Materialistic Value Orientation and Wellbeing

Journal Paper by Helga Dittmar and Amy Isham
Current Opinion in Psychology | March 2022

Summary

People with a strong materialistic value orientation (MVO) believe that the acquisition of more money and expensive material possessions will improve their wellbeing and social standing. Paradoxically, striving for evermore money and material goods as a means of improving wellbeing often undermines quality of life. This paper documents how these value orientations have been linked to poorer wellbeing across different facets of wellbeing (personal, social, and environmental) and that these negative associations have been recorded across the lifespan. It also shows that the link is complex in that it can be moderated by certain personal and cultural factors and is bidirectional in its nature. By demonstrating a predominantly negative effect of MVO on wellbeing, the evidence highlights a need for interventions to reduce MVO and alter how people relate to material possessions.

Further Reading