Journal of Business and Management Research, 5 (2014) 125-127 p-ISSN : 2356-5756 / e-ISSN: 2356-5764 © Knowledge Journals www.knowledgejournals.com Short research communication Materialistic (and unhappy?) adult now, economically deprived child then: How are felt formative economic deprivation, materialism, and well-being measures related? Srikant Manchiraju a , Jihyeong Son a a Iowa State University, USA * Corresponding author: Email address: srikant@iastate.edu (Srikant Manchiraju). Article history: Received 28 July 2014; Accepted 15 August 2014; Available online 16 August 2014. Abstract According to the US Census Bureau, in 2010, one in five children lived in poverty. The role of economic deprivation during childhood and its implications during adulthood has been explored by several researchers (e.g., Mheen et al., 1998). Of particular interest for the present study is to explore the role of economic deprivation and its relationship with materialism and well-being measures. Scholars (e.g., Inglehart, 1990) have maintained that economic deprivation experienced during childhood and adolescence years might lead to an adult who is materialistic, which has been linked to diminished level of life satisfaction (Wright and Larsen, 1993) and subjective well- being/happiness (Kasser, 2002). In other words, in the light of the rising numbers related to children living in poverty and findings from various research studies – it could be expected that the substantial proportion of the US population (also elsewhere) will be materialistic and consequently dissatisfied and unhappy in their lives. Thus, the present study explores the relationships between economic deprivation, materialism, and well-being measures. Keywords: Economic deprivation, Materialism, well-being measures. © 2014 Knowledge Journals. All rights reserved. 1. Literature Review and Hypotheses Definitions. Felt formative economic deprivation refers to the reduced sense of economic well-being, which is conceptualized as a negative psychological experience gained during the ages 0 to 18 years (Ahuvia and Wong, 2002). Materialism is defined as “the importance a consumer attaches to worldly possessions” (Belk, 1984, p. β91). Additionally, it has been noted that materialism is a personality trait (Belk, 1985) and a personal value (Richins and Dawson, 1992). Ahuvia and Wong (1995) labeled them as personality materialism and value materialism respectively. Both types of materialisms are considered complimentary (Ahuvia and Wong, 2002). Experiential buying tendency refers to an individual’s propensity to relatively buy more experiences over material possessions (Howell et al., 2012). Life satisfaction refers to “a judgmental process, in which individual assess the quality of their lives on the basis of their own unique set of criteria” (Pavot and Diener, 1993, p. 164). Subjective well-being (or happiness; hereafter happiness) refers to individuals’ evaluation of their lives with regards to life satisfaction and their affective reactions (Diener and Suh, 1999). Relationship: Felt formative economic deprivation with materialism, experiential purchase tendency, life satisfaction, and happiness. Socioeconomic status (SES) has been linked to childhood economic deprivation (Bradley and Corwyn, 2002). Several scholars (e.g., Chang and Arkins, 2002) have noted the positive relationship between SES and materialism. For example, Inglehart’s theory of materialistic socialization (Inglehart, 1990) proposed that adult materialism is intertwined with formative feelings of economic insecurity experienced during childhood and adolescence years, which is related to adult materialistic tendency. Additionally, researchers (e.g., Howell et al., 2012) have maintained that materialistic individuals tend to buy material purchases (e.g., designer bag) over experiential purchases (e.g., concert). Researchers (e.g., von Rueden et al., 2006) have noted that lower SES experienced during childhood contributes to psychological distress