More gratitude less materialism: The mediating role of life satisfaction.

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More gratitude less materialism: The mediating role of life satisfaction.

An empirical relationship has been documented between gratitude and materialism such that stronger feelings of gratitude are associated with lower materialism. Building on Fredrickson's (1998 2001) theory that positive emotions "broaden- and -build" we sought to expand upon this finding by (1) examining satisfaction with life as a potential mechanism for this relationship and (2) exploring the causal direction of this relationship through experimental means. Study 1 (n = 131) demonstrated that satisfaction with life mediated the relationship between gratitude and materialism. Study 2 (n = 171) showed that that experimentally induced gratitude resulted in higher satisfaction with life and lower materialism in a high gratitude condition compared to an envy (low gratitude) condition. Implications and directions for future research were discussed.

Citation: 
The Journal of Positive Psychology Vol. 4, No. 1, January 2009, 32–42

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