This study examined whether smartphone addiction predicted adolescent materialism and whether self-esteem mediated the relation between smartphone addiction and adolescent materialism. Moreover, this study tested whether this mediating process was moderated by student–student relationship. Our theoretical model was tested among 748 middle school students in China (mean age = 16.80, standard deviation = .73). The results indicated that smartphone addiction was positively related to adolescent materialism. Mediation analysis showed that self-esteem mediated this relation. Moderated mediation test further revealed that the mediated path was moderated by student–student relationship.
AhuviaACWongNY (2002) Personality and values based materialism: Their relationship and origins. Journal of Consumer Psychology12: 389–402.
2.
BanerjeeRDittmarH (2008) Individual differences in children’s materialism: The role of peer relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin34(1): 17–31.
3.
CaplanSE (2002) Problematic Internet use and psychosocial well-being: Development of a theory-based cognitive-behavioral measurement instrument. Computers in Human Behavior18(5): 553–575.
4.
ChangJHZhangH (2008) Analyzing online game players: From materialism and motivation to attitude. CyberPsychology and Behavior11(6): 711–714.
5.
ChaplinLNJohnDR (2007) Growing up in a material world: Age differences in materialism in children and adolescents. Journal of Consumer Research34: 480–493.
6.
ChaplinLNJohnDR (2010) Interpersonal influences on adolescent materialism: A new look at the role of parents and peers. Journal of Consumer Psychology20: 176–184.
7.
ChuSCWindelsKKamalS (2016) The influence of self-construal and materialism on social media intensity: A study of China and the United States. International Journal of Advertising35(3): 569–588.
CohenSWillsTA (1985) Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin98(2): 310–357.
10.
CramerP (2001) Identification and its relation to identity development. Journal of Personality69: 667–688.
11.
DávilaJFCasabayóMSinghJJ (2017) A world beyond family: How external factors impact the level of materialism in children. Journal of Consumer Affairs51(1): 162–182.
12.
DittmarHBondRHurstM, et al. (2014) The relationship between materialism and personal well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology107(5): 879–924.
13.
DittmarHLongKBondR (2007) When a better self is only a button click away: Associations between materialistic values, emotional and identity-related buying motives, and compulsive buying tendency online. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology26: 334–361.
14.
EvansGWLiDWhippleSS (2013) Cumulative risk and child development. Psychological Bulletin139(6): 1342–1396.
15.
FlouriE (2004) Exploring the relationship between mothers’ and fathers’ parenting practices and children’s materialist values. Journal of Economic Psychology25: 743–752.
16.
GoldbergMEGornGJPeracchioLA, et al. (2003) Understanding materialism among youth. Journal of Consumer Psychology13: 278–288.
17.
HaJHChinBParkDH, et al. (2008) Characteristics of excessive cellular phone use in Korean adolescents. CyberPsychology and Behavior11(6): 783–784.
18.
HayesAF (2013) Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach. New York: Guilford Press.
19.
HongFYChiuSIHuangDH (2012) A model of the relationship between psychological characteristics, mobile phone addiction and use of mobile phones by Taiwanese university female students. Computers in Human Behavior28(6): 2152–2159.
20.
JiangGR (2002) Research on Classroom Social Ecology Environment. Wuhan, China: Central China Normal University Press.
21.
JiangJSongYKeY, et al. (2016) Is disciplinary culture a moderator between materialism and subjective well-being? A three-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Happiness Studies17(4): 1391–1408.
22.
JiangJZhangYKeY, et al. (2015) Can’t buy me friendship? Peer rejection and adolescent materialism: Implicit self-esteem as a mediator. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology58: 48–55.
23.
KasserT (2002) The High Price of Materialism. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
24.
KasserT (2016) Materialistic values and goals. Annual Review of Psychology67(1): 489–514.
25.
KasserTRyanRM (2001) Be careful what you wish for: Optimal functioning and the relative attainment of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. In: SchmuckPSheldonKM (eds) Life Goals and Well-being: Towards a Positive Psychology of Human Striving. Goettingen: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers, pp. 116–131.
26.
