Objectives <p>This study aims to explore the predictive effect of materialism on prosocial behavior and its influencing mechanism.</p> Methods <p>study 1 used the materialism scale, prosocial behavior scale and meaning in life scale to investigate 715 Chinese adolescents with an average age of 16.82 years. Study 2 manipulated the materialism of 128 adolescents (123 in the control group), and measured their meaning in life and prosocial behavior after manipulation and verification.</p> Results <p>The results of the two studies consistently found that materialism has a significant negative predictive effect on prosocial behavior; the meaning in life plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between materialism and prosocial behavior; gender moderated the relationship between meaning in life and prosocial behavior.</p> Conclusions <p>This study revealed the internal mechanism of the influence of materialism on prosocial behavior, and provides evidence for its causal relationship through experimental research. On the one hand, materialism negatively predicts prosocial behavior; on the other hand, materialism indirectly reduced prosocial behavior by reducing the meaning in life. Finally, gender moderated the relationship between meaning in life and prosocial behavior. Specifically, compared with male adolescents, female adolescents ' meaning in life had a more significant effect on prosocial behavior. These findings provide a new perspective for promoting individual prosocial behavior programs.</p>