Materialism, defined as placing a high value on income and material possessions (Diener and
Seligman, 2004), and various forms of personal well-being (PWB). Materialism is a value orientation
that places strong emphasis on material reward as a pathway to happiness and well-being (Kasser
and Ryan, 1996). Richins (1994) empirically identified three dimensions of materialism :
1. Success: The use of possessions to judge the success of others and oneself; (“I like to own
things that impress people.”)
2. Centrality : The centrality of possessions in a person’s life. (“I enjoy spending money on
things that aren’t practical.”)
3. Happiness: The belief that possessions and their acquisition lead to happiness and life
satisfaction (“My life would be better if I owned certain things I don’t have.”)
Materialism and Personal well-being
- Numerous studies have consistently shown that materialistic individuals score lower on
indicators such as happiness, life satisfaction, mental health, and physical health, while
scoring higher on substance abuse (Diener and Seligman, 2004; Kasser, 2002).
- Individuals with materialistic values find it more difficult to fulfill intrinsic needs essential for
PWB (Kasser et al., 2004).
- Materialism has been shown to be associated with more anxiety, depression, alcohol and
drug use, unpleasant emotions, as well as less happiness, life satisfaction, and vitality (see
Diener and Seligman, 2004, and Kasser, 2002 for detailed reviews).
Organizations present a rich context for investigating the effects of materialism for a number of
reasons.
1. First, organizations can and do play a significant role in addressing personal needs
through workplace practices that contribute to the quality of work life (Gagné and Deci,
2005).
2. Second, because of the connection to economic rewards it distributes as pay, the
organization is an arena where materialistic concerns are firmly entrenched and salient.
The ability for a work organization to pay its employees, for example, is a main criterion
in its survival; as such, materialistic concerns are always primary.
3. Third, because of this primacy of money in organizational life, the implications of
materialism are pervasive, for it is unequivocally impactful even to those without
materialistic values (e.g. Inglehart, 1990).
Materialism and work life
- Materialist organizational cultures communicate the primacy of materialism as a core value,
that management principles are likely to be based on this value, and that employees are
likely to be rewarded to the extent they view work life as instrumental to the attainment of
material possessions (Kasser et al., 2006).
- When materialism is a central element of the corporate culture, pay and other
organizationally-mediated rewards are critical ways in which the organization and
employees keep score of employee success. This translates to a compensation system that
attempts to motivate employees extrinsically through reliance on such practices as incentive
systems, merit pay, and high pay dispersion among employees (Kasser et al., 2006).
- Thus, materialism may be inexorably intertwined with corporate culture and reward systems
under the assumption that materialism is a value that is positively associated with employee
productivity. With the overwhelming organizational focus on materialistic outcomes,
workers displaying behaviors consistent with materialistic values will be more likely reap
rewards and promotions because they embody organizational values (see Byrne, 1971,
1997).
- There is some basis to believe that these results may not apply in the work context. For
materialists, financial success is a core aspiration and central to their value structure
(Grouzet et al., 2005). Work provides the most direct means of achieving this aspiration for
most individual because success at work can translate to better pay and as well as
promotions that lead to better paying positions. Therefore, materialistic individuals will
likely see the organization as instrumental to the achievement of their core aspirations,
and work hard toward the objective of achieving these aspirations. The achievement of an
individual’s central aspirations at work should then lead to the perception of work-related
PWB. Though materialistic individuals may fail at attaining their core objectives at work, so
too may non-materialists. Thus, we would expect no differences between materialists and
non-materialists in their perceptions of work-related PWB.
- Just as materialists perceive dissatisfaction with their overall standard of living because they
set unrealistically high goals (Sirgy, 1998), individuals in the work context may find it difficult
to achieve the material success to which they aspire, as the typical pyramidal organization
structure cannot allow all or even most employees to obtain high-level positions.
- materialist employees are unlikely to fulfill their material aspirations through their
organization’s extrinsic reward system. Even if they do so temporarily, they may soon find
themselves back on the treadmill where they constantly attempt to achieve ever higher
levels of material possessions.
- Materialists focus directly on the attainment of money and material possessions as evidence
of competence.
- In summary, we argue that materialistic individuals have relative difficulty fulfilling their
intrinsic needs through work, even though the opportunity to do so may present itself.
- the achievement of material rewards would then allow materialistic individuals to address
their core aspirations, which in turn should be manifested in higher work-related PWB
