Materialism Profiles Across Levels of Subjective Family Economic Status and Their Prospective Associations with Subjective Well-Being Among Chinese Vocational College Students

Materialistic values and family economic circumstances have both been linked to well-being, but little is known about whether materialism profiles are similar across family economic contexts and how they relate to subsequent well-being. A sample of 1641 Chinese higher vocational college students completed two surveys six months apart. Materialism and subjective family economic status (SFES) were assessed at T1, whereas life satisfaction and depressive symptoms were assessed at T1 and T2. Separate latent profile analyses conducted within each of the three SFES groups consistently yielded low-, moderate-, and high-materialism profiles, and multiple-group analyses further supported similarity in profile means, indicator variances, and profile proportions across SFES levels. BCH analyses adjusting for the corresponding T1 outcome and demographic covariates showed significant overall variation in T2 outcomes across combinations of SFES group and materialism profile. Across SFES groups, students in the high-materialism profile had significantly higher depressive symptoms than those in the low-materialism profile after Holm correction, whereas corresponding life-satisfaction differences were not significant. Interaction-type tests showed no significant differences across SFES groups in the associations between materialism profiles and either well-being outcome. Overall, materialism profiles were associated with subsequent well-being, particularly depressive symptoms, across perceived family economic circumstances.