Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects
Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Honors Paper
Degree Name
Psychology-BS
Department
Psychology
Advisor
Dr. Michele Acker
First Committee Member
Dr. Michele Acker
Second Committee Member
Dr. Bennett Grooms
Third Committee Member
Dr. Andrew Mills
Keywords
Materialism, Pro-Social Behavior, Sustainability, Donation
Subject Categories
Cognition and Perception | Environmental Studies | Experimental Analysis of Behavior | Higher Education | Social Psychology
Abstract
Materialism aligns with self-enhancement values such as power, achievement, image, and hedonism (Kasser 2016, Schwartz, 2012). Self-enhancement values and materialism have been associated with engaging in less pro-environmental behavior and larger ecological footprints (Kasser, 2016; Richins & Dawson, 1992) although not in all contexts. For example, the relationship between pro-environmental behavior and materialism may be moderated by social context, where materialists were more likely to behave pro-environmentally in public (Wang et al., 2019).
The goal of this study was to test how materialists’ donation behavior changed according to social context and framing of appeal. The experiment used a 2 (public vs. private) x 2 (self focused vs. other focused) x 2 (low materialism vs. high materialism) design. Participants were randomly assigned and given $15 cash (in $1 bills) with which they decided if, and how much, they would like to donate after viewing an appeal. We predicted participants high in materialism would donate to the self-focused appeal the most in private and that this effect would disappear in the public condition. However, the only significant interaction was between social context and appeal framing, which was opposite of our prediction. An inequivalence of participants with low socioeconomic status between groups partially explains the anomaly. Our findings demonstrated materialism to be a dispositional value that consistently undermines engagement in pro-environmental behavior. Materialism maintained a direct effect on donation behavior independent of ecological worldviews or environmental attitudes, suggesting that self-enhancement values may take precedence over normative motivations, even when environmental concern is present
Licensing Permission
Copyright, all rights reserved. Fair Use
Recommended Citation
Patterson, Mitchell K., "Materialism Matters Most: The Limited Influence of Social Context and Appeal Framing on Donations to an Environmental Organization" (2026). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects. 229.
https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/stu_honor/229
Acknowledgement 1
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Acknowledgement 2
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