Materialism is a value that emphasises material wealth in personal life, in which material wealth is regarded as the centre of life, the source of happiness, and the criterion for success (Richins & Dawson, 1992). Although materialism originated in Western capitalist society, it is now prevalent in Chinese society due to economic reform and the rapid development of the market economy. A global survey performed in 2013 by IPSOS, a French research organisation, found that the Chinese ranked at the top of the list regarding the pursuit of material wealth. According to the life course perspective, the formation of materialism is largely due to the influence of the early family environment, and one of these important factors is family social class (Duh, 2016; Weaver, Moschis, & Davis, 2011). Social class is often referred to as socioeconomic status (SES), which is comprised of objective material resources (often measured by income, education level, and occupational status), and subjectively perceived social status (Kraus, Piff, MendozaDenton, Rheinschmidt, & Keltner, 2012). There is increasing evidence that social class is relatively solidified and has a profound and lasting effect on an individual’s psychology and behaviour (Markus & Stephens, 2017). Despite the rapid economic growth in China during the past few decades, the wealth gap and class differentiation have widened. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the Gini coefficient of Chinese resident income was around 0.47 from 2012 to 2017, much higher than the international warning line of 0.40. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the influence of social class on materialism in Chinese society. Previous studies have shown that lowerclass individuals have higher materialistic tendencies than higher-class individuals (e.g., Ahuvia & Wong, 2002; Rindfleisch, Burroughs, & Denton, 1997; Roberts, Manolis, & Tanner, 2003; Twenge & Kasser, 2013). However, there is still a lack of research into potential causal relationships, and their underlying psychological mechanisms remain unclear. Thus, this research examined the potential causal relationship between social class and materialism and the role of self-esteem among Chinese college students.