Life Satisfaction and Compulsive Buying in Brazil: The Mediating Role of Anxiety

This study investigated whether anxiety mediates the relationship between life satisfaction and compulsive buying. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of 328 Brazilian adults aged 18 to 56 years (M = 24.7, SD = 6.33; 51.8 % male). Participants completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale (α = .85), the State Anxiety subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (α = .91), and the Richmond Compulsive Buying Scale (α = .88). Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS 24.0. Mediation was tested using PROCESS Model 4, with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. The results showed a significant negative relationship between life satisfaction and compulsive buying (B = –.10, p = .038), a negative association between life satisfaction and anxiety (B = –.21, p < .001), and a positive association between anxiety and compulsive buying (B = .50, p < .01). The indirect effect of life satisfaction on compulsive buying through anxiety was significant (b = –.11; 95 % CI: –.16, –.05). These findings indicate that lower life satisfaction increases anxiety, which in turn predicts compulsive buying. Taken together, the results highlight the importance of addressing emotional well-being and anxiety in individuals with low life satisfaction to reduce the risk of compulsive buying behavior.