How Materialistic Are You?
What possessions mean to you: a scoreboard, a pastime, or a promise of happiness
Everyone likes some things, so liking things is not what materialism means. Consumer researchers define it as a set of values: using possessions to judge success, putting acquisition near the centre of life, and believing that owning more would make you happier. These three can come apart - some people love shopping without thinking it makes them happier, others judge success by possessions and barely buy anything. This test shows which parts apply to you.
Before you start There are no right answers. Pick what is usually true for you, not what sounds best.
Answer about what you actually think and do, not about what you believe you ought to think about money and things.
What it measures
The three components of material values: success (judging yourself and others by possessions), centrality (how much acquiring occupies your life) and happiness (believing more possessions would make you happier). It is not the money attitudes test on this site, which looks at how you handle and feel about money; this one looks at what possessions mean to you.
Based on: Material Values Scale (Richins & Dawson, 1992; Richins, 2004)
Possible results
Possessions as success
How much you read success - yours and other people's - from what they own.
Centrality of acquiring
How much buying and owning things occupies your time, attention and pleasure.
Possessions as happiness
How much you believe owning more, or certain things, would make you happier.
Common questions
Is being materialistic bad for you?
On average, somewhat. A large 2014 meta-analysis of over 750 effect sizes found a consistent negative link between materialistic values and wellbeing, bigger for broad value measures like this test's than for simply valuing money. The link is modest and correlational: feeling insecure can make people more materialistic as well as the reverse, and enjoying nice things is not the problem in itself.
Is materialism the same as liking nice things?
No. In the research, materialism is about the role possessions play in your values: whether they define success, sit at the centre of your life and carry your hopes for happiness. Someone can love well-made objects and score low, because they do not think owning them says much about anyone or will change how they feel.
Can materialistic values change?
Yes, they shift across life and with circumstances. They tend to rise when people feel insecure or compare themselves constantly with others, and to ease when those pressures drop. Noticing which purchases actually improved your life, and which only felt good at the till, is a practical way to recalibrate without swinging to the opposite extreme.
Sources
- Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research. doi:10.1086/209304
- Richins, M. L. (2004). The Material Values Scale: Measurement properties and development of a short form. Journal of Consumer Research. doi:10.1086/383436
- Dittmar, H., Bond, R., Hurst, M., & Kasser, T. (2014). The relationship between materialism and personal well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. doi:10.1037/a0037409
An honest note The items are Quinthea's own wording adapted from the Material Values Scale, so scores are not comparable to its published norms. Richins herself found that the three-part structure does not always appear clearly, so the overall picture is more reliable than any single bar. The links with wellbeing are correlational and come mostly from Western samples. This test does not assess spending problems: if spending feels out of control or causes debt, talk to a professional.