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

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dc.abstract.enBuilding 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.
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii i Prawa w Poznaniu
dc.affiliationInstitute of Psychology
dc.affiliationInstytut Psychologii
dc.contributor.authorGąsiorowska, Agata
dc.contributor.authorManchanda, Rimple
dc.contributor.authorKościelniak, Maciej
dc.date.access2027-01-28
dc.date.accessioned2026-02-04T07:08:41Z
dc.date.available2026-02-04T07:08:41Z
dc.date.created2026-01-07
dc.date.issued2026
dc.description.abstract<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:p> 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 ( <jats:italic>N</jats:italic>  = 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. </jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeafter_publication
dc.description.physical1-16
dc.description.sdgGoodHealthAndWellBeing
dc.description.sdgResponsibleConsumptionAndProduction
dc.description.sdgReducedInequalities
dc.description.versionfinal_author
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/ejsp.70054
dc.identifier.eissn1099-0992
dc.identifier.issn0046-2772
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2170
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.70054?af=R
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsEmbargo
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOPEN_REPOSITORY
dc.subject.engratitude
dc.subject.enmaterialism
dc.subject.enmoney desire
dc.subject.enself-transcendence
dc.subject.ensocial connectedness
dc.swps.sciencecloudnosend
dc.titleGrateful Hearts, Lighter Wallets: Gratitude Diminishes the Desire for Money Through Social Connectedness and Self‐Transcendence
dc.title.journalEuropean Journal of Social Psychology
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle