Materialism = competiteness?

The other day my husband came home quite excited because his company had just signed a deal with a certain flying-lady airline. He was now automatically a Gold member with all the associated rewards. This is in the same week when he's also become a Platinum member of another airline because of all the inter-state flying he's done for work in the last eight months. So he's doubly pleased. My husband is ambitious and likes exclusive things. That's not me, so much. When I play tennis I want to know I've made my best shot. I'm thrilled this week because a small inconsequential decision I made months ago will be pivotal to the ending of my current novel. I appreciate beauty in fine art, but don't need to spend vast amounts of money to display it in my home. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy cheering for my team (but I often get caught up in the excitement of a really good goal no matter which side it's for); I am extremely grateful to have a comfortable home and my husband's income has a lot to do with that; and I know that economies and scientific discoveries rely on materialism and competitiveness respectively. I just hadn't associated the two personality traits  before. I'll have to observe other people we know to see if this link holds up.