Glasgow: Well-being, materialism and the values of consumer

capitalism

Monday 12 December 2011Parish 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

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

Helping others who are in difficulty Being very well off financiallyDeveloping a meaningful philosophy of life

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 HappinessKasser & 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 timeTwenge et al. (2010)

• Over 63,000 college students who completed the MMPI between 1930s and 2007

• General increases in most scales

Figure 3: MMPI Psychopathic Deviation (Pd) scale scores of college students, 1938-2007

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Year

T-s

co

re

Figure 4: MMPI Hypomania (Ma) scale scores of college students, 1938-2007

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Year

T-s

co

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Found across timeTwenge et al. (2010)

• Twenge tested 3 models to explain increase– Economic cycles (unemployment rate)– Response styles– Increase in materialistic values

American Freshman survey

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

Helping others who are in difficulty Being very well off financiallyDeveloping a meaningful philosophy of life

Found across timeTwenge et al. (2010)

• Best fitting model was materialistic values

Hysteria Psychopath. Deviation

Psych-asthenia

Hypo-mania

Hypo-chondr.

Materialism .38** .38** .28** .51** .55**

Unemploy -.09 -.01 .15 .03 .07

Found across nationsKasser (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 nationsKasser (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 nationsKasser (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 nationsKasser (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 nationsKasser (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

MaterialismCauses

Two-fold Strategy

MaterialismCauses

Two-fold Strategy

MaterialismCauses HealthyValues

Two-fold Strategy

Material-ism

Causes HealthyValues

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 ValuesGrouzet, 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

Self-transcendence

Physical self

Extrinsic Intrinsic

Spirituality

Community

Affiliation

Self-acceptance

Physical health

SafetyHedonism

Financialsuccess

Image

Popularity

Conformity

Self-transcendence

Physical self

Extrinsic Intrinsic

Spirituality

Community

Affiliation

Self-acceptance

Physical health

SafetyHedonism

Financialsuccess

Image

Popularity

Conformity

Self-transcendence

Physical self

Extrinsic Intrinsic

Spirituality

Community

Affiliation

Self-acceptance

Physical health

SafetyHedonism

Financialsuccess

Image

Popularity

Conformity

Intrinsic ValuesKasser & 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 HealthyValues

Avenues for Change in a City

• City Planning

• Protection from Advertising

• City-indices of Progress

City Planning

City Planning

City PlanningWeinstein 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 AspirationsWeinstein et al. (2009)

Materialistic AspirationsWeinstein et al. (2009)

Intrinsic AspirationsWeinstein et al. (2009)

Intrinsic AspirationsWeinstein et al. (2009)

City Planning

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

Protection from Advertising

Protection from Advertising

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

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

Thanks!

• If you are interested in obtaining this powerpoint or other writings of mine, e-mail me at tkasser@knox.edu