{"title":"Financial status and materialism – The mediating role of self-esteem","authors":"Agata Trzcińska, Katarzyna Sekścińska","doi":"10.1080/00049530.2021.1944315","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Objective: One of the reasons why people develop a materialistic attitude may be their desire to compensate for economic deprivation. Poor people experience negative emotions as a result of deprivation, and this translates into low self-esteem. It is argued that, as a means of dealing with low self-esteem, people often use material goods, and thus become more materialistic. However, this idea has only previously been tested in studies of adolescents. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between financial status (both objective and subjective), self-esteem and materialism. Method: The study was conducted using a representative sample of Polish working adults (N = 1138) recruited from an online panel. Data were analysed through correlation, regression and mediation analyses. Results: The study found no significant relationship between financial status and general materialism. However, relationships between both measures of financial status and two separate dimensions of materialism were observed (positive correlations with centrality, and negative correlations with happiness). Moreover, the study showed self-esteem to be a mediator of the relationship between financial status and the happiness dimension of materialism, and that self-esteem acts as a suppressor of the relationship between financial status and the centrality dimension of materialism. Conclusion: These results show that particular dimensions of materialism may be related to financial status in completely different ways. While poorer people more closely associate material goods with their happiness, richer people consider ownership to be more central in their lives. KEY POINTS What is already known about the topic: Previous theoretical considerations indicated that low financial status can promote materialism. Children and teenagers belonging to poorer families exhibit higher levels of materialism than their peers belonging to richer families. Previous research on children and adolescents found that lower affluence was associated with greater materialism, and that this was explained by lower self-esteem among the poorer participants. What this topic adds: Among adults, financial status (both objective and subjective) does not correlate with general materialism but is significantly related to two of the three dimensions of materialism (happiness and centrality). Financial status (both objective and subjective) correlates negatively with happiness dimension of materialism and positively with centrality dimension of materialism. Self-esteem is a mediator of the relationship between financial status and the happiness dimension of materialism, and a suppressor of the relationship between financial status and the centrality dimension of materialism.","PeriodicalId":8871,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Psychology","volume":"73 1","pages":"557 - 568"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6000,"publicationDate":"2021-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/00049530.2021.1944315","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Australian Journal of Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1944315","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: One of the reasons why people develop a materialistic attitude may be their desire to compensate for economic deprivation. Poor people experience negative emotions as a result of deprivation, and this translates into low self-esteem. It is argued that, as a means of dealing with low self-esteem, people often use material goods, and thus become more materialistic. However, this idea has only previously been tested in studies of adolescents. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between financial status (both objective and subjective), self-esteem and materialism. Method: The study was conducted using a representative sample of Polish working adults (N = 1138) recruited from an online panel. Data were analysed through correlation, regression and mediation analyses. Results: The study found no significant relationship between financial status and general materialism. However, relationships between both measures of financial status and two separate dimensions of materialism were observed (positive correlations with centrality, and negative correlations with happiness). Moreover, the study showed self-esteem to be a mediator of the relationship between financial status and the happiness dimension of materialism, and that self-esteem acts as a suppressor of the relationship between financial status and the centrality dimension of materialism. Conclusion: These results show that particular dimensions of materialism may be related to financial status in completely different ways. While poorer people more closely associate material goods with their happiness, richer people consider ownership to be more central in their lives. KEY POINTS What is already known about the topic: Previous theoretical considerations indicated that low financial status can promote materialism. Children and teenagers belonging to poorer families exhibit higher levels of materialism than their peers belonging to richer families. Previous research on children and adolescents found that lower affluence was associated with greater materialism, and that this was explained by lower self-esteem among the poorer participants. What this topic adds: Among adults, financial status (both objective and subjective) does not correlate with general materialism but is significantly related to two of the three dimensions of materialism (happiness and centrality). Financial status (both objective and subjective) correlates negatively with happiness dimension of materialism and positively with centrality dimension of materialism. Self-esteem is a mediator of the relationship between financial status and the happiness dimension of materialism, and a suppressor of the relationship between financial status and the centrality dimension of materialism.
期刊介绍:
Australian Journal of Psychology is the premier scientific journal of the Australian Psychological Society. It covers the entire spectrum of psychological research and receives articles on all topics within the broad scope of the discipline. The journal publishes high quality peer-reviewed articles with reviewers and associate editors providing detailed assistance to authors to reach publication. The journal publishes reports of experimental and survey studies, including reports of qualitative investigations, on pure and applied topics in the field of psychology. Articles on clinical psychology or on the professional concerns of applied psychology should be submitted to our sister journals, Australian Psychologist or Clinical Psychologist. The journal publishes occasional reviews of specific topics, theoretical pieces and commentaries on methodological issues. There are also solicited book reviews and comments Annual special issues devoted to a single topic, and guest edited by a specialist editor, are published. The journal regards itself as international in vision and will accept submissions from psychologists in all countries.