Materialism And Subjective Well-being

At present,China’s economy is in the stage of rapid development,the quality of life of the people has been continuously improved,while people enjoy the fruits of modernization in the fashion trend,materialism is also booming.Materialism is a kind of value,and individuals who hold it tend to pay too much attention to material wealth.At the present stage,materialism maintains a strong development trend.More and more people dream of becoming especially rich economically.They can often see a serious phenomenon of comparison in campus life.It can be seen that materialism has had a significant impact on the daily life of Chinese people.Subjective well-being is the overall cognitive evaluation and emotional experience of people’s life.The relationship between materialism and subjective well-being has been studied for a long time.A large number of literatures have shown that materialism has a negative predictive effect on well-being,but few studies on the internal relationship between materialism and subjective well-being from the perspective of envy.Therefore,this study will further explore the internal relationship between materialism and subjective well-being,so as to contribute to promoting people’s happiness and guiding people’s value.In Study 1,591 Chinese college students(382 females and 209 males)were investigated on materialism,envy types and subjective well-being.After data analysis,we got the following results:(1)there are significant differences in the subjective well-being of college students in the place of origin and whether they are only children,but there are no gender differences and professional differences.(2)There is a significant negative correlation between College Students’ materialism and subjective well-being.(3)There is a significant positive correlation between College Students’ materialism and benign envy,malicious envy.(4)There is a significant positive correlation between benign envy and subjective well-being,and a significant negative correlation between malicious envy and subjective well-being.(5)Benign envy and malicious envy play a part of mediating role between materialism and subjective well-being of college students,that is,materialism can make well-being rise through benign envy,and also make well-being decline through malicious envy.The first study found that the malicious envy of high materialism seriously affected their well-being level.In order to improve their well-being,based on the self-maintenance theory and rational emotive therapy,the second study was designed to intervene malicious envy from the perspective of cognition,so as to improve the well-being of high materialism.In Study 2,20 college students who voluntarily participated in Study 2 and got an average score of materialism higher than 4 were randomly divided into intervention group(4 males and 6 females)and control group(3 males and 7 females).The intervention group was given cognitive intervention,while the control group was not treated.After that,malicious envy,benign envy and subjective well-being were measured.Through the data analysis of pre-test and post-test and one week later tracking test,it is found that the intervention from the perspective of cognition can significantly reduce the malicious envy of high materialism,and then improve the subjective well-being of college students.Finally,this paper puts forward some suggestions and countermeasures from the perspective of individuals,families,schools and government society,hoping that through the efforts of all parties,it can help college students to establish a correct concept of material,consumption and enjoyment,at the same time,it can help college students to reduce malicious envy,increase benign envy,and improve subjective well-being in social comparison.