Financial status and materialism – The mediating role of self-esteem

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.