web viewthe first word of each group label then indicates whether each child is in the top ... the...

The effect of owning consumer goods on the relationship between materialism and well-being in children

Word Count: 5896

Candidate Number: 78918

Project Supervisor: Dr Helga Dittmar

Candidate number: 78918

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate whether the actual level of consumer goods

children own has an effect on the relationship they experience between materialism and well-

being. To investigate this, 553 children aged 7-10 years completed a questionnaire including

measures of materialism and well-being. Hierarchical multiple regressions determined the

relationships between materialism and well-being in four groups representing different levels

of owned consumer goods. Overall, a negative relationship was found between materialism

and well-being. This relationship was greatly influenced by the level of consumer goods the

children owned, with possible explanations provided. Future research needs to determine the

direction of causality of this relationship, with suggestions provided for interventions to

reduce the negative relationship between materialism and well-being.

2


Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my project supervisor Dr Helga Dittmar for giving me guidance

throughout my research project, and for allowing me to use part of the data obtained within

the Consumer Culture Project for my own research. I would also like to thank Dr Matt

Easterbrook for organising the data collection days in the local schools in the area. In

addition, thanks go to all of the other Psychology undergraduate students who helped with

this data collection and also to the schools and children who took their time to complete the

questionnaires.

3


Introduction

An investigation into the effect of owning consumer goods on the relationship

between materialism and well-being in children is sorely needed. Whilst extensive research

has consistently found a negative relationship between materialism and psychological health

among adults (e.g. Belk, 1985), the existence of this association in children has yet to be

determined. What little research has been conducted with children has tended to focus on

those in secondary school (Piko, 2006; Froh, Emmons, Card, Bono & Wilson, 2011), with a

single study venturing into a younger cohort (Hebben-Wadey, 2011). In addition,

investigations into materialism have rarely incorporated a measure of physical health,

choosing to solely focus on psychological well-being. In terms of the influence of owned

consumer goods, a handful of studies have focussed on the moderating effect of income on

the materialism and well-being relationship (La Barbera & Gürhan, 1997), yet the effect of

owned consumer goods is yet to be explored. This research is of particular importance as it

could help to determine whether some groups experience stronger associations between

materialism and well-being due to their level of owned consumer goods.

Materialism and Self-Determination Theory

Materialism can be defined as “a preoccupation with, desire for, and emphasis on,

material goods and money to the neglect of other matters” (Garðarsdóttir, Janković &

Dittmar, 2008, p. 74). A vast amount of research has been dedicated to the effects of holding

such materialistic values on an individual (e.g. Belk, 1985). In addition, an invaluable source

when understanding the effects of materialism has been self-determination theory (SDT; Deci

& Ryan, 2000). This theory proposes that all humans have three innate psychological needs:

competence, autonomy and relatedness, which are satisfied through the fulfilment of intrinsic

goals. Individuals choose to fulfil goals such as these purely due to the interest and personal

growth they expect to gain from them (Kasser & Ryan, 1996). In contrast, extrinsic goals

4


require the judgement of others to validate their success, and have been found to be negatively

correlated with competence, autonomy and relatedness need satisfaction (Kashdan & Breen,

2007). The SDT proposes that a focus on extrinsic, rather than intrinsic goals results in a

lower well-being, as a lack of attention is being given to the satisfaction of the innate

psychological needs. Several studies support this proposition, showing that the endorsement

of extrinsic and intrinsic goals is negatively and positively associated with well-being,

respectively (Kasser & Ryan, 1996). This is of particular interest to the present study as one

example of an extrinsic goal is a striving for financial success; in other words, a materialistic

goal. Based on the SDT, materialism should be negatively related to well-being, due to the

subsequent lack of psychological need satisfaction.

Materialism, Subjective Well-Being (SWB) and Depression

Endless studies have validated this proposed negative link between materialism and

well-being. Whilst these studies have chosen to represent well-being using a variety of

measures, they have all come to the same conclusion. Numerous correlational studies with

adult and university student samples have uncovered a significant negative relationship

between the endorsement of materialistic values and overall life satisfaction (Richins &

Dawson, 1992; Vansteenkiste, Duriez, Simons & Soenens, 2006; Ahuvia & Wong, 1995;

Roberts & Clement, 2007; Wright & Larsen, 1993; Ryan & Dziurawiec, 2001). Additional

research has found significant negative correlations between materialism and SWB (Belk,

1985; La Barbera & Gürhan, 1997) and measures of happiness (Kasser & Ahuvia, 2002), and

significant positive correlations between materialism and measures of unhappiness (Kasser &

Ahuvia, 2002) and general negative affect (Kashdan & Breen, 2007).

In addition research has also focussed on the relationship between materialism and

depression. Whilst not quite as extensively researched, a consistent finding has still arisen that

5


holding materialistic values or prioritising financial success aspirations is positively linked

with depression in adults (Kasser & Ryan, 1993; Smith, 2010; Kashdan & Breen, 2007). As a

result, it is now widely accepted in the field that materialism has an unfavourable relationship

with psychological well-being among the adult population (Smith, 2010).

