Materialistic happiness is negatively associated with meaning in life: A serial double mediation model

Abstract

BackgroundMaterialism refers to values that equate materialistic possessions with happiness and success. Gathering materialistic possessions is also central to materialists' life. Extant research has widely shown that materialism is detrimental to people's well‐being, but its influences on meaning in life are less clear. In this article, we address two principal research questions within the framework of self‐determination theory: First, we explore the association between varying dimensions of materialism and the perceived meaning in life; second, we investigate the factors that mediate the relationship between materialistic values and meaning in life.MethodsTwo cross‐sectional online survey studies (Study 1: 190 Chinese participants; Study 2: 767 participants [mainly Caucasians] from Prolific) were conducted to test a hypothesized serial double mediation model, in which basic psychological needs satisfaction and subjective well‐being were the two serial factors mediating the materialistic happiness to meaning in life relationship.ResultsAmong the three materialism values, only materialistic happiness was negatively associated with meaning in life. Basic psychological needs satisfaction and subjective well‐being serially mediated the relationship. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.