Nature Lowers Materialism:the Mediation Effect Of Mindfulness And Self-awareness

Although materialism is a popular value,plenty of researches have shown that materialism negatively affects one’s physical and mental health,leads to problematic consumption behavior,and may lead to a series of social problems.This study uses a combination of survey and experiment method to demonstrate that objective exposure to nature and the subjective sense of connectedness to nature,which results from repeatedly interact with nature environment,can both predict lower levels of materialism.In Study 1,we collected data from 193 Wuhan University students through a survey,including the Material Values Scale(MVS),the Aspiration Index(AI).the Connectedness to Nature Scale(CNS),the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale(MAAS),and the Self-Consciousness Scale(SCS).By correlation and linear regression analysis,we find that from personal traits,connectedness to natural and mindfulness predict lower materialism,while public self-awareness predicts higher materialism;mindfulness partially mediates the negative relation between connectedness to natural and materialism.In Study 2,98 students were randomly assigned to the natural group(N=28),the urban group(N=28),and the control group(N=42).Each group watched a short video about walk in the natural environment,walk in the urban environment,or a funny movie respectively.At the end of the video,they filled in a series of questionnaires,including the Aspiration Index(AI),the situational self-awareness scale(SSAS),the situational mindfulness scales(SMS)and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule(PANAS).By ANOVA and linear regression,it was found that compared with the urban group and the control group,participants in the natural group reported lower average extrinsic motivation as well as lower motivation for becoming rich;compared with the urban group,participants in the natural group reported lower motivation for becoming famous.Positive emotions have no significant effect on materialistic goals.Public self-awareness partially mediates the relation between environmental manipulations and materialistic goals.