Grateful minds, green choices: Gratitude as a psychological driver of sustainable economic decision‐making

Abstract This research examines whether gratitude, a self‐transcendent moral emotion, shapes sustainable economic decision‐making. Across three preregistered studies (total N = 2100), we tested the hypothesis that gratitude reduces materialistic orientation and money desire while enhancing nature connectedness, thereby promoting sustainable economic choices. Study 1 ( N = 850, correlational, multisource) demonstrated that dispositional gratitude positively predicted sustainable economic preferences and green investment intentions, with reduced materialism and enhanced nature connectedness as partial mediators. Study 2 ( N = 650, experiment) showed that a gratitude induction, compared with neutral and positive affect control conditions, increased willingness to pay for eco‐labeled products and green investment allocation, mediated by reduced momentary money desire. Study 3 ( N = 600, 2 × 2 experiment) revealed that although exposure to climate change information increased money desire, consistent with existential anxiety accounts, gratitude buffered this effect and maintained sustainable economic preferences. These findings advance understanding of the emotional antecedents of sustainable economic behavior and suggest that brief gratitude interventions may serve as accessible tools for promoting sustainability in individual, organizational, and policy contexts.