Available online at:
https://cc.arcabc.ca/islandora/object/cc%3Apsycjournal

J Camosun Psyc Res. (2022). Vol. 4(1), pp. 130-138.
Submitted Fall 2021; accepted June 2022.

The Effect of Written Gratitude Statements on Body
Appreciation.
Authors: Elena Muratova*
Supervising Instructor: Judy Caldwell, Psyc 201 (“Research Methods”)
Department of Psychology, Camosun College, 3100 Foul Bay Road, Victoria, BC, Canada V8P 5J2
*Corresponding author email: elena@happybodycentre.com

ABSTRACT
Body appreciation is associated with mental health, healthy eating, and physical activity. The
current experiment investigated how written gratitude statements in regard to one’s body affect
body appreciation in 14 Facebook users aged between 24 and 74 years. The participants took part
in the study individually, receiving all necessary instructions via email. Body appreciation was
measured with the Body Appreciation Scale 2, which was adapted to increase sensitivity. The
manipulation had two levels: written neutral statements about one’s body and written gratitude
statements in regard to one’s body. It was hypothesized that written gratitude statements would
increase the score on the Body Appreciation Scale 2. The results were statistically significant and
supported this hypothesis; the score on the Body Appreciation Scale 2 was higher in the gratitude
statements condition than in the neutral statements condition. This study provides preliminary
evidence that focusing gratitude specifically on the body improves body appreciation. The results
also have an important implication for mental and physical wellbeing.
1. Introduction
Society accepts people whose bodies
meet societal standards much more than
those whose bodies differ in one way or
another from those standards. This pressure
to conform to a certain appearance and body
shape impacts one’s body image, which is
“individuals’ perceptions of and attitudes
toward their own body, especially its
appearance” (Cash et al., 2002, p. 103).
Body image can be either negative or
positive. The construct of positive body
image is body appreciation (Avalos et al.,
2005). Avalos et al. (2005) define body
appreciation as “unconditional approval and
respect of the body” (p. 287). Societal
expectations negatively affect body

appreciation. For instance, Homan and
Tylka (2015) demonstrated that social
comparisons and staking one’s self-worth in
appearance negatively correlate with body
appreciation. The consequences of concerns
with one’s body and low body appreciation
can be detrimental to physical and mental
wellbeing. Lower body appreciation is
associated with increased anxiety and
depression (Winter et al., 2019) and
avoidance of health care use (Cook et al.,
2020). At the same time, high body
appreciation protects one from the negative
effects of media exposure (Halliwell, 2013)
and body-related shame and body-related
guilt (Liang et al., 2021). Also, people with
high body appreciation tend to pay more
attention to bodily needs and, as a result,
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have healthier eating habits than those who
have low body appreciation (Oswald et al.,
2017). In addition, high body appreciation
positively influences intrinsic motivation for
physical activity (Cox et al., 2019),
A limited number of studies investigated
factors that increase body appreciation.
Some of them focused on examining the
effects of physical activity. For example,
participation in the community dance
sessions led by a professional choreographer
and dance therapist had a long-term positive
effect on body appreciation in older adults
(Hansen et al., 2021). Ng and Lin (2020)
found that a 13-week skill-oriented Physical
Education course increased body
appreciation in university students. Other
studies analyzed the correlation between
internal processes and body appreciation.
Self-compassion was shown to reduce
negative feelings about the body and
strengthen body appreciation (Homan &
Tylka, 2015). There was also a positive
association between gratitude and body
appreciation (Homan & Tylka, 2018).
Homan and Tylka (2018) stated that
gratitude increases body appreciation by
focusing individuals’ attention on their
positive internal characteristics and reducing
social comparison. It appears that while
some studies investigated causal
relationships between gratitude and body
dissatisfaction (Geraghty et al., 2010; Wolfe
& Patterson, 2017), there are currently no
studies that have examined the effects of
gratitude on body appreciation.
Avalos et al. (2005) developed the Body
Appreciation Scale (BAS) based on four
aspects of body appreciation: favourable
opinions of the body, acceptance of the body
despite its physical characteristics, care for
body needs, and rejection of unrealistic body
ideals presented by the media. Later the
Body Appreciation Scale 2 (BAS-2) was
developed. A study by Tylka and Wood-

