Why are materialists less satisfied?

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Citation:

Solberg, E. C., Diener, E., & Robinson, M. (2004). Why are materialists less satisfied? In T. Kasser & A.D. Kanner (Eds.), Psychology and consumer culture: The struggle for a good life in a materialistic world (pp. 29-48). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

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Abstract:

In this chapter, the authors investigate several explanations for the negative relation between materialism and subjective well-being, and they report new evidence from their laboratory testing these explanations. Six different hypotheses are explored: (1) the scale measuring materialism causes the results; (2) people are most distant from their material goals; (3) unhappy people become materialistic; (4) thinking about materialistic concerns leads to unhappiness; (5) focusing on material goals conflicts with other goals; and (6) material goals are less enjoyable to work toward. Altogether, the data from 13 studies are reported.

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