When did you last say it? How often do you say it? Who last said it to you? How did that make you feel? Why do people say it?
A study reported by the Daily Mail in September 2014 suggests that saying ‘thank you’ goes beyond good manners – it also serves to build and maintain social relationships.
The research specifically looked at how expressions of gratitude shape social relations and questioned whether hearing ‘thank you’ might help us to ‘find’ new social relationships.
The theory of gratitude proposed by US psychologist Sara Algoe, from the University of North Carolina, is based on the find-remind-and-bind theory of gratitude and, as the Daily Mail article reports: “According to this theory, gratitude starts new friendships (find), orients people to existing social relationships (remind) and promotes existing relationships (bind).”
When I did my teacher training – a long time ago! – I remember someone saying that you should always try to be positive: 3 positives for every negative. Sometimes that was tough, especially when little XXXXX (anonymised to avoid any obvious connections!) was presenting particular challenging behaviours. Now, at FWL, I try really hard to show the team how much I appreciate what they do (no matter how tough the day has been). How many times do you thank people for what they have done?
Appreciation goes a long way. It makes people feel valued and positive about themselves. Moreover, your comments (thanks or whatever you have said) will be remembered and people will want to maintain a relationship with you or even help you in your life/business.
So, thank you to all you lovely readers of this blog! Tomorrow, I have some genealogical finds to share with you …. Watch this space – to be written in a public house off the A46!
