Materialism and Well-Being among Consumers of Three Asian Subcultures: The Effects of Religion and Ethnicity

Studies on the relationship between materialism and life satisfaction have produced contradictory findings across cultural settings. There is little theory to suggest the reason(s) materialism is associated (positively or negatively) with well-being in some countries and not in others, the processes that link materialism to life satisfaction, and the variables that moderate this relationship. Furthermore, it is not clear whether materialism is the cause or the consequence of well-being, whether the two variables are causally related, or even whether the previously reported relationships between them represent the effects of third variables. This paper explores the impact of the socio-cultural context on materialism. It presents the results of a government funded large scale study that seeks to explain the relationship between materialism and well-being by assuming that materialism 1) affects well-being, 2) is a consequence of a person’s well-being, or 3) its relationship with well-being is the result of third variables, especially ethnic and religious differences among consumers of a culturally diverse Asian society. By confining the present study to a sample of consumers drawn from Malaysia—a country of diverse subcultures who share similar cultural values (collectivistic), we attempt to control the effects the other possible reasons that generate these differences, ranging from broad macro-environmental factors (e.g., country-related) to mediating processes, as well as ways people in different countries respond to questions and measurement instruments.