Materialism and Physical Health

Whilst a clear relationship has been established between materialism and

psychological well-being, very little is known about the association between physical health

and materialism. Within the body of research into materialism and well-being, only Kasser

and Ahuvia (2002) and Kasser and Ryan (1996) appear to have included a measure of

physical health. In a university student sample, Kasser and Ahuvia (2002) found a positive

relationship between materialistic values and physical symptoms, whilst Kasser and Ryan

(1996) discovered in an adult sample that extrinsic aspirations were again positively

associated with physical symptoms. These results hint that materialism may have a similar

relationship with physical health as it does with psychological health, yet this sheer lack of

substantial research prevents firm conclusions being made.

Materialism in Children

A key issue with regards to materialism and well-being research is the common focus

on adult samples (Hebben-Wadey, 2011). Evidence shows the existence of a negative

relationship between materialism and SWB (Belk, 1985) and a positive relationship between

materialism and depression (Smith, 2010) in adults, yet this cannot be extrapolated to a

younger population. A handful of studies have attempted to investigate the presence of these

relationships in children, but have produced mixed results (e.g. Piko, 2006). Among

American children aged 14-19 years, Froh, Emmons, Card, Bono and Wilson (2011) found an

initial small negative association between materialism and life satisfaction. However, this

6


transformed into a positive association when gratitude was controlled for. In addition, no

significant relationship was found between materialism and depression, contrary to the

findings in adult samples (Kashdan & Breen, 2007). Piko (2006) conducted similar research

using Hungarian children aged 14-21 years. The relationship between life satisfaction and

materialism was found to differ depending on the aspect of materialism that was being

investigated. Materialistic success (judging someone’s success based on material possessions)

was positively related to life satisfaction, whereas materialistic happiness (the belief that

material goods bring happiness) was negatively related to life satisfaction. The sole study

investigating materialism and well-being in pre-adolescent children (aged 8-11 years) found

no relationships between any well-being measures and materialism (Hebben-Wadey, 2011).

Far from replicating the findings found among adults (La Barbera & Gürhan, 1997),

the little research conducted with a younger cohort provides a complicated picture. It is clear

that further research is needed to determine the true relationship between materialism and

well-being in children.

Actual Level of Consumer Goods

Whilst the SDT suggests that all humans are equally affected by the endorsement of

extrinsic goals such as materialism (Deci & Ryan, 2000), an alternative perspective proposes

a key moderating factor in this relationship. Goal-attainment perspectives hypothesise that

well-being is determined not by the content of a goal, but by whether the goal is successfully

achieved (Emmons, 1986). As a result, this theory predicts that the negative relationship

between materialism and well-being only exists if the materialistic goal has not been fulfilled;

the negative relationship should cease to exist at the accomplishment of the goal, regardless of

its extrinsic nature. The few studies testing this theory regarding materialism and well-being

have focused on the use of money to achieve the goals (e.g. La Barbera & Gürhan, 1997). It

7


has been found that a combination of high income and high materialistic values results in

higher SWB than a combination of low income and high materialistic values (La Barbera &

Gürhan, 1997), suggesting that high income contributed to the fulfilment of the materialistic

goal. Similarly, Nickerson, Schwarz, Diener and Kahneman (2003) found that the negative

relationship between the goal for financial success and life satisfaction was moderated by

household income. At the top end of the income spectrum, there was little difference in life

satisfaction between individuals, regardless of the strength of their financial success goals.

It should be noted that these studies are focussing on the influence of income on the

relationship between materialism and well-being, as opposed to level of material goods.

Understandably, it may be assumed that an increased income automatically equates to an

increased ability to purchase material goods, yet no study appears to have directly measured

the level of owned consumer goods in relation to the materialism and well-being link.

The Present Research

Whilst numerous studies have highlighted a clear negative relationship between

materialism and psychological well-being in adults (Smith, 2010), little research has

attempted to investigate this relationship in children. Self-determination theory suggests that

an identical negative relationship should exist within children, as the extrinsic characteristics

of materialistic goals prevent the satisfaction of innate psychological needs in all humans,

regardless of age (Deci & Ryan, 2010). However, the small cluster of research in existence

into materialism and well-being in children provides a complicated pattern, with no clear

conclusion able to be drawn (Piko, 2006). In addition, the literature regarding the associations

of materialism has almost exclusively focused on the psychological aspects of well-being with

little regard being given to the relationship physical well-being may have with materialism.

8


Furthermore, previous research into the relationship between materialism and well-

being has given little consideration to the potential effect that owning material goods could

have on this relationship. Whilst SDT argues that extrinsic goals will always lead to a reduced

well-being (Deci & Ryan, 2000), goal-attainment perspectives propose that well-being is

determined by whether a goal is satisfied or not, regardless of its nature (Emmons, 1986).

Preliminary research into this area has suggested that this may be the case, with the

relationship between financial success goals and well-being being moderated by income level

(Nickerson et al., 2003). However, the present study appears to be the first to investigate

whether the actual level of consumer goods a child owns influences the relationship they

experience between materialism and well-being.

