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(Accepted 6 December, 2000)
ABSTRACT. Studies into the consequences of pursuing a materialistic lifestyle have found that materialism is negatively related to life satisfaction. While most of these studies have been conducted using American samples, the few reported studies using Australian samples have limitations that the current study sought to address. Using a sample of 162 Australian adults and an improved methodology, a negative relationship was found, in that those individuals who were high in materialism were less satisfied with their 'life as a whole' and with specific 'life domains' than those who were low in materialism. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.
INTRODUCTION
According to Belk (1985, 1995) acquisitive desires can be traced as far back as ancient civilizations. In more recent times such desires have become associated with the term materialism. Belk (1984, 1985, 1995) describes materialism as the importance that possessions play in an individual's life. He elaborates that at the highest levels of materialism, possessions assume a central place in an individual's life, and are believed by the materialist to be a means of providing satisfaction. Such descriptions are in line with popular notions of materialism that include viewing materialism as a devotion to the quest of possession acquisition (Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton, 1981; Fournier and Richins, 1991).
Because of the predominantly negative connotations associated with materialism in contemporary Western society, literature has focused mostly on the negative aspects of pursuing a materialistic lifestyle (Richins and Dawson, 1992). Research findings have revealed that materialism is associated with compulsive spending, low self-esteem, envy, and non-generosity (Belk, 1984, 1985; Dawson and Bamossy, 1991; LaBarbera and Gurhan, 1997; O'Guinn and Faber, 1989; Richins, 1987; Richins and Dawson, 1990, 1992; Rindfleisch et al., 1997).
The Relationship Between Materialism and Life Satisfaction
Of particular interest to the current study are the findings revealing a negative relationship between materialism and life satisfaction (Belk, 1984, 1985; Dawson and Bamossy, 1991; Kau et al., 2000; LaBarbera and Gurhan, 1997; Richins, 1987; Richins and Dawson, 1990, 1992; Sirgy et al., 1995; Sirgy et al., 1998). The essence of these findings is that those individuals who were more materialistic were less happy and less satisfied with their 'life as a whole'. It was also found that those...