Material Values Scale – Chinese Version

Description

Materialism originally refers to a philosophical viewpoint known as “materialism,” which is one of the two fundamental schools of philosophy, in contrast to “idealism.” It posits that matter is the essence of the world and that consciousness is a derivative of matter, thereby asserting that material is primary and consciousness is secondary. In contemporary personality and social psychology, it is generally defined as a personal value orientation that emphasizes the importance of possessing material wealth. This value perspective emphasizes the embodiment of personal worth and meaning of life through the possession of material goods and the consumption of luxury items, consequently increasing feelings of happiness.

Authors and Contact Email

Richins and Dawson (1992); Guo Yongyu (2009) – Contact email information not available.

Purpose

The purpose of the study and measurement is to evaluate and measure materialism in individuals through the Material Values Scale (MVS).

Test Year

1992 (original MVS); 2009 (Chinese revision by Guo Yongyu).

Administration Method and Scoring

The Material Values Scale (MVS), developed by Richins and Dawson in 1992, was revised by Guo Yongyu in 2009, which involved the removal of five items from the original scale. The scale utilizes a 5-point Likert scoring system, where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree. A higher score indicates a higher level of materialistic values.

Reliability and Validity

The retest reliability of the revised MVS is 0.830, with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.792, indicating good reliability and validity.

Factors and Subscales

物质主义的测量使用最广泛的是Richins和Dawson于1992年编制的物质主义价值观量表(material values scale，MVS)
(Translation: The most widely used measure of materialism is the Material Values Scale (MVS) developed by Richins and Dawson in 1992), which distinguishes materialism into three dimensions:
– 获取财物为中心 (acquisition centrality)
– 通过获取财物追求幸福 (acquisition as the pursuit of happiness)
– 以财物定义成功 (possession-defined success)

Keywords

Materialism, Material Values Scale, Happiness, Success, Wealth

Items in Chinese

1. 我羡慕那些拥有昂贵的房子、汽车和衣服的人。
2. 我通常只买我所需要的东西。
3. 如果能拥有一些我现在还没有的物品，我的生活将会更好。
4. 比起我认识的大多数人来说，我不那么重视物质的东西。
5. 在物质生活方面，我试图保持简单朴素。
6. 即使我拥有更好的物品，我的生活也不会因此而更加幸福。
7. 获得物质财产是生命中最重要的成就之一。
8. 我喜欢花钱买一些不实用的东西。
9. 如果我能买得起更多的东西，我会更加幸福。
10. 我不太强调将人们拥有的物质的多寡作为他们成功的标志。
11. 购物能给我带来许多快乐。
12. 一个人所拥有的物质在很大程度上可以说明他有多么成功。
13. 我喜欢我的生活中有许多奢侈品。

Items in English

1. I envy those who own expensive houses, cars, and clothes.
2. I usually buy only what I need.
3. My life would be better if I could own some things I don’t have now.
4. Compared to most people I know, I don’t value material things as much.
5. I try to keep my material life simple and modest.
6. Even if I had better things, my life would not be happier as a result.
7. Acquiring material possessions is one of the most important achievements in life.
8. I enjoy spending money on things that are not practical.
9. I would be happier if I could buy more things.
10. I do not emphasize the quantity of material possessions as a sign of people’s success.
11. Shopping brings me a lot of joy.
12. The material possessions a person has can greatly indicate how successful they are.
13. I like to have many luxury items in my life.

References

Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A Consumer Values Orientation for Materialism and Its Measurement: Scale Development and Validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 303-316.
Guo, Y. (2009). A revision of the Material Values Scale. Information not available.