Barcalow (2015) supported the internal
consistency, test–retest reliability, and
construct validity of the BAS-2.
For gratitude interventions, past studies
used gratitude journaling (Geraghty et al.,
2010; Wolfe & Patterson, 2017). In such
cases, the participants were asked to keep a
daily gratitude journal for two weeks,
writing down a list of things for which they
felt grateful. The study by Gerathy et al.
worked with the therapeutic population, and
Wolfe and Patterson focused on the student
population. The results of both studies
demonstrated that gratitude journaling
significantly reduced body dissatisfaction.
The present experiment investigated the
effect of gratitude on body appreciation. A
control group wrote down ten neutral
statements about their body, while the
experimental group listed ten gratitude
statements in regard to the body. The body
appreciation was then measured on BAS-2.
Based on previous research, it was expected
that writing gratitude statements in regard to
one’s body would increase the score on
BAS-2.
2. Methods
2.1 Participants
Twenty Facebook users participated in
this study. However, three of them did not
sign the consent form. The other three
signed the consent form but dropped out
during the experiment. In total, 14 Facebook
users were tested in this experiment. Their
age ranged from 24 to 74 years, with a
median age of 56.5 years. There were nine
male and five female participants in the
sample. Nine participants had a university
degree, three had a college education, one
had a trade school diploma, and one had a
high school diploma.
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2.2 Materials
The materials used in this experiment
included the Body Appreciation Scale 2
(BAS-2) (Zarate et al., 2021), which was
used to measure body appreciation (See
Appendix A). The response scale was
adapted for the purpose of the current study.
It was on the 7-point Likert scale (where 1
was Strongly Disagree and 7 was Strongly
Agree) instead of the original 5-point scale
with responses ranging from 1 (Never) to 5
(Always). A consent form was administered
online via DocuSign website using
participants’ email addresses. The
instruction emails differed in the type of
statements they asked participants to write:
neutral or gratitude statements in regards to
one’s body (see Appendix B and Appendix
C).
2.3 Procedure
To attract participants to the current
study, the Facebook post was posted on a
personal Facebook page of the experimenter.
The post said, “Hi, I am conducting a
psychology study for my psychology course
at Camosun College. I am looking for 20
participants. The participation will take 15
minutes and will be online. Please, contact
me or leave a comment below this post if
you are interested. Your help will be highly
appreciated!” People who responded to the
post were given a link to a consent form and
were randomly assigned to either the
gratitude statements group or the neutral
statements group by randomizer.org. After
they formally agreed to participate by
signing the consent form, they received
detailed instructions via email. Participants
took part in the study individually,
performing two tasks and timing themselves.
They were asked to perform two tasks
without delay. They used their cell phone or
watch for timing. The first task was to either
write ten neutral statements about their body

or ten gratitude statements in regard to their
body. The second task was to mark their
responses to 10 statements in BAS-2 on a
printed questionnaire or write the responses
to BAS-2 on a separate piece of paper if the
printer was not available. After performing
the two tasks, participants took pictures of
their list of statements and answers to the
questionnaire using their cell phone camera.
Then they attached the pictures to the email,
noted the time they spent on each task, their
age, gender, and education level, and replied
to the original email. Participants then
received a follow-up email, which thanked
them for their participation and debriefed
them about the study.
2.4 Design
A single-factor randomized two-group
design was used in the current study. The
independent variable was gratitude
statements regarding the body. The
dependent variable was body appreciation.
3. Results
The level of significance set in this
experiment was .05. The mean score on
BAS-2 in the neutral statement condition
was 53.33 (SD = 5.43), and the mean score
on BAS-2 in the gratitude statement
condition was 59.63 (SD = 4.53). See Figure
1 for a summary of the descriptive statistics.
These data were analyzed using a t-test, and
the results were statistically significant, t(12)
= 2.38, p = .04, suggesting that the score on
the BAS-2 was higher in the gratitude
statements condition than in the neutral
statements condition.
4. Discussion
The hypothesis under investigation in this
study was that writing gratitude statements
in regard to one’s body would increase the
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score on BAS-2. The finding supported this
hypothesis. This study provides preliminary
evidence that writing gratitude statements
specifically focused on the body improves
body appreciation. There is no known
previous investigation of this causal
relationship. The current results are
consistent with the correlational study that
showed a positive relationship between
gratitude and body appreciation (Homan &
Tylka, 2018).
The results have important implications
for mental wellbeing and protection from
negative social media exposure (Halliwell,
2013; Liang et al., 2021; Winter et al.,
2019). Thus, gratitude statements about
one’s body can be practically applied for
improving body image and wellbeing in
young women and girls and making them
more resistant to social media pressure.
Also, higher body appreciation is essential
for self-care and physical health.
Specifically, it reduces barriers to health
care use (Cook et al., 2020), increases
intrinsic motivation for physical activity
(Cox et al., 2019), and contributes to healthy
eating habits (Oswald et al., 2017).
Therefore, gratitude statements toward one’s
body may be used in behavioural change and
promotion of a healthy lifestyle.
The limitations of this study include the
small sample size and weak manipulation.
Also, there was no control over participants’
time between the two tasks. In addition, the
pre-test level of body appreciation was
unknown. Additional studies are needed to
confirm or refute the current results. Further
studies also can test the stronger
manipulation. For example, the researchers
can examine how two-week gratitude
journaling related to the body affects body
appreciation. This idea is based on previous
research that showed that two-week
gratitude journaling effectively improved
other aspects of body image (Geraghty et al.,

