The idea that we compensate for insecurity or low self-esteem with our checkbook is so widely accepted that it's a cultural cliché: Why else would we consider a middle-aged man in a Ferrari to be a midlife crisis on wheels?
Now there is empirical evidence of the link between self-doubt and materialism.
Robert Arkin, Ph.D., of Ohio State University, found that undergraduate students who identified themselves as chronic self-doubters were far more likely to agree with statements such as "I like to own things that impress people," and "The things I own say a lot about how well I'm doing in life." A second study found that increasing a sense of self-doubt heightened the materialistic tendencies of subjects already prone to insecurity.
