Chinese Millenials' happiness and materialism: Explanations from two life‐course theories, self‐esteem, and money‐attitudes

• Published in: The Journal of consumer affairs Vol. 55; no. 4; pp. 1306 - 1332
• Main Authors: Inseng Duh, Helen, Yu, Hong, Ni, Yuefeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Wiley Periodicals, Inc 01-12-2021; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Consumers; Happiness; Human capital; Materialism; Millennials; Money; Self esteem; Socialization; Structural equation modeling; Wealth
• ISSN: 0022-0078; 1745-6606
• DOI: 10.1111/joca.12368

Born in an era of single‐child families and raised in the rapidly growing and globally connected milieu where material wealth is ranked at the top of life's achievements, Chinese millennials are feared to be materialistic. We assessed whether this was the case and whether happiness is gained from materialism. By questioning processes through which materialism develops, we examined how self‐esteem, money attitudes and human capital, and socialization life‐course theories explain materialism. We collected data from 207 millennials and conducted structural equation modeling and mediation analyses. We found that Chinese millennials were moderately materialistic and do obtain some happiness from materialism. Materialism was explained by the human capital and socialization life‐course theory, whereby self‐esteem mediated in how family resources received and peer communication during adolescence impacted materialism at young adulthood. Self‐esteem was a good predictor of five money‐attitude dimensions, which can help and hinder materialism depending on the dimension consumers hold.