is a renowned psychologist who in recent years has dedicated himself to investigating the effects of materialism on our behavior and well-being. In the following interview conducted by the (APA), Kasser explains to us why being materialistic makes us less happy, how it differs from compulsive buying and the effect of the media on our values.
APA: What does it mean to be materialistic and why is it considered something negative? Why are some people materialistic and others not?
Kasser: Being materialistic means having values that place a relatively high priority on having many possessions and making a lot of money, as well as a good social and popular image, which are expressed through possessions.
I think materialism is viewed negatively because people may have had unpleasant experiences with materialistic people. We know from research that materialism is associated with treating people in a competitive, manipulative, selfish, and less empathetic way. Such behaviors are generally not appreciated by people, even though it is encouraged by some aspects of our capitalist economic system. Research shows two sets of factors that lead people to have materialistic values. First, people are more materialistic when they are exposed to messages suggesting that those activities are important, whether through their parents and friends, society, or the media. Second, and less obvious, is that people are more materialistic when they feel insecure or threatened, whether due to rejection, financial fears, or thoughts about their own death.
APA: How has the media, especially social media, influenced materialism in today’s world?
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Kasser: Research shows that the more people watch television, the more materialistic their values are. This is probably because many TV programs and advertisements send us messages that suggest that to be happy you have to be rich, have nice and popular things.
One I recently published with psychologist Jean Twenge tracked how materialism has changed among U.S. high school students over a few decades and how those changes connect to national advertising expenditures and found that the more spent on advertising, the more materialistic were the young people in their last year of high school.
Research shows that the more people watch television, the more materialistic their values are.
Another study on American and Arab teenagers found that materialism increases as social media use increases. These findings suggest that, just as television use is associated with increased materialism, so is social media use. This makes sense, since most posts on social media also contain advertising, because this is how those companies generate revenue.
APA: What is the difference between being extremely materialistic and being a compulsive buyer? Is a materialistic person at risk of becoming a compulsive buyer?
Kasser: Materialism is about values, the desire for money, possessions and the like. On the other hand, compulsive consumption occurs when a person feels unable to control the desire to use, often because he or she is trying to fill some void or to overcome anxiety.
Materialism and compulsive consumerism are related to each other. In a recent meta-analysis of the association between materialism and people’s well-being, it was found that the correlation between people’s materialism and the average reported problems with compulsive drinking was strong and consistent across many studies.
Materialism is a risk factor for compulsive consumption, but they are not the same thing. Psychologist Miriam Tatzel suggests that some materialists are more “relaxed” with their money and others are more “rigid.” Both types care about having money and possessions, but the relaxed materialist is going to spend and spend, while the rigid materialist will be like Scrooge and try to continue accumulating wealth.
APA: What might be some of the positive aspects of materialism?
Kasser: We know from the literature that materialism is associated with lower levels of well-being, less pro-social interpersonal behavior, ecologically destructive behavior, and poorer academic outcomes. It is also associated with more spending and debt problems. From my point of view these are all negative results. But from the point of view of the economic/social system that relies on spending to drive high levels of profits for companies, economic growth of the nation and tax revenues for the government, consumption and related excessive spending with materialism can be seen as positive.
Materialism and compulsive consumerism are related to each other
APA: What does psychological research say about the relationship between materialism and happiness?
Kasser: The connection between materialism and well-being is the oldest chain of research on materialism. My colleagues at the University of Sussex and I recently published a meta-analysis that showed that the negative relationship between materialism and well-being was consistent across all types of materialism measures, types of people, and cultures. We found that the more materialistic values people had, the more physical health problems they had such as stomachaches and headaches and they experienced fewer pleasant emotions and felt less satisfied with their lives.
The most supported explanation for why well-being is lower than materialism is that people who put materialism before their well-being have greater psychological needs. Specifically, materialistic values are associated with living a life that does a poor job of meeting psychological needs to feel free, competent, and connected to others. People report lower levels of well-being and happiness and experience more distress when their well-being needs are not met.
APA: How does religious faith affect materialism, particularly during the holidays?
Kasser: A couple of studies have found that the negative relationship between materialism and well-being is even stronger in people who are religious. Probably because there is a conflict between materialistic and religious activities. That is, research on how people’s values are organized has shown that some goals are easy to pursue simultaneously, but others are in conflict with each other. For example, it is relatively easy to set goals to obtain money and at the same time set goals to achieve a good image and popularity, since these goals are related to each other and facilitate each other. However, research shows that there is a conflict between materialistic and religious objectives, as well as Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Lao Tze and many
The more materialistic values people had, the more physical health problems
other religious thinkers have long suggested. It seems that trying to achieve materialistic and spiritual goals causes people to enter into conflict that generates stress and in turn reduces their well-being.
A study found that this system also works during Christmas. Psychologist Ken Sheldon and I did one showing that people became less interested in spiritual goals as they became more interested in materialistic goals like buying and receiving. We also found that people who reported their Christmases as happy were those for whom spirituality was an important part of Christmas. In contrast, the people who reported less well-being during Christmas were those who were dominated by materialistic aspects.
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The interview was published in English and has been translated and adapted into Spanish by David Aparicio and María Fernanda Alonso.
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