Should environmentalists be concerned about materialism? An analysis of attitudes, behaviours and greenhouse gas emissions

•Individual differences in materialism, level of environmental concern, and GHG emissions are analysed.•Materialists produce more GHG emissions than others, mainly through more frequent air travel.•The status-seeking behaviour of materialists appears not limited to acquiring possessions.

This study analyses the relationships between materialistic values, environmental concerns, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in a sample of 1004 Swedish residents. The previously established material values scale (MVS) is employed along with detailed measurements of the respondents' GHG emissions from travel behaviour, residential energy use, diet, and other consumption. The developed structural model reveals a weak but significant association between high MVS scores on the one hand and low environmental concern and high GHG emissions on the other hand. In further analysis, however, the correlation between high MVS scores and high GHG emissions is shown to be traceable to the domain of air travel in the first place, with no correlation found, for example, between MVS scores and size of accommodation and spending on cars, both traditional status commodities. Instead of possessions, the status-oriented materialists in the sample thus appeared to focus more on other aspects of their lifestyle.