Materialistic Values and Goals.
Materialism comprises a set of values and goals focused on wealth, possessions, image, and status. These aims are a fundamental aspect of the human value/goal system, standing in relative conflict with aims concerning the well-being of others, as well as one's own personal and spiritual growth. Substantial evidence shows that people who place a relatively high priority on materialistic values/goals consume more products and incur more debt, have lower-quality interpersonal relationships, act in more ecologically destructive ways, have adverse work and educational motivation, and report lower personal and physical well-being. Experimentally activating materialistic aims causes similar outcomes. Given these ills, researchers have investigated means of decreasing people's materialism. Successful interventions encourage intrinsic/self-transcendent values/goals, increase felt personal security, and/or block materialistic messages from the environment. These interventions would likely be more effective if policies were also adopted that diminished contemporary culture's focus on consumption, profit, and economic growth.
Department of Psychology, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois 61401; email: tkasser@knox.edu.
Tim
T
Kasser
D003258:Consumer Behavior; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D012945:Social Values
consumer psychology; economic psychology; money; prosocial behavior; well-being