Materialism and life satisfaction relations between and within people over time: Results of a three-wave longitudinal study

E.D.T. Jaspers, M. Pandelaere, Rik Pieters, L.J. Shrum

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The negative association between materialism and life satisfaction is well-documented, but it is unclear what the directionality of the association is. To address this issue, we (a) conducted a three-wave longitudinal study (N = 6551) over 3 years and examined the bidirectional relations between life satisfaction and materialism as a composite measure and with each of its three facets (happiness, success, and centrality), and (b) estimated Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models (RI-CLPMs) that separate inter- and intra-individual effects and compared them with traditional CLPMs that do not. The traditional CLPM showed bidirectional negative associations between composite materialism and life satisfaction and strong negative bidirectional association for the happiness facet, but positive effects of the centrality facet on life satisfaction. However, and importantly, the RI-CLPM revealed that these relations exist predominantly between people. Within people, materialism does not impact life satisfaction, but life satisfaction does impact the happiness facet negatively. These findings challenge common ideas that the direction of the effect is from materialism to life satisfaction and that it is unilaterally negative.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)591-601
JournalJournal of Consumer Psychology
Volume33
Issue number3
Early online dateApr 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2023

Keywords

  • cross-lagged panel models
  • life satisfaction
  • longitudinal analysis
  • material values
  • materialism
  • subjective well-being

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Materialism and life satisfaction relations between and within people over time: Results of a three-wave longitudinal study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this