Scarcity undermines directed attention and pleasurable thinking

• People in poverty are believed to think for pleasure more than the affluent. • Scarcity reduces employees’ ability and motivation for pleasurable thinking. • Directed attention is key for pleasurable thinking but undermined by financial concerns. • Scarcity increases thoughts about money, lowering engagement with pleasurable thoughts. • Financial constraints may limit everyday joy in work and life. Thinking for pleasure, including fantasies and imagination, can be a source of joy, relaxation, and a mental escape from everyday adversity. We demonstrate that people intuitively expect those in poverty, who presumably have less access to other forms of welcome escape, to be better able and more highly motivated to find pleasure in imagination and fantasy (Study 1). Yet, thinking for pleasure involves the effortful direction of attention. We argue that persistent financial concerns can impair directed attention and thus interfere with pleasurable thinking. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches, we first establish an association in everyday life between financial concerns and self-reported difficulty in directed attention and pleasurable thinking (Studies 2–3). In a subsequent experiment (Study 4), participants engage in pleasurable thinking experiences accompanied by lexical decision tasks. We find that, when financial concerns are salient, perceived financial scarcity predicts faster responses to money-related stimuli, slower responses to stimuli related to pleasurable thinking experiences, and a less pleasurable experience overall. Perceived financial scarcity appears to undermine the potential entertainment or relief that imagination can bring. Because imaginative thought underlies creativity and problem-solving, the attentional cost of financial constraint may impair performance in cognitively demanding roles. Our research adds to models linking compensation and performance, suggesting that reducing financial constraint may boost not only motivation, but also cognitive resources essential for innovation and productivity. For those experiencing persistent financial scarcity, intentional thinking, joyful as it can be, may prove a less effective tool for finding pleasure in work and daily life.