What’s Materialism? Testing the Two Dominant Perspectives on Materialism

Materialism is defined as “the importance a consumer attaches to worldly possessions” (Belk, 1984, p. 291). However, scholars (e.g., Larsen, Sirgy, & Wright, 1999; Shrum et al., 2012) have noted that the existing conceptualizations of materialism, and by extension measurement scales, have several drawbacks such as negative priori association and poor scale reliability (Larsen et al., 1999)

A novel approach to model cumulative stress:Area under the s-factor curve

OBJECTIVE: Using a large longitudinal sample of adults from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, the present study extended a recently developed hierarchical model to determine how best to model the accumulation of stressors, and to determine whether the rate of change in stressors or traditional composite scores of stressors are stronger predictors of health outcomes.METHOD: We used factor analysis to estimate a stress-factor score and then, to operationalize the accumulation of stressors we examined five approaches to aggregating information about repeated exposures to multiple stressors. The predictive validity of these approaches was then assessed in relation to different health outcomes.RESULTS: The prediction of chronic conditions, body mass index, difficulty with activities of daily living, executive function, and episodic memory later in life was strongest when the accumulation of stressors was modeled using total area under the curve (AUC) of estimated factor scores, compared to composite scores that have traditionally been used in studies of cumulative stress, as well as linear rates of change.CONCLUSIONS: Like endogenous, biological markers of stress reactivity, AUC for individual trajectories of self-reported stressors shows promise as a data reduction technique to model the accumulation of stressors in longitudinal studies. Overall, our results indicate that considering different quantitative models is critical to understanding the sequelae and predictive power of psychosocial stressors from midlife to late adulthood.</p

What’s Materialism? Testing the Two Dominant Perspectives on Materialism

Materialism is defined as “the importance a consumer attaches to worldly possessions” (Belk, 1984, p. 291). However, scholars (e.g., Larsen, Sirgy, & Wright, 1999; Shrum et al., 2012) have noted that the existing conceptualizations of materialism, and by extension measurement scales, have several drawbacks such as negative priori association and poor scale reliability (Larsen et al., 1999).</p

What is materialism? Testing two dominant perspectives on materialism in the marketing literature

Materialism is defined as the importance an individual attaches to worldly possessions, which has been considered as an important construct in consumer behavior and marketing literature. There are two dominant perspectives on individual materialism in the marketing literature that focus on (1) personality traits or (2) individual personal values. However, several scholars have questioned the aforementioned materialism conceptualizations. Therefore, the present study directly compares the constructs of personality materialism and value materialism. Structural equation modeling was employed to address the following issues: (1) what are the key conceptual dimensions of materialism, (2) how much do they overlap, and (3) what is their discriminant validity in predicting outcomes linked to materialism. We suggest these two dominant perspectives on individual materialism are two distinct constructs, as they shared only 21 percent of common variance. Furthermore, we stress the multi-faceted nature of materialism, with an emphasis on future research directions related to materialism in marketing

Withdrawn and wired: Problematic internet use accounts for the link of neurotic withdrawal to sleep disturbances

Objective: Although neuroticism is the strongest personality predictor of sleep disturbance, it is not clear whether dysphoric (Withdrawal) or angry (Volatility) aspect of neuroticism is more important and whether problematic technology use plays an intervening role. To this end, this study examined distinct contributions of neurotic withdrawal and volatility in predicting self-reported sleep disturbance while testing the mediating role of problematic internet use. Methods: One-hundred and fourty-three college students completed an online survey that included measures of neuroticism, sleep quality, and problematic internet use. Results: Although both aspects of neuroticism predicted poor sleep, Withdrawal emerged as a stronger and the only unique predictor. Furthermore, problematic internet use explained a portion of Withdrawal’s relationship to worse sleep, especially nighttime and daytime disturbances. Discussion: The findings suggest that dysphoric rather than angry features of neuroticism are more important for sleep problems and that the problematic use of modern technology may be an important contributing factor

Individual Differences in Diurnal Preference and Time-of-Exercise Interact to Predict Exercise Frequency

Background: Diurnal preference (and chronotype more generally) has been implicated in exercise behavior, but this relation has not been examined using objective exercise measurements nor have potential psychosocial mediators been examined. Furthermore, time-of-day often moderates diurnal preference's influence on outcomes, and it is unknown whether time-of-exercise may influence the relation between chronotype and exercise frequency. Purpose: The current study examined whether individual differences in diurnal preference (“morningness-eveningness”) predict unique variance in exercise frequency and if commonly studied psychosocial variables mediate this relation (i.e., behavioral intentions, internal exercise control, external exercise control, and conscientiousness). Moreover, the study sought to test whether individuals’ typical time-of-exercise moderated the impact of diurnal preference on exercise frequency. Methods: One hundred twelve healthy adults (mean age = 25.4; SD = 11.6 years) completed baseline demographics and then wore Fitbit Zips® for 4 weeks to objectively measure exercise frequency and typical time-of-exercise. At the end of the study, participants also self-reported recent exercise. Results: Diurnal preference predicted both self-reported exercise and Fitbit-recorded exercise frequency. When evaluating mediators, only conscientiousness emerged as a partial mediator of the relation between diurnal preference and self-reported exercise. In addition, time-of-exercise moderated diurnal preference's relation to both self-reported exercise and Fitbit-recorded exercise frequency such that diurnal preference predicted higher exercise frequency when exercise occurred at a time that was congruent with one's diurnal preference. Conclusion: Based on these findings, diurnal preference is valuable, above and beyond other psychological constructs, in predicting exercise frequency and represents an important variable to incorporate into interventions seeking to increase exercise.This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Annals of Behavioral Medicine following peer review. The version of record: Hisler, Garrett C., L. Alison Phillips, and Zlatan Krizan. "Individual differences in diurnal preference and time-of-exercise interact to predict exercise frequency." Annals of Behavioral Medicine 51, no. 3 (2017): 391-401 is available online at DOI: 10.1007/s12160-016-9862-0. Posted with permission.</p

Neuroticism as the Intensity, Reactivity, and Variability in Day-to-Day Affect

Neuroticism has been linked to typical levels of affect, affect reactivity to negative events, and variability in affect over time. However, the intercorrelations among these characteristics make it unclear whether neuroticism reflects unique variance in each of these aspects of emotional life. Data from two daily-diary samples revealed that neuroticism was associated with average levels and variability of positive and negative affect and reactivity of negative affect to stressors, but was only uniquely related to mean levels of positive and negative affect. Findings highlight the substantial overlap in affect indices, suggesting that mean levels of affect, at the very least, are at the core of neuroticism, and reveal the need for further research using more nuanced approaches