden and build other positive emotions and actions which will enhance wellbeing.
“Whereas current mindfulness conceptualizations have been careful to include gratitude and hope, this study sheds light on the importance of positive emotions and practices like gratitude and mindfulness in eliciting hope, which can synergistically help increase the subjective well-being of individuals.”
The researchers conducted the study on 500 people from Pakistan aged 18-40 years, and the results revealed three interesting findings. Firstly, there was a strong relationship between mindfulness, gratitude and hopefulness. Furthermore, mindfulness was strongly connected with well-being but not with gratitude. Finally, it was found that mindfulness and gratitude increase hopefulness in an individual, and this hopeful state enhances their well-being.
This study is crucial in understanding how mindfulness, gratitude and hopefulness practices can promote well-being in developing healthy coping skills to deal with difficult circumstances. Whereas current mindfulness conceptualizations have been careful to include gratitude and hope, this study sheds light on the importance of positive emotions and practices like gratitude and mindfulness in eliciting hope, which can synergistically help increase the subjective well-being of individuals. However, since this study focused on the youth, future studies can consider older adults as well. This also opens up lines of research interest for people with diverse cultural identities to understand if these findings would still hold across different cultures and societal structures. Additionally, future researchers will have the opportunity to examine the role of positive emotions on physical, intellectual and social resources.
Arushi is a recent Master’s graduate in Applied Psychology from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and a prospective Ph.D. applicant. She has worked around mindfulness, relaxation techniques, trauma, and wellbeing, and she is motivated to share the benefits of mindfulness-based practices.
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