Volume 7, Issue 1

This article introduces Positive Economic Psychology, a novel discipline that integrates Positive Psychology and Economic Psychology. The article elucidates the two parent disciplines, detailing their respective goals, remits, key topics, research methods, and sub-disciplines. The article then delves, with a critical eye, into the historical and intellectual backdrop that catalysed the birth of Positive Economic Psychology. Next, the article describes Positive Economic Psychology, a field situated at the junction of psychological wellbeing, and economic decision-making and behaviour, defining it as a discipline that is concerned with examining and promoting economic wellbeing, focusing on the conditions and processes that can foster economic prosperity and optimal economic functioning in individuals, groups, and institutions. The article draws the contours of the new discipline and outlines its goals and key principles. It also predicts its future trajectory, considering both its potential for profound societal impact and the challenges that it may face.

The present study investigated the relationships between trait gratitude, financial stress, and financial management behaviours among a UK sample of 103 adults. Participants completed online questionnaires assessing gratitude, financial stress, and financial management behaviours. Correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted, controlling for demographic factors (age, gender, income, education, and employment). Results revealed that higher levels of gratitude predicted lower financial stress, supporting gratitude’s protective role. However, gratitude did not predict financial management behaviours. Higher financial stress was associated with poorer financial behaviours, highlighting a potential self-perpetuating cycle. Age and financial behaviours also predicted financial stress, and income, being a student, and financial stress emerged as significant predictors of financial behaviours. The findings demonstrate the complex interplay of psychological and socioeconomic factors in shaping financial behaviours and financial wellbeing. Implications for interventions targeting financial stress and management are discussed, along with limitations and future research directions. The study contributes to the growing exploration of positive psychological factors influencing financial outcomes.

The present study investigates satisfaction with life in the context of Panksepp’s primary emotional systems derived from affective neuroscience theory in a sample of n = 225 study participants (study 1) and a sample of n = 399 study participants (study 2). Of note, participants of the present study stem from a less studied population, namely, India. All participants filled in inventories to assess individual differences in primary emotional systems, meaning in life ( search / presence ) and satisfaction with life. In line with the preregistration, we observed inverse associations between higher FEAR/SADNESS and lower satisfaction with life in both samples. As also a meaning in life measure was administered, mediation models with meaning in life’s facets search for vs presence of could be tested. We observed that presence of meaning in life was a partial mediator for associations between FEAR and satisfaction with life in both samples. In other words, higher FEAR expressions might in part result in lower presence of meaning in life giving way to lower satisfaction with life. Of note, the present work is of cross-sectional nature and causality cannot be implied (only assumed against a theoretical framework provided in this work).

This study investigated the influence of gender stereotypes on adolescents’ vocational aspirations and the potential mitigating effects of gender-inclusive linguistic forms. Building on Fox and Barth’s (2017. The effect of occupational gender stereotypes on men’s interest in female-dominated occupations. Sex Roles , 76 (7–8), 460–472) findings and literature on gender-fair language, we tested if various presentations of occupation titles within healthcare occupational descriptions could decrease the saliency of gender stereotypes. Two hundred and twenty-two adolescents aged between 12 and 19 were provided with descriptions, in French, of healthcare occupations either without any title, in the Masculine grammatical form (the so-called generic form) or in the Pair Form (gender-fair condition). Adolescents’ interest in and anticipated sense of belonging to the presented occupations were measured. Girls’ and boys’ interest in and anticipated sense of belonging to the presented occupations were in line with gender stereotypes, regardless of how the occupations’ titles were presented. We discuss these findings in relation to potential interventions that may help reduce gendered interests in adolescents and health careers.

Previous research shows that people often misinterpret randomness, expecting short-term outcomes to balance out, known as negative recency. Most studies have focused on binary events with equal odds (1:1). This study uniquely examines risk-taking behaviour in an asymmetric setup with 2:1 odds. In two studies, we examined risk-taking behaviour of 178 and 55 participants, respectively, across two investment simulations, whereby individuals had to make sequential decisions (10 × 10 times) about how much money to invest in two kinds of risky shares, alternating randomly over 10 imaginary days: the winner type, with odds 2:1 of winning vs losing, and the loser type, with odds reversed. We analysed correlations of invested amounts with the signed run length and the posterior probability of trading with the "winner” type share, respectively. The first correlation captures the effect of the belief in the run continuing or reversing, and the second one is considered an indicator of economically rational decision-making. Despite the asymmetric setup, 29 and 31% of participants followed maladaptive strategies. Among them, 14 and 7 participants lost all their money before the simulation ended. These findings underscore the detrimental impact of negative recency, leading to significant financial losses and reduced gains.

Globally, urbanization is associated with increased risk for physical and mental diseases. Among other factors, urban stressors (e.g. air pollution) are linked to these increased health risks (e.g. chronic respiratory diseases, depression). Emerging evidence indicates substantial health benefits of exposure to greenspaces in urban populations. However, there is a need for an overarching framework summarizing the plausible underlying biological factors linked to this effect, especially within the context of stress regulation. Therefore, by outlining the effects of greenspace exposure on stress parameters such as allostatic load, oxidative stress, mitochondria, and the microbiome, we conceptualize an integrated biopsychological framework to advance research into the salutogenic and stress-regulatory potential of greenspace exposure. In addition, we discuss the understudied potential health benefits of biogenic volatile organic compounds. Our perspective highlights the potential for innovative greenspace-based interventions to target stress reduction, and their prospect as add-ons to current psychotherapies to promote mental and physical health in urban populations.