Materialism and well being: Examining the strength of the negative relationship using multiple materialism measures and controlling for important variables

The present study examined whether the established negative relationship between materialism and well being remained significant after controlling for important variables that the literature has previously shown to be associated with well being. The study also sought to examine multiple materialism measures in relationship to one another and well being, as little past research has examined more than one materialism measure within the same study. Additionally, the present study sought to better understand the relationship between materialism and important well being measures that had not been examined extensively in previous studies. Finally, this study sought to examine the relationship between materialism and well being with an adult sample, as a significant amount of past research examined the relationship with samples of college undergraduates. Materialism measures examined were the Ger/Belk Scale, the Richins/Dawson Scale, and the importance, likelihood, and attainment dimensions of the Aspirations Index. Well being measures examined were the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES). Zero order correlations and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Correlations among the materialism measures supported theoretical divides previously proposed regarding the varied conceptualizations and measurements of materialism. Results also indicated that the Ger/Belk Scale, the Richins/Dawson Scale, and the dimension of extrinsic attainment on the Aspirations Index each had a significant negative correlation with both the SWLS and the RSES, while the extrinsic importance and extrinsic likelihood dimensions of the Aspirations Index did not. The possibility that the dimension of extrinsic attainment, of the three dimensions on the Aspirations Index, is an incrementally better measure of extrinsic prioritization was explored. The multiple regression analyses indicated that the negative relationship between materialism and well being is strong, remaining significant after controlling for other important variables associated with well being and even as those other variables ceased showing a significant association with well being. These findings support previous theorizing regarding the unsatisfying nature of material pursuits. Finally, results also indicated that looking at materialism as a personal value (Richins & Dawson, 1992) may be a particularly strong and useful theoretical conceptualization, especially when it comes to assessing the relationship between materialism and well being.