October 06, 2026
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Authentic gratitude from workplace leaders cultivates a broader sense of gratitude throughout organizations, a study from Temple University suggests.
It may seem like common sense that workplace morale goes up when leaders thank employees for their efforts.
But a new study out of Temple University found the impact of gratitude has more weight, and tends to spread, when it is immediate, authentic and specific. Leaders who express genuine gratitude spur the spread of it throughout organizations, said Meghan Kane, assistant professor of management at Temple's Fox School of Business.
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"We know from prior work that employees desire more gratitude; they feel under-appreciated in the workplace," Kane said. "But there hasn't been research specifically looking at OK, if we're telling leaders to express more gratitude, is it actually spreading? Is it actually making an impact? That was really the overarching question we set out to answer."
To examine how "gratitude can be cultivated within organizations," Kane and her colleagues, Lauren Locklear, an assistant professor of management at Texas Tech University, and Mark Ehrhart, a psychology professor at the University of Central Florida, surveyed employees in a variety of industries about their experiences with leaders' gratitude. The researchers also conducted an experiment to determine whether leaders who received emails expressing gratitude then extended that gratitude in emails to other employees.
The researchers uncovered a novel understanding of how gratitude can permeate an organization, a phenomenon they call "grateful attention."
"When you receive gratitude from someone, it turns on that gratitude lens, and then you're able to see more things in your environment for which to be grateful for and express gratitude," Kane said. "If you receive gratitude from your boss, the next day when you go to work, you may notice some of your subordinates or followers helping you out or engaging in events that you otherwise might not have noticed."
In other words, gratitude expressed by leaders had a secondary impact — it improved relationships among co-workers who were not the direct recipients of the gratitude, the researchers said.
Key takeaways from the study for leaders include the importance of being specific about why an employee deserves praise, Kane said.
"When you're expressing gratitude to employees, instead of just simply saying, "Thanks," say exactly what you're thankful for," she said.
Also, timely gratitude from a leader about a specific situation "shows that the gratitude is more authentic," Kane said.
"Employees really enjoy receiving gratitude right after a specific hardship or event, as opposed to waiting a month till the department meeting," she said. "It loses its value if it kind of waits over time."
Ultimately, the study found that gratitude has an "upward spiral," Kane said. "It's just going to keep going. It doesn't need to be this big, grand gesture. Just that simple thanks can really go a long way."
