Materialism on Students' Behavior

Abstract

Students left behind by their overseas employed parents has become a commonphenomenon in the Philippines. Most parents practice materialism to compensate for theirabsence. However, materialism may result to prevalent impacts on the students’ academicbehavior. The study used phenomenological design to determine the influences ofmaterialism on the Grade 9 students’ academic behavior enrolled at Virgen MilagrosaUniversity Foundation Special Science High School. The sample population wasobtained by non-probability quota sampling whereby only 20 students who have overseasemployed parents and have been affected by materialism were the participants. Thestudy used a profile form and an unstructured interview as tools for data collection. Thedata gathered were analyzed to answer the study’s research questions. The major findingsof the study showed that materialism positively affects the students’ academic behaviorprimarily because of the advantages, rewards, and parental inspiration. Materialism alsonegatively affects the students’ academic behavior mainly by causing distractions, wrongpriorities, and poor conducts. Additional results relevant to the study were the differentinsights of the students about parental materialism and the leading materials they receive.The study concluded that materialism influences the students’ academic behavior bothpositively and negatively based on different conditions. It was recommended that thefindings of this study would be useful to the relative persons in understanding theirsituation broadly and in making solutions to resist the stated dilemma.