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.
