What is the Difference Between Gratitude and Appreciation?

Jane Taylor
JT - We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives - John F. Kennedy

Today I am going to talk about gratitude and appreciation. These two skills have an impact on wellbeing and support us in leading a whole-hearted life.

Subsequently, in this post I will discuss –

  • What is Gratitude?
  • What is Appreciation?
  • What is the Difference Between Gratitude and Appreciation?

Let’s get started!

What is Gratitude?

Grat•i•tude (noun):
The state of being grateful; a feeling of thankfulness or appreciation.

Some of the definitions of gratitude include –

  • “a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation” ~ Vocabulary.com
  • “Br. David Steindl-Rast, suggests that two qualities belong in our basic definition of gratitude. The first is appreciation: You recognize that something is valuable to you, which has nothing to do with its monetary worth. The second quality Br. David mentions is that gratitude is gratis: freely given to you.” ~ Gratefulness.org
  • “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness” ~ Google
  • “has been conceptualized as an emotion, a virtue, a moral sentiment, a motive, a coping response, a skill, and an attitude. It is all of these and more. Minimally, gratitude is an emotional response to a gift. It is the appreciation felt after one has been the beneficiary of an altruistic act” ~ Emmons and Crumpler, 2000.

Following is a great video outlining what good is gratitude by Robert Emmons –

What is Appreciation?

According to the following, appreciation is –

  • “recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of someone or something.” ~ Google
  • “a feeling or expression of admiration, approval, or gratitude” ~ Merriam-Webster
  • “Recognition of the quality, value, significance, or magnitude of people and things.” ~ The Free Dictionary
  • “the feeling you have when you are grateful to someone” ~ MacMillan Dictionary

Stephen Covey says –

“Next to physical survival, the greatest need of a human being is psychological survival – to be understood, to be validated, to be appreciated.” (p.3993). 

William James is also quoted as saying –

“The deepest principle of human nature is a craving to be appreciated.”

What is the Difference Between Gratitude and Appreciation?

As you can see by the above definitions on gratitude and appreciation, there is a lot of crossover. Personally, I identify the difference as –

  • Gratitude – feeling of being grateful,
  • Appreciation – acting on my feeling of gratitude and showing someone I am grateful.

What do you see as the difference between gratitude and appreciation? Feel free to share your insights below in the comments section 🙂

Here is a lovely clip on gratitude if you need some support in recognising it for yourself…

If you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and opening your heart, why not join our Toolkit?

Reference –

Covey, S. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York, USA: Simon & Schuster.

Page Reference –

I have had many people want to reference this page, so here is the correct reference. Thanks in advance for honouring my work 🙂

Taylor, J. (2019). What is the Difference Between Gratitude and Appreciation? [WWW] Available from: https://janetaylor.net/what-is-the-difference-between-gratitude-and-appreciation/ [Accessed …….. ]

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