Grateful Hearts, Lighter Wallets: Gratitude Diminishes the Desire for Money Through Social Connectedness and Self‐Transcendence

Gąsiorowska, Agata; Manchanda, Rimple; Kościelniak, Maciej

doi:10.1002/ejsp.70054

Grateful Hearts, Lighter Wallets: Gratitude Diminishes the Desire for Money Through Social Connectedness and Self‐Transcendence

StatusPost-Print

Dublin Core metadata

Authors

Gąsiorowska, Agata

Manchanda, Rimple

Kościelniak, Maciej

Date

2026-04

Journal title

European Journal of Social Psychology

Issue

3

Volume

56

Pages

491-506

DOI

10.1002/ejsp.70054

ISSN

0046-2772

Weblink

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.70054?af=R

Access date

2027-01-28

Abstract EN

Building on theories that position gratitude as a social and self-transcendent emotion, this research examined whether gratitude reduces people's desire for money across four preregistered studies (N = 3,125). Study 1 provided evidence that gratitude was negatively associated with money desire across three countries (the United Kingdom, Mexico and South Africa). Studies 2–4 provided experimental evidence that various gratitude manipulations consistently reduced money desire. Study 3 revealed two key psychological mechanisms: enhanced social connectedness and increased self-transcendence. Study 4 examined boundary conditions, finding that gratitude's effect on money desire was strongest among individuals with high levels of beliefs in money's symbolic meaning. These findings suggest that gratitude interventions may help reduce materialistic attitudes by addressing the fundamental psychological desire for money itself, operating through specific mechanisms that foster connection to others and transcendence of narrow self-interest.