This longitudinal study examined how the initial levels and change rates of competition contingent self-worth (CSW) predicted changes in materialistic values among college students during their first two college years. Participants were 948 students (607 females; M age = 18.61, SD age = .71 years, at Wave 1) from eight Chinese universities. Students’ competition CSW was measured annually across three waves, and their materialistic values were assessed at the last two waves. Latent growth analyses showed that Chinese college students generally experienced a mean-level decline in competition CSW from their freshmen to junior year. Students with higher initial levels or slower declining rates (or faster increasing rates) of competition CSW obtained greater increases in materialistic values over time. The results highlighted the potential role of competition CSW in contributing to the development of materialistic values among Chinese college students, which may pose threat to their well-being and comprehensive development in college.
ArnettJ. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twen- ties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469
BakirA.GentinaE.de Araújo GilL. (2020). What shapes adolescents’ attitudes toward luxury brands? The role of self-worth, self-construal, gender and national culture. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 57, 102208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102208
4.
BurroughsJ. E.RindfleischA. (2002). Materialism and well-being: A conflicting values perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(3), 348–370. https://doi.org/10.1086/344429
5.
ByrneB. M.CrombieG. (2003). Modeling and testing change: An introduction to the latent growth curve model. Understanding Statistics, 2(3), 177–203. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328031us0203_02
6.
ChenF. F. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(3), 464–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834
7.
ChenY.YaoM.YanW. (2014). Materialism and well-being among Chinese college students: The mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction. Journal of Health Psychology, 19(10), 1232–1240. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105313488973
8.
CovingtonM. V. (1984). The self-worth theory of achievement motivation: Findings and implications. The Elementary School Journal, 85(1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1086/461388
9.
CrockerJ.LuhtanenR. K.CooperM. L.BouvretteA. (2003). Contingencies of self-worth in college students: Theory and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(5), 894–908. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.894
DittmarH.BondR.HurstM.KasserT. (2014). The relationship between materialism and personal well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(5), 879–924. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037409
12.
EndersC. K. (2008). A note on the use of missing auxiliary variables in full information maximum likelihood-based structural equation models. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 15(3), 434–448. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510802154307
13.
FairlambS. (2022). We need to talk about self-esteem: The effect of contingent self-worth on student achievement and well-being. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 8(1), 45–57. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000205
14.
IslamT.WeiJ.SheikhZ.HameedZ.AzamR. I. (2017). Determinants of compulsive buying behavior among young adults: The mediating role of materialism. Journal of Adolescence, 61, 117–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.10.004
15.
JiangW.LiuH.JiangJ. (2021). The development of materialism in emerging adulthood: Stability, change, and antecedents. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47(2), 293–306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220925234
16.
Joseph SirgyM.Gurel-AtayE.WebbD.CicicM.Husic-MehmedovicM.EkiciA.HerrmannA.HegazyI.LeeD. J.JoharJ. S.JoharJ. S. (2013). Is materialism all that bad? Effects on satisfaction with material life, life satisfaction, and economic motivation. Social Indicators Research, 110(1), 349–366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9934-2
17.
KarabatiS.CemalcilarZ. (2010). Values, materialism, and well-being: A study with Turkish university students. Journal of Economic Psychology, 31(4), 624–633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2010.04.007
KasserT.RosenblumK. L.SameroffA. J.DeciE. L.NiemiecC. P.RyanR. M.ÁrnadóttirO.BondR.DittmarH.DunganN.HawksS.HawksS. (2014). Changes in materialism, changes in psychological well-being: Evidence from three longitudinal studies and an intervention experiment. Motivation and Emotion, 38, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-013-9371-4
20.
KasserT.RyanR. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(2), 410–422. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.65.2.410
21.
KimH. Y. (2013). Statistical notes for clinical researchers: Assessing normal distribution (2) using skewness and kurtosis. Restorative Dentistry & Endodontics, 38(1), 52–54. https://doi.org/10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52
22.
KuL. (2015). Development of materialism in adolescence: The longitudinal role of life satisfaction among Chinese youths. Social Indicators Research, 124(1), 231–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0787-3
23.
LiJ.LuM.XiaT.GuoY. (2018). Materialism as compensation for self-esteem among lower-class students. Personality and Individual Differences, 131, 191–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.04.038
24.
LimbuY. B.HuhmannB. A.XuB. (2012). Are college students at greater risk of credit card abuse? Age, gender, materialism and parental influence on consumer response to credit cards. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 17(2), 148–162. https://doi.org/10.1057/fsm.2012.9
25.
LittleR. J. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83(404), 1198–1202. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1988.10478722
26.
LiuS. (2022). The causes and coping strategies for the involution in postgraduate entrance examination among Chinese college students in the new era. University, 25, 120–123.
27.
LiuY.TuY.YangH.GaoJ.XuY.YangQ. (2022). Have you “involution” today—competition psychology scale for college students. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 951931. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.951931
28.
MasoodA.MusarratR.MazahirS. (2016). Increased materialistic trends among youth. Journal of Educational, Health and Community Psychology, 5(3), 56–77. https://doi.org/10.12928/jehcp.v5i3.6167
29.
