Experiencing higher levels of gratitude could lead to lower financial stress, new research published in De Gruyter Brill's Open Psychology suggests.
The study, led by Dr. Rona Hart at the University of Sussex, UK, explored how people's capacity to feel gratitude can affect the way they manage their finances and deal with financial stress. The research also considered sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, income, education and employment.
Using online questionnaires, the researchers assessed individuals' experiences of gratitude and the situations that give rise to it, for example appreciating personal circumstances – such as good health, social interactions and relationships – and the environment, such as the beauty of nature.
Other questions assessed levels of financial stress – the psychological, physiological and behavioral reactions that occur when people feel unable to meet their financial obligations or maintain enough funds to get by. The researchers also asked about financial management behaviors – the actions people take to manage their finances effectively, such as setting goals and planning, budgeting and spending, giving and borrowing, and saving and investing.
The study found that higher levels of gratitude predicted lower financial stress. This suggests that in therapeutic interventions, an individual's gratitude could be developed and employed as a buffer against the negative impacts of financial stress on mental health and on prudent financial decision-making and behaviors.
However, the researchers also discovered that gratitude was not correlated with financial management behaviors. Instead, the relationships between these behaviors were found to be more complex than previously thought, involving a complex web of psychological, socioeconomic and demographic factors that influence individuals' financial actions and outcomes. These complexities warrant further investigation, the researchers say, perhaps involving transdisciplinary perspectives that span positive psychology and economic psychology.
"Our study delves into the roles of gratitude in the financial behavior and financial well-being equation, while also revealing areas ripe for continued investigation," Dr. Hart says. "Ultimately, such insights could translate into more effective interventions, empowering individuals to take control of their financial trajectories in the current turbulent financial landscape."
The paper can be found here: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/psych-2025-0008/html
