Influence Of Materialism On Pro-Social Tendencies: The Mediating Effect Of Gratitude And The Moderating Effect Of Nostalgia

This study proposed a moderated mediation model, revealing "how" materialism influences pro-social tendencies and "when" the impact was stronger or weaker. A sample of 486 college students from three universities in Wuhan were recruited to complete the scale of materialism, a gratitude scale, a nostalgia scale and a pro-social tendency scale. The results showed that: (1) Materialism and pro-social tendencies were negatively correlated (r=-.I6, p<.0I), nostalgia was positively correlated with pro-social tendencies (r=.21, p<.001), and gratitude and pro-social tendencies were positively related (r=.34, p<.01); (2) Multiple regression analysis showed that gratitude has a partial mediating effect in the relationship between materialism and pro-social tendencies; (3) Nostalgia moderated the second path of the mediation effect. These findings have important theoretical implications and practical value which can guide people to increase pro-social behavior.