Being thankful: What 12 days of gratitude journaling can do for your employees

Japanese employees who kept short daily gratitude journals became more aware of support from colleagues and supervisors, and showed measurable improvements in engagement.

Can a few minutes of daily reflection make you more engaged at work? A new study from Ritsumeikan University suggests that it can.

Researchers found that a 12-day online gratitude journaling exercise significantly boosted work engagement among Japanese employees. Participants who noted things they were grateful for each day became more aware of colleague support, supervisor feedback, and opportunities to take initiative, reflecting greater recognition of job resources.

These findings suggest that intentionally cultivating gratitude provides individuals and organisations with a low-cost, effective way to enhance workplace engagement.

Work engagement, in the context of this study and in general, refers to a positive, fulfilling state of mind towards one’s work, and plays a key role in supporting both personal wellbeing and company success. However, ways to strengthen work engagement over the long-term may remain limited for some.

The new study, led by Professor Noriko Yamagishi from Ritsumeikan University in collaboration with Dr Norberto Eiji Nawa from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), and Mr Shota Isomura from NTT Data Institute of Management Consulting, Inc., suggests that the simple practice of gratitude journaling can make a meaningful difference.

Published in BMC Psychology on 6 October 2025, the study invited 100 Japanese employees aged between 30 and 49, working in industries such as IT, logistics, and manufacturing, to keep daily journals for 12 days. One group wrote about things they were grateful for each day, while the control group simply recorded daily events.

The results revealed that employees who kept gratitude journals experienced a clear rise in overall work engagement, particularly in the absorption aspect, which measures how deeply individuals become involved and focused on their daily tasks.

No such improvement was observed in the control group.

Further analysis of the journal entries showed that writing about gratitude helped participants become more aware of workplace resources such as encouragement from supervisors and cooperation among colleagues. These findings align with the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model of employee engagement, which emphasises the importance of recognising personal and social resources in fostering engagement.

According to Professor Yamagishi, the study fills a key gap in the field. She explained that previous research has largely been correlational, whereas the current results demonstrate a causal link between gratitude and increased work engagement.

The researchers also identified several secondary outcomes on the broader effects of journaling. Both groups, whether they wrote about gratitude or simply described their daily events, showed small but steady improvements in overall gratitude disposition, life satisfaction, and motivation at work.

This pattern suggests that the act of writing daily can be meaningful in itself.

Journaling gave participants space to pause, reflect, and bring order to their experiences, which appeared to encourage a gentle rise in wellbeing. Even without a focus on gratitude, the discipline of daily writing seemed to create room for self-awareness.

While both groups showed positive changes, subtle differences also emerged. Participants who kept daily life journals demonstrated a slight decline in autonomy and sense of purpose over the course of the trial, while this was not observed in the gratitude journal group. Although exploratory, this contrast may indicate that unstructured reflection on daily events can sometimes highlight pressures or frustrations, whereas focusing on gratitude helps individuals recognise positive aspects of their experiences and maintain balance.

Together, these findings highlight an important truth that gratitude may not simply grow out of casual reflection. It may require conscious effort.

“Given its low-cost, scalable nature, gratitude journaling may serve as an accessible tool for fostering work engagement, wellbeing, and positive work culture.” Professor Yamagishi explained.

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