Due to the lack of previous research using a pre-adolescent sample, the present study

aims to investigate whether the ability to achieve materialistic goals has an effect on the

potential relationship between materialism and well-being in children aged 7-10 years. To

accomplish this, it will first be investigated whether a materialistic value orientation is linked

to lower well-being in children, based on the well-established negative relationship between

materialism and well-being in adults. Second, if this relationship exists, it will be examined

whether children’s actual level of owning desirable consumer goods has an effect on this

relationship between materialism and well-being.

9


Method

Participants

Five hundred and fifty-three primary school children (293 boys, 260 girls) took part in

this study. Participants ranged in age from seven to ten years (M = 8.4 years), with the

majority of participants being white British (>90%). All participants were recruited from three

local Primary Schools which varied in SES; two schools were below average for the number

of pupils eligible for free school dinners, whereas the third was above average for eligibility.

Participants were taken from a larger ongoing research project on Consumer Culture and

well-being in children (Dittmar, Banerjee, Wright & Easterbrook, n.d.).

Measures

Internalisation of Materialistic Consumer Culture Values. The Materialism subscale

of the Consumer Culture Values Scale was used to assess materialistic internalisation. The

scale was developed as part of the larger Consumer Culture study by Dittmar et al. (n.d.). The

items were based on qualitative interviews and developed to be age appropriate. The items are

rated on a 4-point scale, ranging from not at all true to very true, with children asked to rate

how true each statement is for them. For example, “I wish I was rich like the celebrities on

TV”. This 13-item scale had good reliability, = .85.

Extrinsic Materialistic Motives. The Extrinsic subscale of the Materialistic Motives

Scale was used, again designed within the larger Consumer Culture study (Dittmar et al.,

n.d.). Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 60 children in years 4-10 to determine

what motives these children held for materialism. Motive themes were then determined, with

questions designed around them to include in the questionnaire scale. The 16-item subscale

used a 4-point rating scale, ranging from disagree a lot to agree a lot, and asked children to

10


rate which reasons were relevant to them when answering why having money and cool things

was important. An example reason was “it makes you more popular”. The scale had excellent

reliability, = .93.

Depression. The 10-item Children’s Depression Inventory- short form (CDI-S),

developed by Kovacs (1985), was used to assess depression by asking children which of three

responses was most true for them. An example set of options is “I am sad once in a while; I

am sad many times; I am sad all the time”. The scale had good reliability, = .80.

Subjective Well-Being. An adapted version of the Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner,

1991) was used to incorporate measures of affect, allowing subjective well-being to be

assessed rather than just life satisfaction. Using a 4-point rating scale, participants indicated

how much they agreed with statements such as “my life is going well” and “in the last month,

I have felt happy very often”. This 7-item scale had good reliability, = .80.

General Health. General health was assessed using an adapted version of the somatic

symptoms subscale of the General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979).

Participants indicated how true each health statement was for them in the past few weeks,

with a 4-point rating scale, ranging from not at all true to very true, being used to answer. An

example statement is “I have often felt stomach pains”. This 6-item scale had questionable

reliability, = .69, yet was just on the threshold for good reliability, so was deemed

satisfactory to include in the analysis.

Level of Consumer Goods. This was assessed using a sociometric measure designed as

part of the larger Consumer Culture study (Dittmar et al., n.d.), and based on Coie and Dodge

(1983). The measure required participants to nominate three others in their class who they

believed had the “most stuff”. These nominations were then converted into a standardized

11


score indicating how often each child was nominated as having the “most stuff”, illustrating

which children were viewed as having the highest level of consumer goods by their peers.

SES. An adapted version of the SES scale by Currie, Elton, Todd and Platt (1997) was

used. School code was also used as an additional measure of SES, as the number of children

eligible for free school dinners differed between the three schools, reflecting a difference in

SES between the schools.

Procedure and Ethical Issues

Prior to the research team entering the schools for data collection, parental consent

was gained for the children to take part in the study, as all participants were under the age of

16 years (this consent form can be viewed in the appendices). Participants completed the

Consumer Culture questionnaire, which incorporated the measures used in the present study,

in their classes at school (questionnaire also available in the appendices).

Before being given the questionnaire, participants were briefed about the procedure.

They were informed that the questionnaire was looking at how they felt about themselves,

their life, and the other children in their class. They were also told that there were no right or

wrong answers to the questions. It was reiterated that their answers would be kept confidential

from their classmates and teachers, with only the research team looking at their responses.

Also, code numbers were used so that their name could not be identified on their

questionnaire. The children were also made aware that they could skip any question that they

felt uncomfortable answering, and that they could choose to not complete the questionnaire if

they wished. Participants were given as much time as they needed to complete the

questionnaire.

12


On completion, the aims of the study were explained to the children, with an

opportunity being given to ask questions. The children were advised that if they had been

affected by any of the questions to seek guidance from their teacher, or to use other organised

forms of support within the school.

It should also be noted that a CRB check was gained prior to researchers entering the

schools and that a teacher was always present when the questionnaires were being completed.

Ethical approval has been gained from the School of Psychology for the present project, with

full ethical approval having also been gained for the larger Consumer Culture project (Dittmar

et al., n.d.). The present research complied fully with BPS ethical guidelines.

