Materialism in middle adulthood: Effects on genereativity and psychological well-being as well as the mediating effects of self-compassion and need for social approval

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of self-compassion and the need for social approval in the relationship between materialism and generativity, as well as psychological well-being, based on middle adulthood. From the knowledge that middle adulthood is less studied in the literature than other age groups, the relationship between these variables was evaluated within the framework of midlife theories in descriptive research, considering the developmental characteristics of the middle age period. In addition, the relationship between materialism with generativity and psychological well-being was examined through the mediating role of self-compassion and the need for social approval, using the structural equation model, one of the relational screening models, with the quantitative research method. The research population consists of adults aged 40-65 living in Turkey. Surveys were collected through the online SurveyMonkey program using snowball and convenience sampling. Four hundred sixty-four people participated in this study. Of the participants, 340 (73.28%) are women and 124 (26.72%) are men. The participants' mean age was 50.28, and the standard deviation was 5.83. Personal Information Form to collect demographic information of the participants; Material Values Scale to determine the importance they attach to material values; Loyola Productivity Scale to measure their social productivity; Psychological Well Being Scale to understand whether they have a functionally positive approach to both themselves and others; Need for Social Approval Scale was used to understand how much one needs approval from others; Self-Compassion Scale was used to measure one's understanding and sensitivity towards oneself. As a result of the research, a significant and negative relationship was found between acquisition as a pursuit of happiness, the sub-dimension of materialism, and psychological well-being and generativity, and it was determined that the sub-dimension of self-compassion, self-kindness assumed in the first model, had a mediating effect in this relationship. Another dimension of materialism, acquisition centrality and judging success through possession, was not found to be related to any other variable. A significant and positive relationship was found only with the sub-dimension of the need for social approval, the sensitivity to others' judgment variable with acquisition centrality, and judging success through possession. In addition, it was determined that the sub-dimension of the need for social approval and the sensitivity to others' judgment variable examined in the second model did not have any mediating effect.