2010; Wolfe & Patterson, 2017). With
further research, written gratitude statements
towards one’s body have the potential to
become effective and easy to implement
intervention for improving body
appreciation and making one’s body image
more positive
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Figure 1
Body Appreciation Scores for the Neutral and Gratitude Statements Conditions

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Appendix A
The Body Appreciation Scale 2 (BAS-2)

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Appendix B
Instructions for the Neutral Statement condition
Thank you for participating in this psychology study! I appreciate your help very much! You can
complete this study until Nov 22nd, but the steps should be completed one after another without
delay.
Please, read the full description for a step before proceeding with a task. Let me know if you
have any questions regarding any of the steps.
Step 1 (task #1).
Please, take a pen/pencil and paper and write down ten neutral statements about your body. It can
be neutral descriptions of your physical characteristics and qualities, bodily experiences, etc. For
example, if I describe myself, I will write down, “My eyes are green” and “My body doesn’t
tolerate coffee”. Please, time yourself by starting a stopwatch right before writing down the first
statement and stop a stopwatch after writing down the tenth statement.

Step 2 (task #2).
Then, open the questionnaire attached to this email. You can print it out if a printer is available.
In this case, just circle the response that best characterizes your agreement or disagreement with
the statement. Another option is to write your answers down on a piece of paper, including the
number of the statements you respond to. Please, time yourself by starting a stopwatch when you
are ready to read the first statement and stop a stopwatch after answering the last statement.

Step 3.
Please, respond to this email noting your
Age ________
Gender ________
Education level _________
Write down the time for task #1 and task #2.
Take a picture of your ten written statements and of the questionnaire (or results if written
separately) and attach them to this email.

You will receive a follow-up email with a detailed explanation of this study and the rationale
behind it. If you wish, I’ll be happy to talk to you by phone or Zoom to answer all your questions
regarding this study.
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Appendix C
Instructions for the Gratitude Statement condition
Thank you for participating in this psychology study! I appreciate your help very much! You can
complete this study until Nov 22nd, but the steps should be completed one after another without
delay.
Please, read the full description for a step before proceeding with a task. Let me know if you
have any questions regarding any of the steps.
Step 1 (task #1).
Please, take a pen/pencil and paper and write down ten gratitude statements in regards to your
body. Please, time yourself by starting a stopwatch right before writing down the first statement
and stop a stopwatch after writing down the tenth statement.

Step 2 (task #2).
Then, open the questionnaire attached to this email. You can print it out if a printer is available.
In this case, just circle the response that best characterizes your agreement or disagreement with
the statement. Another option is to write your answers down on a piece of paper, including the
number of the statements you respond to. Please, time yourself by starting a stopwatch when you
are ready to read the first statement and stop a stopwatch after answering the last statement.

Step 3.
Please, respond to this email noting your
Age ________
Gender ________
Education level _________
Write down the time for task #1 and task #2.
Take a picture of your ten written statements and of the questionnaire (or results if written
separately) and attach them to this email.

You will receive a follow-up email with a detailed explanation of this study and the rationale
behind it. If you wish, I’ll be happy to talk to you by phone or Zoom to answer all your questions
regarding this study.

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