Materialism and Attitudes Toward Money: An Exploratory Investigation

To explore the relationship between materialism and money attitudes, 204 American college students completed Richins and Dawson's (1992) Materialism Scale and Furnham's (1984) Money Beliefs and Behaviors Scale (MBBS). Correlational analyses revealed that materialism was positively related to feelings of inadequacy about money and the tendency to use money as a means of self-aggrandizement. Materialism was negatively related m the conservative approach m money, and was unrelated to negative emotions toward money. We discuss how the link between money and possessions may be mediated by materialism and raise questions about a possible relationship between materialism and compulsive shopping. Further research is suggested to illuminate the interplay between materialism, the acquisition of money, and dysfunctional money behaviors.