MeierL. L.OrthU.DenissenJ. J.KühnelA. (2011). Age differences in instability, contingency, and level of self-esteem across the life span. Journal of Research in Personality, 45(6), 604–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2011.08.008
NagpaulT.PangJ. S. (2017). Extrinsic and intrinsic contingent self-esteem and materialism: A correlational and experimental investigation. Psychology and Marketing, 34(6), 610–622. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21009
33.
O’KeefeP. A.Ben-EliyahuA.Linnenbrink-GarciaL. (2013). Shaping achievement goal orientations in a mastery-structured environment and concomitant changes in related contingencies of self-worth. Motivation and Emotion, 37(1), 50–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-012-9293-6
34.
PutnickD. L.BornsteinM. H. (2016). Measurement invariance conventions and reporting: The state of the art and future directions for psychological research. Developmental Review, 41, 71–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2016.06.004
35.
ReevesR. A.BakerG. A.TruluckC. S. (2012). Celebrity worship, materialism, compulsive buying, and the empty self. Psychology and Marketing, 29(9), 674–679. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20553
36.
RichinsM. L. (2004). The material values scale: Measurement properties and development of a short form. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1), 209–219. https://doi.org/10.1086/383436
37.
RichinsM. L. (2017). Materialism pathways: The processes that create and perpetuate materialism. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(4), 480–499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2017.07.006
38.
RichinsM. L.DawsonS. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 303–316. https://doi.org/10.1086/209304
39.
RobertsB. W.WoodD.CaspiA. (2008). The development of personality traits in adulthood. In JohnO. P.RobinsR. W.PervinL. A. (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 375–398). Guilford.
40.
RobertsJ. A. (2000). Consuming in a consumer culture: College students, materialism, status consumption, and compulsive buying. Marketing Management Journal, 10(2), 76–92.
41.
RobertsJ. A.ManolisC.PulligC. (2014). Contingent self‐esteem, self‐presentational concerns, and compulsive buying. Psychology and Marketing, 31(2), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20683
42.
RobertsJ. A.PirogS. F.3rd (2013). A preliminary investigation of materialism and impulsiveness as predictors of technological addictions among young adults. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2(1), 56–62. https://doi.org/10.1556/JBA.1.2012.011
43.
RyanR. M.DeciE. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
44.
SegevS.ShohamA.GavishY. (2015). A closer look into the materialism construct: The antecedents and consequences of materialism and its three facets. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 32(2), 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-07-2014-1082
45.
ShrumL. J.ChaplinL. N.LowreyT. M. (2022). Psychological causes, correlates, and consequences of materialism. Consumer Psychology Review, 5(1), 69–86. https://doi.org/10.1002/arcp.1077
46.
ShrumL. J.LowreyT. M.PandelaereM.RuvioA. A.GentinaE.FurchheimP.HerbertM.HuddersL.LensI.MandelN.NairnA.SamperA.SosciaI.SteinfieldL.SteinfieldL. (2014). Materialism: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(17-18), 1858–1881. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2014.959985
47.
SirgyM. J.YuG. B.LeeD. J.JoshanlooM.BosnjakM.JiaoJ.EkiciA.AtayE. G.GrzeskowiakS.GrzeskowiakS. (2021). The dual model of materialism: Success versus happiness materialism on present and future life satisfaction. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 16(1), 201–220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-019-09763-8
48.
SunQ.LiuY. (2020). The effect of social comparison on college students’ depression: A moderated mediating effect. Psychological Exploration, 40(2), 183–187.
49.
TsangJ. A.CarpenterT. P.RobertsJ. A.FrischM. B.CarlisleR. D. (2014). Why are materialists less happy? The role of gratitude and need satisfaction in the relationship between materialism and life satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 64, 62–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.02.009
50.
VandenbergR. J.LanceC. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: Suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 3(1), 4–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810031002
51.
WangR.LiuH.JiangJ.SongY. (2017). Will materialism lead to happiness? A longitudinal analysis of the mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 105, 312–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.10.014
52.
YangS. Y.YueL. H.GaoR. (2022). Analysis on employment pressure and influencing factors of college students. Employment of Chinese College Students, 14, 55–64. https://doi.org/10.20017/j.cnki.1009-0576.2022.14.008
53.
ZhangY.HawkS. T.OpreeS. J.De VriesD. A.BranjeS. (2020). “Me”,“we”, and materialism: Associations between contingent self-worth and materialistic values across cultures. Journal of Psychology, 154(5), 386–410. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2020.1759496
54.
ZhouX.WeiJ.ChenC. L. (2022). The association between freshmen’s academic involution and college adjustment: The moderating effect of academic involution atmosphere. Tsinghua Journal of Education, 43(5), 131–140. https://doi.org/10.14138/j.1001-4519.2022.05.013110
55.
ZhuX.RenW.ChenQ.EvansR. (2021). How does internet usage affect the credit consumption among Chinese college students? A mediation model of social comparison and materialism. Internet Research, 31(3), 1083–1101. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-08-2019-0357
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
