Happiness lies not in chasing big posessions but in appreciating the little things : a cross-cultural review of the relationship between gratitude, materialism, and subjective well-being

Abstract

A large part of the positive psychology literature highlights that materialism has negative effects on subjective well-being. Gratitude, often cited as an antecedent to materialism, has been shown to be beneficial for our subjective well-being and buffers against the negative effects of materialism. Most studies, however, have been done in individualistic nations without questioning the cross-cultural validity of these findings to collectivist nations. Furthermore, most research has not accounted for the collective effects of materialism and gratitude on subjective well-being in relation to one another. Therefore, this review aims to evaluate existing literature, identify gaps, and directions for future research. This review finds that the individual relationship between materialism on subjective well-being and gratitude on subjective well-being may be moderated by culture. A novel moderator mediated model is put forth describing the relationship between materialism, gratitude and subjective well-being with culture as a moderator. Future research can seek to conduct cross-cultural experimental studies to validate the proposed model in efforts to extend cross-cultural validity.