Thank You Notes Improve The World - It's Science!

[Chouffleur]

Now you have an excuse to buy that pen/ink/stationery. You're making the world a better place.

 

You know what you're most definitely not doing enough of? Writing thank-you notes. According to a new study out of the Booth Business School at the University of Chicago, researchers say that although most people find the practice of writing a thank-you to be awkward (more on that in a bit), the people who receive them are far more appreciative than the note-maker might ever have thought.

 

Live and learn.

 

https://bigthink.com/ned-dymoke/want-to-genuinely-and-scientifically-make-the-world-a-better-place-send-thank-you-notes

 

[UDog]

I live not too far from the University of Chicago. Thanks for posting this,

[Barkingpig]

I have long known this & having spent some time in the past year clearing out old correspondence, I have enjoyed again those notes I read again before sending them to recycling.

 

I remember when a friend married & his Long Island Bride moved to town, she claimed the numerous notes she received were a mystery to her; "Do you all write a thank you note for EVERYTHING?"

 

Fourty plus years later, I am happy that she chose to adapt the custom & has become a staunch advocate in raising her three children to follow her example.

[Carrau]

Ive written many thank you notes over the years, both in personal and business correspondence. Almost always, the recipients of business thank you notes will comment on having received them the next time we meet or converse, which suggests to me that they are probably not received very often, and they made a positive impression on the recipient.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Herrjaeger

[aardvarkbark]

It is one of the practices that my mother taught me, for which I am grateful. For personal matters, the host/hostess gets one within a week following a social event, whether dinner party for six or charity event for two thousand. I regularly hear that I was the only one to have sent one. Being a house guest or recipient of a gift warrant them, too.

 

For business, all first meetings and closed transaction warrant one. My penmanship is atrocious, so I never mention a deal point or business matter; it is purely an expression of gratitude; follow-up correspondence is in email form, of course, for clarity, ease of reply and the creation of an electronic record. For first meetings, I also send one to the person's executive assistant who helped make the meeting happen. They will frequently mention that very few people do that and that they genuinely appreciate the considerate act. A couple have commented that my mamma must've raised me right, and I've told them that I sure think she did.

[grasshopper]

Yeah, easy to agree with the study. It is a dying practice especially since electronic communication has taken over. And i also feel that recipients do appreciate them more than expected (agree with Herrjaeger that they're probably not received too often).

 

And your mamma did raise you right, Aardvarkbark.

 

Gotta start re-incorporating this habit into my life.

[chunya]

Scientifically/statistically it was a tiny study .... and conclusions based on those findings might be questionable (for many years I taught research and supported many uni students with their research projects, and the use of questionnaires has more than its fair share for the potential of including confounding variables ), but it would be nice if it were true, and hopefully it is.

I've always tried to remember to send 'thank you' notes whenever appropriate (no idea where I picked up the habit, it certainly wasn't my family) and I know of only one other friend who does likewise. Whenever I sell something on Ebay, whether it be for 99p or £999.99 I always include a short hand written note, so that's a few hundred over the years. How they're received I have no idea, only occasionally a buyer will mention it in the feedback they leave, but not knowing doesn't really bother me as I realised it that probably I primarily write the notes for my own benefit. Weird eh!

Edited July 23, 2018 by chunya

[Runnin_Ute]

I believe there is a very real impact. I recently took a new position. On the day of my interview, before leaving the building I sat down wrote a thank you note to each of the interviewers (it was with two) and made sure they got it before I left. The next day I got a call with a job offer. Might I have gotten it anyway? Who knows, but why tempt it?

 

In the past, I recall interviewing with a company a significant distance from home near the end of the workday (10+ miles, around 5 pm) By the time I got home I had received an email, saying thanks but no thanks. I didn't even have an opportunity to do a thank you note/letter. (no smartphone at the time) Now, if at all possible, I do it before leaving the office. It isn't the only time I do it, but in the last year it has been the most frequent.

[OMASsimo]

I like writing thank you notes. And I prefer to treat all people kindly. Full stop. There is no need to discuss the utilitarian benefits of it. I know from experience that it makes people happy when they are appreciated and a proper thank you note expresses just that appreciation. But if it's used in a utilitarian way, it easily might loose it's charitable aspects and turn into it's opposite. Why can't we write thank you notes without expedience? The humanistic half of myself tells me that it would be a better world if we all did. (OK, the realistic half of me tells me "won't ever happen" and I'm gonna be silent about the utilitarian half of my soul )

[grasshopper]

Yes it is a small study. But it's a study on thank you notes. Not on a cure for cancer. So perhaps there's no harm at all in drawing conclusions from the results - nobody's lives will be at stake from drawing the "wrong" conclusions in this situation, one would hope. It is however a nice reminder of a dying practice. And it it is not dying, it's a nice reminder for more of us to pick up this positive habit. Just my humble opinion, of course.

[Fuzzy_Bear]

You can use small studies, statistically speaking. Will have to find the information in my father's library, but he has a chapter in a book that talks about small samples size.

[mmg122]

My Mother also taught us to always send a thank you note after a dinner party, gift, etc. It always amuses (but not surprises) me that following a dinner party I’ve hosted that I receive notes from all my sibs but rarely anyone else.

 

There are few things nicer to receive than a written note from a friend.

 

Mary