Compulsive buying in university students: its prevalence and relationships with materialism, psychological distress symptoms, and subjective well-being

The appraisal of goal-related constructs, generally, and of personal projects (PP) in particular, is one of the most solid research paths with regard to subjective well-being and health. In the last few years, the appraisal of PP has been linked to such problems as excessive alcohol and marijuana use, but no study has been conducted in the field of compulsive buying (CB). In this study, using Little’s personal-projects-analysis (PPA) methodology, the differences in university students were analyzed in both broad domains (meaning, structure, community, efficacy, and stress) and specific appraisal dimensions in groups with low (n = 293), moderate (n = 191), and high (n = 41) compulsive-buying propensities. The results confirm that the high-propensity group presented the highest significant levels in the domain of stress and the lowest in efficacy, meaning, and structure. As to appraisal dimensions, the group with a high propensity to CB attained statistically lower appraisals in the dimensions of importance, enjoyment, self-identity, absorption, control, time adequacy, progress, and outcome of their projects; the appraisal of the level of stress, difficulty, and conflict increased as the level of involvement in CB increased. These findings have major implications for the design of prevention and intervention programs for this behavioral problem.

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A Comparative Study of Subjective Well-Being and Psychological Problems Related to Problematic Internet Use among University Students With and Without Disabilities (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.24168 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Antonio Raya ◽

Carlos Herruzo ◽

Rosario Ruiz ◽

Valentina Lucena ◽

Javier Herruzo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Young People ◽

University Students ◽

Students With Disabilities ◽

Internet Use ◽

People With Disabilities ◽

Well Being ◽

Problematic Internet Use ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Disabled People

BACKGROUND Problematic internet use (PIU) and the psychological variables related to subjective well-being among people with disabilities has received very little attention in scientific literature. OBJECTIVE The objectives of this study were to observe whether people with disabilities experience PIU like that of young people without disabilities; to relate PIU to psychological distress and problems in young disabled people, and to determine whether these problems are similar to or different from those experienced by young people without disabilities. METHODS PIU was evaluated using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and psychological distress was evaluated using the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM). The sample comprised 1,794 young people (408 university students with disabilities and 1,386 university students without disabilities). RESULTS The group of university students with disabilities showed less PIU than the non-disabled students, but the worst scores in variables referencing psychological discomfort were found among those students with disabilities who also had PIU. CONCLUSIONS PIU is related to bigger problems in disabled people for whom, with regard to problems in social relationships or the probability of self-harm, it represents a higher risk than for people without disabilities.

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Life Aspirations, Generativity and Compulsive Buying in University Students

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18158060 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (15) ◽

pp. 8060

Author(s):

José Manuel Otero-López ◽

María José Santiago ◽

María Cristina Castro

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Compulsive Buying ◽

Well Being ◽

Personal Construct ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Intrinsic Goals ◽

Responsible Consumption ◽

Self Acceptance ◽

Buying In ◽

Life Aspirations

The study of goal-oriented behaviour, because of its undeniable repercussions on physical and mental health, is one of the target topics of contemporary research. However, the content of life aspirations, emphasised from the self-determination theory, has received little attention from the field of compulsive buying although it plays an important role in the regulation of behaviour and well-being. Generativity, the personal construct that captures the intentions and/or the need to contribute (leave a legacy) to others, has never been analysed with respect to compulsive buying although it has been the source of interest of related fields (responsible consumption). Accordingly, this study seeks to shed light on the role of both constructs (life aspirations and generativity) in compulsive buying among university students. The sample consisted of 1093 Spanish university students classified either as non-compulsive buyers or compulsive buyers. Estimated prevalence of compulsive buying was 7.9%. The results of Student’s test confirm that, besides gender (women report greater propensity to the phenomenon), compulsive buyers score higher and show statistically significant differences with respect to non-compulsive buyers in all extrinsic goals (financial success, image, popularity and conformity) and hedonism. Non-compulsive buyers show significantly higher scores for the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance, affiliation and community feeling and also report a higher generative concern. The logistic regression analysis confirms that being female and the life aspirations of image, popularity and hedonism act as risk factors in compulsive buying in university students while generativity and the importance granted to the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance and affiliation are protective factors. Potential lines of action for this worrying phenomenon are discussed in the light of the findings.

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