Meet our Researchers
Agata Gąsiorowska
SWPS University is a leading research center in Poland. Results of our research find numerous practical applications in education, business organizations, and public administration. These discoveries require drive, courage, dedication, responsibility, and years of hard work. We would like you to meet the people behind the projects, see the research centers where they work, and discover the fascinating world of science, which improves the quality of life.
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Economic Psychology
Agata Gąsiorowska is an Associate Professor at the Department of Economic Psychology of SWPS University’s Faculty of Psychology in Wrocław. She is a psychologist, specializing in Economic Psychology. She studies various aspects of consumer behavior, including the psychological value of money and impulse buying. Her research interests include usage of money other than currency for purchasing goods and services, and the influence of money on human behavior. She is also interested in individual differences with respect to attitudes towards money.
If you want to work in research, you need to think about the reason and the goal for doing that. If you want to learn something about the future, about human beings, about physics or biology, this is the best motivation for becoming a good researcher
Hear Prof. Gąsiorowska speak about:
Trading in search of structure: Market relationships as a compensatory control tool
The study tested how people form relationships in unpredictable situations, when they do not feel in control. The results indicated that in uncertain circumstances people tend to choose relationships that seem to offer some kind of structure, therefore they lean towards market-related transactions rather than communal relationships. This is especially true of people with an insecure style of attachment as market related transactions bring some order to an uncertain situation. However, this is not necessarily true for securely attached individuals. In general, the study confirmed that market relationships are perceived as more structured than communal relationships.
Read more about Prof. Gąsiorowska's research
- Can we get social assistance without losing agency? Engaging in market relationships as an alternative to searching for help from others
Gasiorowska, A., Zaleskiewicz T. (2022, in press) Published in: Psychological Inquiry
- Anxious and status signaling: Examining the link between attachment style and status consumption and the mediating role of materialistic values
Gasiorowska, A., Folwarczny, M. Otterbring T. (2022, in press) Published in: Personality and Individual Differences
- Trading in search of structure: Market relationships as a compensatory control tool
Gasiorowska, A., Zaleskiewicz T. (2021) Published in: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 120 (2), 300–334
- Money as an Existential Anxiety Buffer: Exposure to Money Prevents Mortality Reminders from Leading to Increased Death Thoughts
Gasiorowska, A., Zaleskiewicz, T., Kesebir, P. (2019). Published in: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 79, 394-409
- Money Cues Increase Agency and Decrease Prosociality Among Children: Early Signs of Market Mode Behaviors
Gasiorowska, A., Chaplin, L.N., Zaleskiewicz, T., Wygrab, S., Vohs, K.D. (2016). Published in: Psychological Science, 27(3), 331-344
- Excessive buying as boredom-triggered behavior
Research project
- Trust as a polymorhous phenomenon. Psychological specificity of trust in communal-sharing and market-procong relations
Research project
Research Center
Center for Research in Economic Behavior (CREB)
CREB is a research center at SWPS University in Wroclaw, Poland. We use different methodological approaches (lab experiments, naturalistic experiments, economic games, questionnaires, neuroimaging methods etc.) to investigate various aspects of people’s economic decisions, attitudes, and behaviors. Current research topics include: the psychological consequences of money; ethical and moral aspects of using money in everyday life; the psychological consequences of our scientific research. CREB members cooperate with researchers from many countries and are active in international scientific organizations, such as International Association for Research in Economic Psychology or International Association of Applied Psychology.
CREB Website