13


Results

General Relationship between Materialism and Well-Being

Descriptive statistics for, and intercorrelations between, the study variables can be

seen in Table 1. These statistics illustrate that, on average, children scored just above the

midpoint for materialistic values, just below the midpoint for extrinsic materialistic motives,

below the midpoint for depression, and above the midpoint for both subjective well-being

(SWB) and general health. This indicates that, as a whole, the children scored around average

for materialism, and above average for measures of well-being.

To investigate whether the negative relationship between materialism and well-being

found in adults is also present in children, one-way partial correlations between the study

variables were calculated (see Table 1). These partial correlations controlled for two measures

of socio-economic status (child’s SES and school code) to ensure that potential relationships

between the measures were not influenced by the differing average SES levels of children

from the three schools.

As can be seen in Table 1, five of the six correlations between the materialism and

well-being measures are significant, with only general health not having a significant link

with materialism internalisation. The significant findings unanimously indicate a negative

relationship between materialism and children’s well-being.

14


Table 1

Descriptive Statistics and Correlations between Study Variables for Overall Sample (N = 476)

Variable M (SD) 1 2 3 4 51. Materialism internalisation

2.65 (.65)

-

2. Extrinsic materialistic motives

2.21 (.77)

.56*** -

3. Depression 1.32 (.34)

.09* .09* -

4. Subjective well-being

3.21 (.64)

-.09* -.09* -.59*** -

5. General health

2.99 (.65)

-.02 -.08* -.41*** .27*** -

Note. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Effect of Children’s Ownership of Desirable Consumer Goods on the Relationship between

Materialism and Well-Being

To investigate whether the actual level of consumer goods children own has an effect

on the negative relationship found between materialism and well-being, the sociometric

nominations of “most stuff” were used as an indication of level of consumer goods. All

children received a standardized score indicating how often they had been nominated as

“having the most stuff” by their classmates. The highest scores on this continuum represent

the children who were believed to have the most stuff, whereas the lowest scores were

assigned to the children rarely receiving a nomination for “having the most stuff”; in other

words, these children were believed to have the “least stuff”. These standardized scores were

then used to create four groups representing increasing levels of ownership of fashionable and

desirable consumer goods. Figure 1 helps to illustrate how these four groups correspond to the

standardized scores allocated to the children. The “bottom bottom” group includes the 25% of

children who received the least number of “having the most stuff” nominations, whereas the

“top top” group comprises the 25% of children who received the greatest number of “having

15


the most stuff” nominations. Simply put, these groups represent the children with the lowest

and highest levels of consumer goods, respectively. The “top bottom” and “bottom top”

groups in turn represent the children with increasing numbers of “having the most stuff”

nominations. For each group label, the second word indicates whether the children are above

or below the nominations scale midpoint. Those above the midpoint generally own a fair

number of consumer goods, whereas those below the midpoint are generally more lacking in

consumer goods. The first word of each group label then indicates whether each child is in the

top or bottom half of their overarching group, so specifies whether the child has a higher

number of consumer goods in comparison to others in their overarching group, or a lower

number in comparison.

Figure 1. Illustration of the location of each group with regards to the actual level of consumer goods a child owns (i.e. amount of “stuff” by quartiles).

These four groups have been created to allow the relationship between materialism

and well-being to be investigated separately for each group. By doing so, it can be

investigated whether the relationship between materialism and well-being differs depending

on which group it was being investigated within; in other words, we are addressing this

question: Does the relationship between materialism and well-being differ depending on the

level of consumer goods a child owns?

16


To investigate the relationship between materialism and well-being, hierarchical

multiple regressions were conducted for each group separately. By running hierarchical

multiple regressions, the unique relationship of each materialism variable with the well-being

variable could be investigated, as the effects of the additional variables were controlled for.

For each consumer goods group, three initial regression analyses were conducted, one for

each well-being variable (depression, subjective well-being and general health). Each

regression analysis consisted of six steps. Extraneous variables were first controlled for (step

1: SES, school code; step 2: gender). Materialism internalisation was then entered (step 3),

followed by extrinsic materialistic motives (step 4). To investigate whether the potential

relationships between materialism and well-being could differ by gender, interaction terms

between the materialism measures (mean-centred) and gender were then entered into the

regression analysis (step 5: materialism internalisation x gender; step 6: extrinsic materialistic

motives x gender).

The following sections provide descriptive statistics and partial correlations between

the study variables for each of the four consumer goods groups. This is then followed by the

results of the three initial hierarchical multiple regression analyses conducted within each of

the four groups, with the significant model (if any) reported for each well-being variable.

Bottom Bottom Group

Descriptive statistics and partial correlations (controlling for SES and school code)

between the study variables for the bottom bottom consumer goods group are displayed in

Table 2.

17


Table 2

Descriptive Statistics and Correlations between Study Variables for Bottom Bottom Group (N = 108)


2.66 (.64)

-


2.26 (.78)

.52*** -


.21* .23* -


3.16 (.70)

-.21* -.24* -.57*** -

5. General health

2.90 (.74)

-.05 -.18‡ -.42*** .27** -

Note. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001, ‡p < .07

Table 3 displays the results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses for

depression and SWB within the bottom bottom group. As can be seen, within this lowest level

of consumer goods group, materialism internalisation has a significant positive relationship

with depression, and a significant negative relationship with SWB, with no other variables

being significantly associated with the two well-being variables. Both models partially

violated the normality of errors assumption, with the SWB model including an above-

threshold number of outliers, so caution should be taken when generalising these results to the

wider population.

