Materialism and subjective well-being in University students

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation was to test possible relationships, between materialism and subjective well-being. Materialism measured by the Aspirations Index (Kasser & Ryan, 1996), in this study has been taken from the self-determination theory point of view in which extrinsic life goals are goals external to the individual. The motivational energy used to obtain such objects or achieve such goals is detracted from the person's ability to use that energy on more important developmental goals. Subjective well-being was tested using two separate questionnaires, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener et al 1985) and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (Hills & Argyle, 2001), which yield high positive correlations to each other. The sample consisted of 300 university students selected through a stratified random system from the faculties of Education, Medicine, Laws, and FEMA. As postulated in the first hypothesis, students from the Faculty of Education emphasized intrinsic values more strongly then students from other faculties. The second hypothesis was not confirmed, as extrinsic orientations did not produce any significant correlations with the measures of subjective well-being. Suggestions as to why the null hypothesis was true for my second hypothesis have been discussed. Possible limitations in this study and recommendations for further research have also been described in my concluding chapter.