The relationship between materialism and well-being: a drawback of western consumer society

Abstract

THE AIMS OF THE PAPER

The study joins in the academic discussion that examines the relationship between materialism and personal well-being since the mid 1980s. The aim of the study is to investigate the nature of the relationship between materialism as a mindset and personal well-being. Furthermore it wishes to identify the drawbacks of western consumer society.

METHODOLOGY

Our analysis was conducted on a sample from a questionnaire survey with 1819 observations, that is concerning demographic characteristics nationally representative. In case of the variables included in our analysis the effect of potential biases arising from questionnaire surveys were managed. We measured the materialism variable, that played a central role in our analysis, as the relative position of wealth and money within the personal value system of respondents, while the life satisfaction and self-esteem variables were calculated as the difference from the sample average. We used OLS-regression for testing the relationship between variables.

MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS

The individuals who indicated wealth and money as important priorities in their value systems were generally more dissatisfied with their lives and had lower self-esteem compared to the respondents who scored lower on the materialism scale. This correlation was found to be irrespective of their actual financial status. Furthermore, irrespective of whether they felt being judged by their environment based on their possession of material goods or not. We found no significant relationship between materialism and the perceived lack of financial opportunities.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Prioritizing materialistic values seems irrational as it can correlate to a decreased personal well-being. Although objective and subjective, as well as social and environmental factors form part of well-being, according to our results being materialistic, and following a consumer culture that emphasizes materialistic values could lead to problems at the level of the individual.