When investigating the relationship between materialism and general health, extrinsic

materialistic motives was found to be marginally negatively associated with general health, β

= -.23, p = .06. This result is not tabulated due to its non-significant nature.

18


Table 3

Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses for Depression and Subjective Well-Being

Depression Subjective well-beingVariable ΔR² β p ΔR² β pStep 1 .007 .029

SES .02 .81 -.16 .10School code .09 .39 .02 .81

Step 2 .001 .002SES .03 .79 -.17 .09School code .09 .38 .02 .84Gender .03 .80 -.04 .67

Step 3 .045* .045*SES .01 .93 -.15 .13School code .00 1.00 .11 .30Gender .05 .63 -.06 .51Materialism internalisation

.23 .03 -.23 .03

Total R² .053* .075*Note. *p < .05

Top Bottom Group


between the study variables for the top bottom consumer goods group are displayed in Table

4.

19


Table 4

Descriptive Statistics and Correlations between Study Variables for Top Bottom Group (N = 136)


2.52 (.64)

-


2.03 (.77)

.63*** -


-.05 .10 -


3.21 (.56)

.06 -.09 -.46*** -

5. General health

3.05 (.59)

-.01 -.08 -.38*** .13 -

Note. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

As a result of the hierarchical multiple regressions conducted in this top bottom

consumer goods group, extrinsic materialistic motives was found to be marginally positively

associated with depression, β = .24, p = .06, and marginally negatively associated with SWB,

β = -.23, p = .07. A marginal positive association was also found between the interaction of

extrinsic materialistic motives and gender, and general health, β = .55, p = .07. Additional

analysis was conducted to determine what the effect of gender was on the relationship

between extrinsic materialistic motives and general health. Two hierarchical multiple

regressions were conducted, one for each gender. Extraneous variables were again controlled

for (step 1: SES, school code), with materialism internalisation being entered in step 2, and

extrinsic materialistic motives being entered in step 3. Table 5 outlines the key results of this

regression analysis. A significant negative association between extrinsic materialistic motives

and general health was found in boys, with no significant relationship being found in girls.

The depression model partially violated the normality of errors assumption, the

homoscedasticity assumption, and had an above-threshold number of outliers. The SWB

model also partially violated the normality of errors assumption and had an above-threshold

20


number of outliers. Caution should be taken when generalising the findings of both models to

the wider population.

Table 5

Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses for General Health, Split by Gender

Boys GirlsVariable ΔR² β p ΔR² Β pStep 1 .062 .010

SES .00 .98 -.10 .44School code -.25 .03 -.02 .89

Step 2 .001 .001SES .00 .98 -.10 .45School code -.24 .03 -.01 .96Materialism internalisation

-.02 .84 -.04 .79

Step 3 .051* .002SES -.00 .98 -.10 .47School code -.14 .25 -.02 .89Materialism internalisation

.16 .26 -.06 .70

Extrinsic materialistic motives

-.32 .04 .05 .77

Total R² .113* .013Note. *p < .05.

Bottom Top Group


between the study variables for the bottom top consumer goods group are displayed in Table

6.

21


Table 6

Descriptive Statistics and Correlations between Study Variables for Bottom Top Group (N = 117)


2.73 (.69)

-


2.33 (.78)

.54*** -


.20* .05 -


3.22 (.65)

-.21* -.07 -.64*** -

5. General health

2.99 (.64)

-.03 -.11 -.37*** .22* -

Note. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Table 7 summarises the results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses for

depression and SWB within the bottom top consumer goods group. Materialism

internalisation was found to be significantly positively associated with depression, and

significantly negatively associated with SWB. Both models partially violated the normality of

errors assumption, homoscedasticity assumption, with the depression model also having an

above-threshold number of outliers, meaning caution should be taken when applying both

models to the wider population.

22


Table 7


Depression Subjective well-beingVariable ΔR² β p ΔR² β pStep 1 .039 .028

SES .16 .09 -.16 .08School code .15 .12 .01 .88

Step 2 .004 .001SES .16 .10 -.17 .08School code .13 .17 .01 .96Gender .06 .50 .04 .68

Step 3 .046* .041*SES .13 .16 -.14 .13School code .03 .77 .10 .33Gender .12 .21 -.01 .89Materialism internalisation

.24 .02 -.23 .03

Total R² .089* .070*Note. *p < .05.

As can be seen in Table 8, the hierarchical multiple regression analysis found general

health to be significantly, negatively associated with gender and school code. In addition, this

regression analysis found that extrinsic materialistic motives was marginally negatively

associated with general health, β = -.22, p = .07. Again this is not tabulated due to its non-

significant nature.

Table 8

Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis for General Health

General healthVariable ΔR² β pStep 1 .066*

SES -.12 .19School code -.25 .01

Step 2 .040*SES -.10 .26School code -.20 .03Gender -.21 .03

Total R² .105*Note. *p < .05.

