Materialism is detrimental to academic engagement: Evidence from self-report surveys and linguistic analysis

Abstract

Extensive research has shown that materialism is detrimental for one’s well-being. However, little is known about how materialism is associated with learning-related outcomes. In Study 1 (n = 466), we conducted a survey study and found that students who scored high in materialism had lower levels of academic engagement. In Study 2 (n = 59), we used the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC) and found that students who wrote more about monetary concerns scored lower in terms of academic engagement. Results of the cross-sectional survey (Study 1) and the linguistic analysis (Study 2) provided converging evidence that materialism is negatively associated with academic engagement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.