MATERIALISM AND QUALITY-OF-LIFE

An attempt is made in this paper to establish a foundation for a theor y of materialism and quality of life. The theory posits that overall l ife satisfaction (quality of life) is partly determined by satisfactio n with standard of living. Satisfaction with standard of living, in tu rn, is determined by evaluations of one's actual standard of living co mpared to a set goal. Materialists experience greater dissatisfaction with their standard of living than nonmaterialists, which in turn spil ls over to overall life causing dissatisfaction with life in general. Materialists experience dissatisfaction with their standard of living because they set standard of living goals that are inflated and unreal istically high. These goals set by materialists are more influenced by affective-based expectations (such as ideal, deserved, and need-based expectations) than cognitive-based ones (such as predictive, past, an d ability based expectations). Materialists' ideal standard-of-living expectations are influenced by social comparisons involving remote ref erents, more so than comparisons involving standards that are situatio nally imposed. Examples of situationally-imposed standards are percept ions of wealth, income, and material possessions of family, friends, n eighbors, colleagues, and so on. In contrast, examples of standards ba sed on remote sources are perceptions of standard of living of others in one's community, town, state, country, other countries; perceptions of standard of living of others based on gender, age, education, ethn icity, occupation, and social class. This tendency to use remote refer ents in social comparisons may account for materialists' inflated and value-laden expectations of their standard of living. Materialists' de served standard-of-living expectations are influenced by the tendency to engage in equity comparisons involving income and work. Thus, mater ialists compare themselves with others that seem to have more income a nd worked no harder. These equity comparisons generate feelings of ine quity, injustice, anger, or envy. These emotions may also account for materialists' inflated and value-laden expectations of their standard of living. Materialists' standard-of-living expectations based on mini mum needs are influenced by the tendency to spend more than generate i ncome. This proclivity to overconsume and underproduce may be partly r esponsible for materialists' inflated and value-laden expectations of their standard of living.