23


Top Top Group


between the study variables for the top top consumer goods group are displayed in Table 9.

Table 9

Descriptive Statistics and Correlations between Study Variables for Top Top Group (N = 115)


2.70 (.60)

-


2.23 (.73)

.55*** -


.03 .01 -


3.24 (.66)

.02 .06 -.66*** -

5. General health

3.01 (.62)

.01 .05 -.47*** .46*** -

Note. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Table 10 outlines the hierarchical multiple regression analysis for depression in the top

top consumer goods group. A significant association was found between depression and the

interaction of extrinsic materialistic motives and gender. Further analysis was conducted to

determine how gender was affecting the extrinsic materialistic motives and depression

relationship. Two hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted, one for each

gender. Variables entered into the model were SES and school code (step 1), materialism

internalisation (step 2), and extrinsic materialistic motives (step 3). The analysis results are

shown in Table 11, illustrating a significant positive association between extrinsic

materialistic motives and depression in boys, and a significant negative association between

the two variables in girls.

24


The hierarchical multiple regression analyses for SWB and general health both

produced significant results; gender was found to be significantly, negatively associated with

both variables (Table 12). However, no relationship was found between the materialism and

well-being variables.

The initial depression model, boys’ depression model and SWB model all violated the

normality of errors assumption, with all five models in the top top group having an above-

threshold number of outliers, meaning caution should be taken when applying the findings to

the wider population.

25


Table 10

Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis for Depression

DepressionVariable ΔR² β pStep 1 .002

SES -.04 .68School code .01 .93

Step 2 .021SES -.05 .61School code .01 .95Gender .15 .13

Step 3 .004SES -.04 .67School code -.01 .91Gender .16 .10Materialism internalisation

.07 .53


.06 .62


.01 .94


.03 .88


.01 .93

MI x gender .13 .76Step 6 .074**

SES -.07 .44School code -.04 .68Gender .19 .67Materialism internalisation

-.16 .36


.31 .05

MI x gender 1.02 .05ExMM x gender

-1.08 .00

26


Total R² .101**Note. **p <.01.

Table 11

Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses for Depression, Split by Gender

Boys GirlsVariable ΔR² β p ΔR² Β pStep 1 .004 .005

SES -.05 .67 -.03 .86School code -.04 .78 .05 .73

Step 2 .001 .006SES .05 .68 -.02 .92School code -.04 .74 .03 .87Materialism internalisation

.04 .78 .08 .61

Step 3 .093* .093*SES -.12 .32 .01 .95School code -.19 .18 .12 .49Materialism internalisation

-.16 .29 .30 .12


.41 .01 -.40 .04

Total R² .098* .104*Note. *p < .05.

Table 12


Subjective well-being General healthVariable ΔR² β p ΔR² β pStep 1 .004 .001

SES .07 .50 -.03 .78School code .01 .89 .02 .85

Step 2 .038* .057**SES .08 .41 -.01 .89School code .02 .87 .02 .85Gender -.20 .04 -.24 .01

Total R² .042* .058**Note. *p < .05, **p < .01.

27


Discussion

The present study demonstrates that, in line with unanimous findings among adults

(e.g. Wright & Larsen, 1993; Smith, 2010), a negative relationship exists between materialism

and psychological well-being in children aged 7-10 years. Self-determination theory proposes

that this negative relationship is due to the extrinsic nature of the values “crowding out” more

intrinsic values, which serve to fulfil psychological needs (Deci & Ryan, 2000). The evidence

gained here suggests that this explanation could also be applied to pre-adolescent children, as

they too are experiencing a negative relationship between materialistic values and

psychological well-being. However, due to the correlational nature of this research, no

conclusions can be drawn regarding the direction of causality between these variables,

meaning it is equally plausible that lower well-being is triggering an increase in materialistic

values, as opposed to materialistic values decreasing well-being.

In addition, the findings provide some evidence for a negative association between

materialism and physical health in pre-adolescent children, with general health being found to

negatively correlate with one of the two materialism measures: extrinsic materialistic motives.

This indicates that materialism is related not only to psychological health, but may also be

associated with physical health. However, as this conclusion was only partially supported,

further investigation is needed to clarify this proposed additional relationship.

These findings provide some of the first evidence that a negative relationship exists

between materialism and well-being in pre-adolescent children. Whilst the small amount of

child-focussed previous research has demonstrated non-significant or inconsistent results

(Hebben-Wadey, 2011; Piko, 2006), these findings appear to be the first to indicate that

children experience a negative relationship identical to that experienced by adults (e.g. Belk,

1985).

28


Whilst the present study has clearly demonstrated a link between materialism and

well-being in children, further research needs to determine the direction of causality between

the two. Ideally, longitudinal or experimental research is needed to determine whether a high

level of materialism is the precursor to decreased well-being, or vice versa. There may even

be a bidirectional relationship between the variables. However, until further exploration is

carried out, this is purely speculation. To date, little work has investigated the direction of

causality between materialism and well-being, with the limited research in existence

producing predominantly non-significant results (Smith, 2010; Laisawat, Jantarat, Ong &

Maschis, 2012), highlighting the great need for further research.

