Questão 17 - UNEB Dia 1 2024

Giving thanks isn't just a holiday tradition. It's part of how humans evolved.

 

It's the season of giving thanks — and it turns out humans have been doing it for a long, long time. As more researchers dig into the science of gratitude, they've found the feeling likely played a key role in helping our ancestors band together and survive. That legacy continues today, as being in the mood for gratitude shapes who we are as a species and how we connect with the people around us.

"This is something that is part of our human DNA," said Sarah Schnitker, a psychologist at Baylor University. "It is a glue, in a sense, that holds us together."

Humans are social animals. That's how we've lasted so long; not by being the biggest or the strongest, but by figuring out how to work together. A key part of building relationships is the idea of reciprocity: "If you like me and do nice things for me, then I like you and do nice things for you," said Michael Tomasello, a developmental psychologist at Duke University.

Some scientists think the feeling of gratitude evolved to keep the helping exchanges going. In other words, if you were helped, you'd feel like you should repay the debt with a good deed in return, said Jenae Nelson, who researches gratitude at Baylor and Harvard universities.

"This give and take — this is very, very primal and very important to a cooperative society," Nelson said. "Otherwise, you just get a culture of takers."

Reciprocity might not be about keeping exact scores but forming broader emotional ties. And the feeling of gratitude emerges early on: Children as young as 2 and 3 demonstrate they want to return favors. In a study, Vaish found that when kids got help completing a task — in this case, finding a key to unlock a box of stickers — they were more likely to share their sticker reward with a new person.

It's that kind of behavior that shows gratitude is more than simple exchange, Schnitker said. It can make us more generous with other people in general — even if they didn't help us first.

"It's not just about stuff and materialism," Nelson said. "It's about relationships, and the things that people do for you, and then the things that you can in turn do back for other people."

BUKAROFF, Maddie. Giving thanks isn?t just a holiday tradition. It?s part of how humans evolved. AP News, New York, 21 nov. 2023. Science. Disponível em: . Acesso em: 23 nov. 2023. (Adaptado).

What role does gratitude play in human relationships, according to the text?