Materialism and Criminal Attitude Among Teachers and Students: Moderating Role of Religion

The current study focused on the exploration of materialism and criminal attitude in university teachers and students with the moderating role of religion. Culture and society play an integral role in the development of certain moral values modifying life orientation and satisfaction. Due to specific media influences and Westernization, Pakistani familial culture has changed drastically, swaying the lifestyle of residents. In the current era, success is measured by materialistic possessions. This insatiable hunger for a better lifestyle made them adopt inappropriate means to earn money which contributes to higher crime rates in developing countries. Religion plays a fundamental role in restraining the believer from criminal activities while bringing sustainability into their life. To explore this phenomenon the sample of 300 teachers (M = 27.44, SD = 5.91) and students (M = 20.04, SD = 1.48) was recruited through convenient sampling. The findings have revealed that materialism positively significantly correlated with criminal attitude whereas negatively correlated with spirituality construct. Moreover, moderation analysis demonstrated that spirituality moderates the relationship between materialism and criminal attitude. Significant gender and role differences were also observed. This demonstrated that materialism is one of the major contributors to developing proclivity towards crime however; a positive inclination towards religion can help in prevention while bringing sustainability.