KwonMKimDChoH, et al. (2013) The smartphone addiction scale: Development and validation of a short version for adolescents. PLoS ONE8(12): e83558.
27.
LazarusRSFolkmanS (1984) Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Springer.
28.
LeppABarkleyJEKarpinskiAC (2014) The relationship between cell phone use, academic performance, anxiety, and satisfaction with life in college students. Computers in Human Behavior31: 343–350.
29.
MacKinnonDP (2008) Introduction to Statistical Mediation Analysis. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
30.
MullerDJuddCMYzerbytVY (2005) When moderation is mediated and mediation is moderated. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology89: 852–863.
31.
Muñiz-VelázquezJAGomez-BayaDLopez-CasqueteM (2017) Implicit and explicit assessment of materialism: Associations with happiness and depression. Personality and Individual Differences116: 123–132.
32.
NagpaulTPangJS (2017) Materialism lowers well-being: The mediating role of the need for autonomy—Correlational and experimental evidence. Asian Journal of Social Psychology20(1): 11–21.
33.
RichinsML (1987) Media, materialism, and human happiness. In: WallendorfMAndersonP (eds) Advances in Consumer Research, vol. 14. Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, pp. 352–356.
34.
RichinsMLDawsonS (1990) Measuring material values: A preliminary report of scale development. Advances in Consumer Research17: 169–175.
35.
RichinsMLDawsonS (1992) A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research19: 303–316.
36.
RichinsMLRudminFW (1994) Materialism and economic psychology. Journal of Economic Psychology15(2): 217–231.
37.
RobertsJAPirogIIISF (2013) A preliminary investigation of materialism and impulsiveness as predictors of technological addictions among young adults. Journal of Behavioral Addictions2(1): 56–62.
38.
RosenbergM (1965) Society and the Adolescent Self-Image, vol. 11. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 326 pp.
39.
SamahaMHawiNS (2016) Relationships among smartphone addiction, stress, academic performance, and satisfaction with life. Computers in Human Behavior57: 321–325.
40.
SchaeferADHermansCMParkerRS (2004) A cross-cultural exploration of materialism in adolescents. International Journal of Consumer Studies28: 399–411.
41.
SchorJB (2004) Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture. New York: Scribner.
42.
SeoDGParkYKimMK, et al. (2016) Mobile phone dependency and its impacts on adolescents’ social and academic behaviors. Computers in Human Behavior63: 282–292.
43.
SharifSPKhanekharabJ (2017) Identity confusion and materialism mediate the relationship between excessive social network site usage and online compulsive buying. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking20(8): 494–500.
44.
SirgyMJGurel-AtayEWebbD, et al. (2012) Linking advertising, materialism, and life satisfaction. Social Indicators Research107: 79–101.
45.
SirgyMJLeeDJKosenkoR, et al. (1998) Does television viewership play a role in the perception of quality of life?Journal of Advertising27: 125–142.
46.
ThomeeSHarenstamAHagbergM (2011) Mobile phone use and stress, sleep disturbances, and symptoms of depression among young adults—A prospective cohort study. BMC Public Health11(66): 1–11.
47.
WangGLiuLTanX, et al. (2017a) The moderating effect of dispositional mindfulness on the relationship between materialism and mental health. Personality and Individual Differences107: 131–136.
48.
WangPWangXWuY, et al. (2018) Social networking sites addiction and adolescent depression: A moderated mediation model of rumination and self-esteem. Personality and Individual Differences127: 162–167.
49.
WangPZhaoMWangX, et al. (2017b) Peer relationship and adolescent smartphone addiction: The mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating role of the need to belong. Journal of Behavioral Addictions6(4): 708–717.
50.
WangRLiuHJiangJ, et al. (2017c) Will materialism lead to happiness? A longitudinal analysis of the mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences105: 312–317.
51.
WilliamsGCCoxEMHedbergVA, et al. (2000) Extrinsic life goals and health-risk behaviors in adolescents. Journal of Applied Social Psychology30: 1756–1771.
52.
XieXZhaoFXieJ, et al. (2016) Symbolization of mobile phone and life satisfaction among adolescents in rural areas of China: Mediating of school-related relationships. Computers in Human Behavior64: 694–702.
