A Search For Gratitude

The Search for gratitude is a short story collection with true stories of people who tell about the importance of gratitude in their lives. It contains scientific insights in gratitude and exercises to incorporate gratitude in your own live.

As a researcher in positive psychology, I have been studying gratitude in recent years. People experience the power of gratitude when they realize that one of their needs is being met by someone or something. This gives them a warm, happy, and satisfied feeling.

Scientific research mainly revolves around groups, numbers, and means. More and more I wondered how gratitude plays a role in the lives of individuals. What exactly does the power of gratitude look like? What are the faces of gratitude?

I began a search for gratitude. In the end, thirteen people shared their stories of gratitude with me. The foreword was written by Leo Bormans, world ambassador of happiness. I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this book for their candor. I wish you a lot of inspiration and fun reading these special stories.

Lilian Jans-Beken (1969) graduated in 2014 in Lifespan Psychology. In 2018 she obtained her doctorate with her thesis Appreciating Gratitude on the relationship between gratitude and mental health. Now she continues her research on gratitude as an independent scientist. She is a teacher in higher education, and she writes about gratitude and other psychological topics.