Materialism

A psychology study (Nickerson et al.) conducted in 2003 is suggests that seeking materialistic desires do not usually equate to one's contentment.

  The study examined the attitudes of 12,000 college freshmen when they were eighteen, and then measured their life-satisfaction at age 37.  Those who had expressed heightened materialistic aspirations as freshmen – always wanting something they did not have – were far less satisfied with their lives two decades later.