This study has also demonstrated that the relationship between materialism and well-

being in children is influenced by the actual level of consumer goods owned. Yet far from

there being a simple, linear interaction between an increase in material goods and the strength

of the materialism and well-being link (as is the case suggested by goal-attainment

perspectives; La Barbera & Gürhan, 1997), it appears that the influence of consumer goods is

dependent on a child’s level of consumer goods in relation to the levels of those around them.

As stated earlier, the location of the four consumer goods groups on the “having the most

stuff” continuum is considered both with respect to whether they are above or below the scale

midpoint, and also whether they are in the top or bottom half of their overarching group (see

figure 1). The general trend of the results suggests that the relationship experienced by the

children between materialism and well-being was dependent on whether they were in the top

or the bottom half of their overarching group. Children in the bottom half of both overarching

groups experienced a negative relationship between materialism internalisation and subjective

well-being, and a positive relationship between materialism internalisation and depression.

The size of each relationship was virtually identical, indicating four very consistent

associations.

29


In comparison, the children in the top half of both overarching groups predominantly

experienced non-significant relationships between materialism and psychological well-being

measures (although marginally significant relationships were found in the “top bottom” group

between extrinsic materialistic motives and both psychological well-being measures). When

considering these results, including the marginal findings, it shows that children in the top

half of their overarching group experience a much weaker relationship between materialism

and psychological well-being than children in the bottom half of their overarching group,

regardless of which overarching group they are in. However, the relationship between

materialism and depression in the “top top” group does not fit this trend; boys experienced a

positive relationship between extrinsic materialistic motives and depression, yet girls

experienced a negative relationship between these variables. This is inconsistent with the

majority of the results, as it suggests that girls in this group actually experience an

advantageous relationship between extrinsic materialistic motives and depression.

Despite this irregularity, the overall trend of the results implies an influence of social

comparison on the relationship between materialism and psychological well-being.

Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory suggests that individuals have a drive for self-

evaluation, which they satisfy by comparing themselves with others. If the individual is in a

worse position than their comparison target, their well-being decreases, and vice versa when

in a better position. In the case of the present study, children may be using social comparison

to judge their ability to fulfil their materialistic goals (meaning that goal-attainment

perspectives are still relevant, as their well-being is indirectly linked to the achievement of

materialistic goals). If children used the other group within their overarching group as a

comparison, the expected effects would be as follows:

30


Those in the bottom half of the overarching group would experience decreased well-

being, as comparison shows they do not have as many material goods as the top half

group, indicating a failure at fulfilling their materialistic goals.

Those in the top half of the overarching group should experience increased well-being

(or at least not a decrease), as they learn they are doing better than the other group at

fulfilling their materialistic goals, by owning more consumer goods in comparison.

This expectation is fairly well mirrored in the present study, suggesting that this complicated

relationship between materialism, social comparison, goal-attainment success, and

psychological well-being may exist. However, it must be stressed that until research is

conducted to determine the direction of causality between materialism and well-being, this

explanation is only speculatory. Conversely it may be that the level of owned consumer goods

has a direct influence on well-being, which in turn dictates materialism levels. Despite this,

these results are still the first to demonstrate that the level of consumer goods a child owns

can influence the relationship they experience between materialism and psychological well-

being. This adds to the current literature by suggesting that the negative relationship between

materialism and well-being is not as robust as has been previously suggested within self-

determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), and can be influenced by additional factors.

A similar framework cannot be applied to the results regarding general health, as no

clear trend is evident. The only significant relationship found in any group was a negative

relationship between extrinsic materialistic motives and general health in boys in the “top

bottom” group. One possible explanation for this lack of similarity between psychological and

physical health is that the two areas are completely distinct from each other, with each

experiencing a unique relationship with materialism.

31


This is one of the first studies to show that children as young as seven years of age

experience a negative association between materialism and well-being, and also that the level

of material goods these children own influences this relationship. The proven existence of

these relationships suggests that interventions are needed to focus on reducing the negative

relationship that children experience between materialism and well-being. In particular some

groups of children experience stronger forms of this relationship based on their level of

owned consumer goods, highlighting that some children are more “at risk” of this negative

relationship than others. Once research has been conducted to determine the direction of

causality between materialism and well-being, it will be possible to design interventions to

help reduce this negative relationship in children. Depending on the potential nature of this

relationship, interventions could focus on preventing materialism from having an adverse

effect on well-being; or conversely could prevent a decreased well-being from initiating

materialistic tendencies (or indeed could improve well-being in the first place). One possible

intervention method which could be used regardless of the direction of causality is

mindfulness training. Mindfulness, which is “the state of being attentive to and aware of what

is taking place in the present” (Brown & Ryan, 2003, p. 822), has been linked to decreased

depression, increased life satisfaction, and more positive affect (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Brown

& Kasser, 2005). Due to this, mindfulness training could be used to improve children’s well-

being either after the negative effects of materialism, or as a preventative measure to stop

materialism from occurring. However, this is an initial suggestion and extensive development

and investigation would be needed before mindfulness training was instigated as an

intervention tool.

