Materialistic trends among youth are increasing day by day, and according to one research some kids of today shop twice more than that of 55 years ago, and I am sure you know with whose money, and they have more luxuries and more money, but still there lust or craving for products is increasing rapidly.

Contrary to belief, this is not only in the West, but even youth from some poorer countries are spending their money just to be a part of society and they are focusing more on materialistic things like cars, cell phones, laptops and most importantly a wealthy life which gives them life satisfaction.

Materialism is a complex phenomenon and those who associate their happiness with materialistic possessions become stressed with the family structure. According to one research, friends are found to be the predictors of enhancing the endorsement of materialistic values and children go far away from family traditions. Products with local brand names are considered to be cheap as compared to international brand names which are endorsed by the rich and famous, and which plays a vital role in increasing self-consciousness.

Today, youth are more materialistic and less involved in hard work than the past. According to a study, in the past, the percentage of materialism among youth was 48 percent, and it has increased up to 62 percent of students. It has become a belief among the youth that the person who has more materialistic things has more satisfaction of life. If parents are materialistic than there are more chances of developing materialism among their children.

A study suggests that there is also an effect of neighbourhood on developing materialistic values in youth especially, so if you live in an affluent area or attend a certain private school, then automatically you start feeling the need to fit in with your peers and then you want to act like them, dress like them and even behave like them, What you don’t consider is whether your parents can afford to give it to you or not, you just shout the demands (and the name brands) and you expect it to be there.

Peer rejection is related to adolescent materialism and self-esteem, and it was suggested that peer rejection boosts adolescent materialism by lowering implicit self-esteem and that materialism is one way to compensate their implicit self-esteem. Adolescents use branded things to develop self-concept among them. The findings of research suggest that materialistic youth like to shop more and save less. Youth who are materialistic also show low academic performance!
Today, the materialistic trend is increasing so much in youth that they are living a robotic life as they try to be more competitive with each other. They spend more time on social media rather than their family and become more status conscious. Their purpose of life is to live a luxurious life and to become a part of the elite of society.

A challenge for the parents!
How materialistic are your children? But first you need to ask yourself how materialistic are you? Are you the type that just buys whatever you want? Have you passed this habit on to your children?