The relationship between materialism and susceptibility to online fraud among Chinese college students: A moderated mediation model from trait and state perspectives

IF 2.1 3区心理学 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL

Asian Journal of Social Psychology Pub Date : 2025-07-14 DOI:10.1111/ajsp.70040

Guojun Zhao, Pei Mu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Online fraud in China is increasingly targeting the younger population, with susceptibility to online fraud serving as a critical indicator for predicting this risk. This study explores the relationship between materialism and susceptibility to online fraud among Chinese college students, as well as the underlying mechanisms from both trait and state perspectives. Study 1 involved a survey of 827 Chinese college students utilizing a cross-sectional design, with the Materialism Values Scale for College Students, the Telecom Network Susceptibility to Internet Fraud Questionnaire, the Self-Control Scale for Chinese College Students and the Social Comparison Effect Scale. Results revealed a positive correlation between materialism and susceptibility to online fraud, with self-control serving as a mediating factor and social comparison as a moderating factor. In Study 2, 144 Chinese college students were recruited for an experimental study to induce varying levels of materialism via a scrambled-sentence paradigm, while manipulating the direction of social comparison. Findings confirmed that materialism directly influences susceptibility to online fraud, with self-control as a mediating variable and social comparison as a moderating variable. In conclusion, under conditions of upward social comparison, materialism significantly heightens online fraud risk by undermining self-control. This study discusses these findings in detail and proposes future research directions.

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中国大学生物质主义与网络欺诈易感性的关系：特质与状态的中介模型

中国的网络欺诈越来越多地针对年轻人，对网络欺诈的易感性是预测这一风险的关键指标。本研究从特质和状态两个角度探讨了物质主义与中国大学生网络欺诈易感性之间的关系，以及潜在的机制。研究1采用横断面设计对827名中国大学生进行调查，包括大学生物质主义价值观量表、电信网络对网络欺诈的敏感性问卷、中国大学生自我控制量表和社会比较效应量表。结果表明，物质主义与网络欺诈易感性之间存在正相关，自我控制是中介因素，社会比较是调节因素。研究二，选取144名中国大学生，在操纵社会比较方向的同时，通过乱句范式诱导不同程度的物质主义。研究结果证实，物质主义直接影响网络欺诈的易感性，自我控制是中介变量，社会比较是调节变量。综上所述，在向上的社会比较条件下，物质主义通过破坏自我控制显著增加了网络欺诈风险。本研究对这些发现进行了详细的讨论，并提出了未来的研究方向。

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来源期刊

Asian Journal of Social Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL-

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

4.20%

发文量

期刊介绍： Asian Journal of Social Psychology publishes empirical papers and major reviews on any topic in social psychology and personality, and on topics in other areas of basic and applied psychology that highlight the role of social psychological concepts and theories. The journal coverage also includes all aspects of social processes such as development, cognition, emotions, personality, health and well-being, in the sociocultural context of organisations, schools, communities, social networks, and virtual groups. The journal encourages interdisciplinary integration with social sciences, life sciences, engineering sciences, and the humanities. The journal positively encourages submissions with Asian content and/or Asian authors but welcomes high-quality submissions from any part of the world.