Gratitude involves appreciating what is valuable to oneself, and mindfulness entails being aware of what arises from non-judgmentally attending to the present moment. This study explored how gratitude may impact mindfulness in a sample of college students. Participants were randomly assigned to a group that engaged in daily gratitude journaling or to a control group who journaled daily about an arbitrary topic. Results suggested that self-reported mindfulness among participants who completed the gratitude exercise did not differ from the control group. Qualitatively, major themes of the gratitude journals reflected Maslow’s (1987) physiological and belongingness needs. Factors that may have contributed to a non-significant result are explored, and suggestions for future study are provided.
