The International Journal of Indian Psychology ISSN 2348-5396 (e) | ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) Volume 3, Issue 4, No. 56, DIP: 18.01.005/20160304 ISBN: 978-1-365-23992-2 http://www.ijip.in | July-September, 2016 © 2016 I H Kaur, R Kaur; licensee IJIP. This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Effects of Materialism on Well-Being: A Review Harshmeet Kaur 1 *, Ramanpreet Kaur 2 ABSTRACT Materialism as a research topic has gained currency for over past two decades. Studies reveal that in consumer societies, people are trying to capture happiness and satisfaction in the form of possession of luxury goods. Materialism is characterized by a pursuit of wealth taking precedence over higher level needs. Well-being is a comprehensive term for the psychological, physical, social, or economic state of an individual or group. The researchers have found evidence to support the belief that materialism shares a negative relationship with wellbeing. Several researches have documented that materialistic lifestyle is allied with low subjective well- being. In light of past researches, this paper attempts to review the literature to trace this relationship between these two variables. The overall argument of the paper is that materialistic tendencies are detrimental to the well being of an individual. The paper concludes with the research directions to carry the research on materialism and well being forward. Keywords: Materialism, Well Being, Happiness, Life Satisfaction “It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” Bertrand Russel (‘Principles of social reconstructions, 1916). In consumer societies, material goods are considered an index of happiness and success (Garðarsdóttir & Dittmar, 2012). Consumers are consuming today more than they ever have before (Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003). Research evidence demonstrates that materialistic values have risen dramatically in last few decades, (Astin et al. 2002; Ger & Belk, 1999). It is a widely held belief in consumer societies that materialism is good for the economy of the nation, since materialism pushes people to work more to secure higher incomes, to increase consumption of goods and services and promotes living standards (Kasser et al., 2007; Richins & Rudmin, 1994). Material possessions are socially meaningful not only owing to their instrumentality in sustaining and developing our lives but also because they are used as the symbols of identity, personality and self-expression (Dittmar & Pepper, 1994; Dittmar, 1992; Burroughs et al.,1991; Kamptner, 1 Research Scholar, Department of Psychology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India 2 Research Scholar, Department of Psychology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India *Responding Author