The links among relative financial scarcity, thinking style, fatalism, and well-being.

Abstract

In the present research, we examined the links among relative financial scarcity, thinking style, fatalism, and well-being and their roles in predicting protective behaviors against COVID-19. Study 1 (N = 120) revealed that after an experimental manipulation to induce the perception of relative financial scarcity (versus financial abundance), people who perceived higher relative financial scarcity changed their thinking style to a more concrete mindset. In Study 2 (N = 873), the relative financial abundance-scarcity situation was measured, and the results showed that the greater the perceived relative financial scarcity was, the more concrete the mindset and the lower the sense of well-being. Importantly, we found that individuals who felt poorer but maintained an abstract thinking style reported higher well-being. Study 3 (N = 501) examined the influence of a concrete thinking style in people who perceived that their economic situation had worsened with the pandemic. The results showed that when this vulnerable population presented a more concrete mindset, they reported lower well-being, higher fatalism, and lower protective behavior against COVID-19. Thus, maintaining an abstract mindset promotes higher well-being, lower fatalism, and greater protective behaviors against COVID-19, even under economic difficulties. Because thinking style can be modified, our results encourage the development of new social intervention programs to promote an abstract mindset when people face important challenges.