Muller, Sonia E. (2012) Gratitude and Materialism: Predictors of Well-being. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Previous research has shown materialism to be negatively associated with subjective well-being (Belk, 1985; Lambert, Fincham, Stillman, & Dean, 2009; Richins & Dawson, 1992). Therefore, if materialism discourages well-being, it may be important to identify other psychological processes that can avert such strivings (Polack & McCullough, 2006). One possibility is the positive emotion of gratitude (McCullough, Kilpatrick, Emmons, & Larson, 2001). The current study has four main research aims: (a) investigate whether there is a relationship between the three subscales of gratitude (i.e., simple appreciation, sense of abundance, and appreciation of others), the three components of materialism (i.e., success, centrality and happiness) and both psychological (or eudaimonic) well-being and subjective well-being, (b) examine the contribution of the three subscales of gratitude (i.e., simple appreciation, sense of abundance, and appreciation of others), and the three components of materialism (i.e., success, centrality and happiness) in predicting both psychological wellbeing and subjective well-being, (c) investigate whether materialism mediates the relationship between gratitude and both the well-being measures, and (d) conduct an exploratory investigation into any potential age and gender effects. One hundred and thirty four participants (Female = 98, Male = 36), aged between 18-88 years were recruited from community groups and organisations, as well as the researcher’s personal networks. Participants completed an on-line survey which included demographic details and: (a) the shortened version of the Gratitude, Resentment, Appreciation Test (GRAT-S; Thomas & Watkins, 2003), (b) the Material Values Scale (MVS; Richins & Dawson, 1992), (c) the Flourishing Scale (Diener et al., 2010), and (d) the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). Correlation analysis found that all three subscales of gratitude were significantly and positively related to both psychological wellbeing and subjective well-being. While all three materialism subscales were significantly and negatively associated with psychological well-being, only the happiness subscale was significantly and negatively related to subjective well-being. Furthermore, simple appreciation was found to be the largest unique contributor to the prediction of psychological well-being, with a sense of abundance making the main contribution to subjective well-being. The proposed mediating relationship of materialism between gratitude and the well-being measures was not supported. The current research has provided evidence to support growing suggestions that the absence of positive traits such as gratitude predicts impaired well-being (Wood & Joseph, 2010). Clinicians can incorporate simple gratitude interventions (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Watkins et al., 2003; Wood et al., 2010) into work with clients. It is possible that to appreciate simple pleasures and to be able to foster a sense of abundance, a person must first have an awareness of such external and internal experiences (Kabat-Zinn, 1982). Future studies could investigate the possible moderating effect of mindfulness on gratitude and both psychological and subjective well-being.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Nola Passmore |
| Qualification: | Masters of Psychology (Clinical) |
| Date Deposited: | 08 Oct 2025 02:18 |
| Last Modified: | 08 Oct 2025 02:18 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | materialism ; well-being ; gratitude |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52604 |
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