An understanding of materialistic values in post-socialist Europe Saamah Abdallah, NEF Degrowth – Budapest, Sep 2016 in

What is materialism Materialistic value orientation: “endorsement of values, goals, and associated beliefs that center on the importance of acquiring money and possessions for conveying status and image” Related to extrinsic goals (Grouzet et al, 2005) and self-enhancement values (Schwartz, 1992) Typically measured with survey questions

High price of materialism Lower wellbeing and self-esteem Risky health behaviours Poor social relations Less pro-social / altruistic behaviour Less pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours Larger ecological footprint Dittmar et al. (2014) Unanue et al. (2016)

Would you pick up my pencil? Vohs, 2006

Present study What are the patterns of materialism in post-socialist countries? How is materialism changing over time? Is there a link between materialism and working hours? What are the implications for degrowth?

Methodology European Social Survey Rounds 1-7 (2002 to 2014) Includes the Schwartz Values scale which describes hypothetical people and asks respondents to say how similar they are to that person. Materialism assessed with: “Important to be rich, have money and expensive things” Very much like me, like me, somewhat like me, a little like me, not like me, not like me at all Response biases adjusted for by comparing response to materialism item to the average of all 21 Schwartz items.

European patterns European Social Survey, 2012

Wealth and materialism

How is materialism changing over time? Filled lines significant, based on regression at individual level, controlling for age and gender. Overall, materialism increasing in post-socialist countries, decreasing in Western Europe

Who is more materialistic? Males Younger people Those with lower education Richer people Unemployed people (not looking for work)

Digging deeper… Same as in West: Liberal views (on migrants and homosexuality) ↓ Religiosity ↓ Helping others (formally & informally) ↓ Subjective social status ↑ Physical activity ↓ Working in public sector or ‘other’ sector ↓ Satisfaction with work-life balance ↓

Digging deeper… Different from the West Living with partner ↑ Watching TV ↑ Trust in other people ↑ Pro-EU attitudes ↑ Meeting friends ↑ Social support ↓ Religious activities ↑ Member of discriminated group ↓ Receives help from others ↓

Digging even deeper… Having neutral views on policy issues E.g. being extremely left-wing or right-wing Created ‘integration into mainstream society’ measure including: living with partner, in paid work, TV viewing, public trust, centrist political views, average subjective social status, meeting friends, religious activities, -member of discriminated group or ethnic group Strongly predicted materialism in post-socialist countries, but in Western Europe.

Summary Materialism is significantly higher in post-socialist Europe, and can’t be explained by lower GDP per capita It’s rising and it’s higher for younger generations than older ones There are sharp differences in terms of the predictors of materialism compared to in Western Europe. Integration into mainstream society – often associated with positive social outcomes, actually seems to predict greater levels of materialism

Implications for degrowth in post-socialist Europe Identifying who are natural allies: counter-intuitively this includes older people and those on lower incomes But also excluded groups, females, religious groups Who to target: Younger people Those with higher incomes What levers might we have identified: Questioning status quo Volunteering Physical activity Reducing TV consumption

Interventions that could reduce materialism Direct school-based interventions Restrictions on advertising e.g. advertising towards children (as in Sweden, Norway and Quebec) Bilboards (as in Sao Paulo and Grenoble) Measuring progress differently Time affluence Localisation Improving the social safety net Kasser, 2011

Thank you saamah.abdallah@neweconomics.org saamah@gmail.com “I perceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things.” Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)

Government should take measures to reduce differences in income