The relationship of materialism to debt and financial well-being: The case of Iceland's perceived prosperity

► The paper reports findings from two studies conducted in Iceland during a major economic boom. ► We examined the association of materialism and indicators of financial well-being. ► Materialism was related to various subjective measures of financial well-being. ► Materialism also predicted amount of debt including mortgage, which is a novel finding. ► This suggests that personal finances may benefit from a policy discouraging materialism.