Values, materialism, and well-being: A study with Turkish university students

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Abstract

Material objects gain social meaning not only because they have instrumental use in our daily lives but also because they function as symbols of identity and self-expression. Material values are investigated under the concept of materialism which is broadly defined as “a set of centrally held beliefs about the importance of possessions in one’s life” (Richins & Dawson, 1992). The current study is primarily concerned with specifying value antecedents of materialism in a Turkish adult sample. Data were collected from a sample of 948 university students through the measure of materialism by Richins and Dawson and the Schwartz Value Survey. Two measures were used to test the effect of materialism on subjective well-being. Results provided strong evidence toward positive associations between self-enhancement motives and materialism. The findings also validate the central assumption in the literature that materialism diminishes well-being. The relationships among values, materialism, and well-being are discussed within a value congruity perspective.

Introduction

Material possessions gain social meaning not only because they have instrumental use in sustaining and developing our daily lives but also because they function as symbols of identity, personality and self-expression (Burroughs et al., 1991, Dittmar, 1992, Dittmar and Pepper, 1994, Kamptner, 1991). It has been argued, however, that post-industrial society places a mistakenly broad emphasis on possessions by equating them with happiness (Belk, 1985, Fromm, 1976/1999). Recently, there is a growing concern that importance attached to material possessions, or materialism, is distracting individuals, especially the youth, from self-development and communal responsibilities (Csikszentmihalyi, 1999). Critiques of contemporary consumer society attack marketing and advertising, accusing such activities of pushing persons’ expectations high towards what may be called ‘affluenza’ (de Graaf, Wann, & Naylor, 2005), a mode of psychological discomfort resulting from felt deprivation and pursuit of more. It is suggested that materialism may get accentuated as consumer markets grow toward a global model for social organization (Ahuvia and Wong, 2002, Haller, 2002).

The consequences of materialism have initially attracted attention among researchers in the US where overspending has grown to be a major personal and social problem (Malhotra, Wu, & Allvine, 2006). Various researchers have shown that materialists devote significantly more time to shopping (Fitzmaurice & Comegys, 2006), save less (Goldberg, Gorn, Peracchio, & Bamossy, 2003) and that they have more favorable attitudes toward spending and debt than people with low levels of materialism (Christopher, Marek, et al., 2004, Watson, 1998). A number of studies showed that materialism leads to diminished well-being (e.g., Kau et al., 2000, Ryan and Dziurawiec, 2001). Materialism has also been associated with other negative, extreme social consequences such as weak concern for the environment (Kilbourne & Pickett, 2008) and even racism (Roets, Van Hiel, & Cornelis, 2006).

Although research appears to support philosophical morals that denounce materialism as an individual and social peril, the debate over materialism is not yet conclusive. Some scholars argue that materialistic people may appear to be less satisfied because they tend to set higher standards for their lives (Goldberg et al., 2003, Shaw et al., 2004). Others, on the other hand, claim that those who live with fewer objects might assign comparatively more importance to those objects that they do have (Holt, 1995). One solution to this debate has been to make a distinction between a “bad” form of materialism, or excessive fascination with possessions, and an “instrumental” materialism with which objects serve individuals in making life more manageable or meaningful (Fournier & Richins, 1991). In a qualitative research conducted in Romania, Turkey, the USA, France, and Denmark, Ger and Belk (1999) revealed that materialism loses its negative connotations when persons’ consumption is perceived to help achieve goals such as self-improvement, personal control, altruism, and worldly progress. These goals largely represent growth needs that enhance well-being and psychological functioning of individuals (Sagiv & Schwartz, 2000). Apparently, there is further need for elaboration of materialism, especially towards a cross-culturally valid conceptualization.

In this study, we investigate materialism in a relatively collectivistic society, testing hypotheses concerning the effects of specific values on materialism, and direct and indirect effects of specific values on well-being. These hypotheses are tested among university students, who are more individualistic compared to the rest of the society (Karakitapoglu-Aygun & Imamoglu, 2002). The theoretical background of the study and the methodology are outlined in Sections 2 Definitions of materialism, its antecedents and consequence, 3 Current study, 4 Method. We then present our findings and conclude with a discussion of implications for future research.

Section snippets

Definitions of materialism, its antecedents and consequence

Materialism is defined as “the importance a consumer attaches to worldly possessions” (Belk, 1984, p. 291) or “a set of centrally held beliefs about the importance of possessions in one’s life” (Richins & Dawson, 1992, p. 308). With regard to their conceptualizations of materialism, these two approaches can be differentiated as personality materialism versus personal values materialism (Ahuvia & Wong, 2002). Materialism as defined by Belk emphasizes felt formative experiences and it originally

Current study

Turkey, where our sample is drawn from, is a young and vibrant society with a median age of 28.5 years (Turkish Statistical Institute Indicators, 2009). Turkish economy ranks 17th globally (World Development Indicators, 2009) and shows significant consumer dynamism. Although never a socialist society, Turkey has remained a relatively closed economy, at least in terms of consumer goods, until mid-1980s. The transition in the Turkish economy toward liberalization has had many social repercussions,

Sample

A convenience sample of 1120 university students in Turkey was recruited through an online survey. The survey was announced initially on e-groups for university students in economics, psychology and sociology, groups well-known for their activities. The announcement included a synopsis of the goals of the study, contact information of the researchers, and the hyperlink to the questionnaire made available on an online survey site. The authors also sent the survey announcement directly to

Descriptive analyses with demographic factors

Participants’ scores on the three subscales and overall materialism based on their demographic characteristics are summarized in Table 1. Multivariate analysis of variance is run for each of the demographics and income variables with the three materialism subscales scores and the overall materialism score as dependent variables. Male and female comparisons yielded a significant multivariate effect, Wilks Lambda F(3, 941) = 45.71, p < .001. Subsequent univariate analyses indicated that even though

Conclusion

Our study was developed on the premise that values should predict materialism which in turn explains well-being. We expected that an investigation of materialism in a relatively collectivistic culture would provide further insight into the conceptualization of this important variable. Despite inherent drawbacks with self-report surveys and a potential common method effect, our findings reveal important questions for future research. Power, hedonism, and achievement values appear to be good or

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