Glasgow: Well-being, materialism and the values of consumer capitalism Monday 12 December 2011 Parish Halls, Glasgow

Well-being, Materialism & the Values of Consumer Capitalism: A View from the Psychological Literature Tim Kasser, Ph.D.

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Materialism’s allure The percentage of incoming American First-year college students reporting it is “very important” or “essential” to be:

American Freshman survey

Political Discourse “…the American people have got to go about their business. We cannot let the terrorists achieve the objective of frightening our nation to the point where we don’t conduct business, where people don’t shop” (reported in The New York Times, October 12, 2001)

Messages Can purchase happiness Important to work and consume Life is meaningful and people are successful to the extent they have money, possessions, and the right image Is this true?

Measuring Materialism Values strategy (e.g., Kasser & Ryan, 1993, 1996) Rate many goals, guiding principles, (e.g., family, spirituality, fun, etc.) Sample materialistic items You will have a job that pays well You will have many expensive possessions You will achieve the “look” you’ve been after You will be admired by many people Examine relative importance of goals All of us are somewhat materialistic

Measuring Materialism Survey methods (e.g., Belk, 1985, Richins & Dawson, 1992) Rate agreement with statements Sample Items –My life would be better if I owned certain things I don’t have. –I like to own things that impress people. –I like a lot of luxury in my life. –I would rather buy something I need than borrow it from someone else.

Well-being

Diminished Happiness Kasser & Ryan, 1993, 1996, 2001; Sheldon & Kasser, 1995, 1998, 2001 Higher: –Anxiety –Depression –Physical Symptoms –Unpleasant emotions –Drug & Alcohol Use Lower –Self-actualization –Vitality –Life Satisfaction –Pleasant Emotions

Found in many samples Types of people –Middle & High School students –College Students –Adults –Business People Countries –Australia –Denmark –Germany –Hungary –India –Russia –Singapore –S. Korea –United Kingdom

Found across time Twenge et al. (2010) Over 63,000 college students who completed the MMPI between 1930s and 2007 General increases in most scales

Found across time Twenge et al. (2010) Twenge tested 3 models to explain increase –Economic cycles (unemployment rate) –Response styles –Increase in materialistic values

American Freshman survey

Found across time Twenge et al. (2010) Best fitting model was materialistic values HysteriaPsychopath. Deviation Psych- asthenia Hypo- mania Hypo- chondr. Materialism.38**.28**.51**.55** Unemploy

Found across nations Kasser (2011) UNICEF (2007) ranked the well-being of youth in 21 wealthy nations Based on 40 indicators such as: –% of children in poverty –% of children immunized –Literacy rates –Family structure & Peer relationships –Drug Use –Life satisfaction & Happiness

Found across nations Kasser (2011) Austria Belgium Canada Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom United States

Found across nations Kasser (2011) Austria Belgium Canada Czech Republic Denmark (3) Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Netherlands (1) Norway Poland Portugal Spain Sweden (2) Switzerland United Kingdom United States

Found across nations Kasser (2011) Austria Belgium Canada Czech Republic Denmark (3) Finland France Germany Greece Hungary (19) Ireland Italy Netherlands (1) Norway Poland Portugal Spain Sweden (2) Switzerland United Kingdom (21) United States (20)

Found across nations Kasser (2011) Value data based on multiple samples of adults, teachers, and undergraduates –Materialistic values for money, power, and status –Non-materialistic values for helpfulness, equality, and social justice –Schwartz (2007)

Ill-Being Materialistic vs. Non-materialistic Values

Two-fold Strategy Materialism

Two-fold Strategy Materialism Causes

Two-fold Strategy Materialism Causes

Two-fold Strategy Materialism Causes Healthy Values

Two-fold Strategy Material- ism Causes Healthy Values

Causes - Social Modeling (Kasser et al. 2004) Higher if parents & peers care –Banerjee & Dittmar (2008); Kasser et al. (1995) Higher if ingest more media –Nairn et al. (2007); Schor (2004) Higher if live in neo-liberal, de-regulated, highly free-market capitalist nation –Kasser (2007, 2011); Schwartz (2007)

Healthy Values Grouzet, Kasser et al. (2005) Assessed aspirations in 11 domains –e.g., Spirituality, Hedonism, Affiliation, Health, etc. >1800 College students in 15 nations Circular Stochastic Modeling –Adjacent goals are consistent –Opposing goals are conflictual

Intrinsic Values Kasser & Ryan (1996) Self-acceptance “I will follow my interests and curiosity where they take me.” Affiliation “I will express my love for special people.” Community Feeling “I will help the world become a better place.”

Psychological Benefits More happiness More life satisfaction Higher vitality Less depression Less anxiety Fewer physical symptoms

Two-fold Strategy Material- ism Causes Healthy Values

Avenues for Change in a City City Planning Protection from Advertising City-indices of Progress

City Planning

City Planning Weinstein et al. (2009) Conducted 4 studies exposing people to photos of natural or human-made scenes Measured feelings of immersion in scene Then assessed importance of Materialistic vs. Intrinsic Aspirations

Materialistic Aspirations Weinstein et al. (2009)

Intrinsic Aspirations Weinstein et al. (2009)

City Planning Are land and city finances devoted to shopping areas or to parks and green spaces?

Protection from Advertising

Numerous studies show associations between advertising and materialism –Nairn et al. (2007); Schor (2004) Mere activation of money-related ideas suppresses intrinsic values –Maio et al. (2009); Vohs et al. (2006) Lo SES parents in UK feel extra pressure to provide children with brands –UNICEF (2011)

Protection from Advertising Provide new mothers with information about dangers of screen-time for infants Remove advertising outdoors and in public spaces Revoke tax subsidy on adverts End advertising to children

City Indices of Progress Currently GNP-based indices are dominant Alternative indicators include metrics of intrinsic values in computation Examples: –Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness –nef’s Happy Planet Index –Oxfam’s Humankind Index –Genuine Progress Indicator

GDP vs. GPI

City Indicators - Directions Adopt Alternative Indicators –Seattle, WA City Council unanimously adopted a 10-domain, well-being based approach –Eau Claire WI and Vancouver, BC also Models idea that intrinsic values are more important than just materialistic values Provides information for developing new policies

Summary Materialistic values undermine well-being Can promote well-being in cities by –diminishing materialistic models –encouraging intrinsic values Multiple avenues for change

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