Whilst the present study has been able to establish the existence of a relationship

between materialism and well-being in children, one issue with the consumer goods measure

needs to be noted. A child’s level of consumer goods was determined through the use of

32


sociometric nominations of who in the class had the “most stuff” as opposed to a completely

objective measure of the number of material goods each child owned. However

methodologically speaking it would be impossible to physically record the number of material

goods the children own. Despite this, it may be useful for future research to investigate the

relationship between consumer goods levels derived from sociometric nominations and from

other measurement methods, such as personal- and parent-indicated levels of consumer goods

owned.

In conclusion, the present study has discovered that pre-adolescent children experience

a negative relationship between materialism and well-being, and that this relationship is

influenced by the actual level of consumer goods a child owns. Whilst future research is

needed to determine the direction of causality between materialism and well-being, these

preliminary findings indicate that interventions may be needed to reduce the likelihood of this

negative relationship from occurring, particularly in groups identified to be most at risk of

experiencing this relationship.

33


References

Ahuvia, A., & Wong, N. (1995). Materialism: Origins and implications for personal well-being. European Advances in Consumer Research, 2, 172-178

Belk, R. W. (1985). Materialism: Trait aspects of living in the material world. Journal of Consumer Research, 12 (3), 265-280

Brown, K. W., & Kasser, T. (2005). Are psychological and ecological well-being compatible? The role of values, mindfulness, and lifestyle. Social Indicators Research, 74 (2), 349-368

Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84 (4), 822-848

Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1983). Continuities and changes in children’s social status: A five-year longitudinal study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 29 (3), 261-282

Currie, C. E., Elton, R. A., Todd, J., & Platt, S. (1997). Indicators of socioeconomic status for adolescents: the WHO health behaviour in school-aged children survey. Health Education Research, 12 (3), 285-297

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behaviour. Psychological Inquiry, 11 (4), 227-268

Dittmar, H., Banerjee, R., Wright, M., & Easterbrook, M. (n.d.). Children’s consumerism and well-being. Manuscript in preparation. University of Sussex, UK

Emmons, R. A. (1986). Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51 (5), 1058-1068

Froh, J. J., Emmons, R. A., Card, N. A., Bono, G., & Wilson, J. A. (2011). Gratitude and the reduced costs of materialism in adolescents. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12 (2), 289-302

Garðarsdóttir, R., Janković, J., & Dittmar, H. (2008). Is this as good as it gets? Materialistic values and well-being. In H. Dittmar (Eds.), Consumer culture, identity and well-being: The search for the ‘good life’ and the ‘body perfect’ (pp. 71-94). Hove: Psychology Press

Goldberg, D. P., & Hillier, V. F. (1979). A scaled version of the general health questionnaire. Psychological Medicine, 9 (1), 139-145

Hebben-Wadey, A. (2011). Materialism and well-being in children (Doctoral thesis). UCL (University College London), London

Huebner, E. S. (1991). Initial development of the student’s life satisfaction scale. School Psychology International, 12 (3), 231-240

34


Kashdan, T. B., & Breen, W. E. (2007). Materialism and diminished well-being: Experiential avoidance as a mediating mechanism. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26 (5), 521-539

Kasser, T., & Ahuvia, A. (2002). Materialistic values and well-being in business students. European Journal of Social Psychology, 32 (1), 137-146

Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65 (2), 410-422

Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: Differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22 (3), 280-287

Kovacs, M. (1985). The children’s depression inventory (CDI). Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 21 (4), 995-998

La Barbera, P. A., & Gürhan, Z. (1997). The role of materialism, religiosity, and demographics in subjective well-being. Psychology & Marketing, 14 (1), 71-97

Laisawat, S., Jantarat, J., Ong, F. S., & Maschis, G. P. (2012). Clarifying the relationship between materialism and well-being: Testing for reciprocal and third-variable effects. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science: Bridging Asia and the World, 22 (1), 45-69

Nickerson, C., Schwarz, N., Diener, E., & Kahneman, D. (2003). Zeroing on the dark side of the American dream: A closer look at the negative consequences of the goal for financial success. Psychological Science, 14 (6), 531-536

Piko, B. F. (2006). Satisfaction with life, psychosocial health and materialism among Hungarian youth. Journal of Health Psychology, 11 (6), 827-831

Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (3), 303-316

Roberts, J. A., & Clement, A. (2007). Materialism and satisfaction with over-all quality of life and eight life domains. Social Indicators Research, 82 (1), 79-92

Ryan, L., & Dziurawiec, S. (2001). Materialism and its relationship to life satisfaction. Social Indicators Research, 55 (2), 185-197

Smith, J. M. (2010). A longitudinal and cross-sectional examination of the relationships between materialism and well-being and materialism and depressive symptoms. (Doctoral dissertation). Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts

35


Vansteenkiste, M., Duriez, B., Simons, J., & Soenens, B. (2006). Materialistic values and well-being among business students: Further evidence of their detrimental effect. Journal of Applied Social Psychology,36 (12), 2892-2908

Wright, N. D., & Larsen, V. (1993). Materialism and life satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Complaining Behaviour, 6, 158-165

36

web viewthe first word of each group label then indicates whether each child is in the top ... the...

Documents