When and Why Does Materialism Relate to Employees’ Attitudes and Well-being: The Mediational Role of Need Satisfaction and Need Frustration

Abstract

Materialistic values may be detrimental for people’s well-being. However, we know little about why (i.e., explaining mechanisms) and when (i.e., boundary conditions) this is the case. Although low satisfaction of the psychological needs is said to play a key role in this process, a recent meta-analysis indicates that the explaining power of need satisfaction is limited and suggests that need frustration may be more important. Moreover, although materialism may be detrimental in some life domains, studies in materialistic contexts such as work are lacking, particularly in the non-Western world. In response, we put need frustration to the fore and examine both need satisfaction and frustration as the underlying processes in the relation between materialism and employee attitudes and well-being in two Latin–American countries. The Chilean sample (N = 742) shows that materialism at work is associated with less positive (work satisfaction and engagement) and more negative (burnout and turnover intentions) outcomes, even when controlling for workers’ income. Notably, need frustration explained the detrimental effects of materialism alongside need satisfaction in a unique manner, showing that it is essential to distinguish both constructs. Results were replicated in Paraguay (N = 518) using different positive (organizational commitment and meaning at work) and negative (negative emotions and job insecurity) outcomes, adding to the generalizability of our results across samples of different nations.

The Negative and Positive Aspects of Employees’ Innovative Behavior: Role of Goals of Employees and Supervisors

“…That is, a relatively high extrinsic goals pursuit of employees will produce and generate greater relationship conflicts when engaging in innovative activities. Previous studies just found that employees’ extrinsic and intrinsic goals could influence their job outcomes, such as job satisfaction and turnover intentions ( Vansteenkiste et al, 2007 ; Unanue et al, 2017 ). Our study suggest that employees’ goal pursuit is also an important factor that can moderate the relationships between innovative behaviors and its outcomes.…”

Choice Between Salary and Employer Brand: The Roles of Materialism and Inclination to Develop an Identity-Motives-Based Relationship With an Employer Brand

“…In a recent study, Unanue et al (2017bUnanue et al ( , p. 1755 showed the mediating roles of psychological needs satisfaction and frustration in the relationship between materialism and wellbeing. Applying this idea to the current results, we posit that a high-salary offer may satisfy the needs of materialists, a low-salary offer may frustrate the needs of materialists, and strong-brand offers may satisfy the needs of individuals with a high inclination for S-EB-R.…”

“…The satisfaction of only functional needs without delivering psychological benefits is not enough to feel emotionally connected with a brand. The needs satisfaction-frustration framework and results regarding the different impacts of needs satisfaction and frustration in predicting outcomes for well-being (Unanue et al, 2017b(Unanue et al, , p. 1755) deliver a valuable interpretation for results on anticipated job satisfaction as well. The preference for the SEBUAS job offer, even though it satisfies identity needs, may be extremely frustrating for materialists, and thus induce a strong affect and evaluative reaction.…”

“…303-316;Unanue et al, 2016, pp. 10-22;Unanue et al, 2017bUnanue et al, , p. 1755Wang et al, 2017, pp. 312-317).…”

“…10-22) and materialistic values were found to be related to lower satisfaction with life overall and with specific areas of life, including income and standard of living (Richins and Dawson, 1992, pp. 303-316), with lack of satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs as mediators (Unanue et al, 2017b(Unanue et al, , p. 1755Wang et al, 2017, pp. 312-317).…”