Value Preferences of Croatian Citizens as Determinants of Materialism

Abstract

The aim of this study is to check the factor structure of The Material Values Scale, examine the orientation of Croatian residents towards materialism, examine their basic human value hierarchy, and to identify and explain the relationship between values and materialism with control of sociodemographic characteristics. The survey was carried out on a representative sample of 1004 adult Croatian residents. The short version of The Material Values Scale (MVS) (Richins, 2004) was applied for the materialism examination and the short version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ) (Schwartz et al., 2001) was applied for the value examination. The results show that possession and acquisition of goods are mainly not important for Croatian residents in terms of the main preoccupation in life, and, on average, they do not believe that consumption leads to happiness. Croatian residents attribute more importance to tradition, universalism and benevolence and less to stimulation and power. In terms of the relationship between values and materialism, it turned out that ten value types with control of socio-demographic characteristics explain 16% of the total variance of happiness, as a first measured dimension of materialism, and 39% of the total variance of centrality as a second dimension of materialism.