Is being materialistic a good or a bad habit?
A psychologist explains why materialism is making you unhappy
I have all these bags with things in them, and yet I'm so unfulfilled. Shutterstock Materialists lead unhappier lives and are worse to the people around them. And it seems that social media might be fueling materialistic attitudes, too. This is all according to a fascinating interview the American Psychological Association posted in 2014 with Knox College psychologist Tim Kasser, whose research focuses on materialism and well-being. Show Here are the best bits. Materialists are sad, terrible people:
People become more materialistic when they feel insecure: Research shows two sets of factors that lead people to have materialistic values. First, people are more materialistic when they are exposed to messages that suggest such pursuits are important ... Second, and somewhat less obvious people are more materialistic when they feel insecure or threatened, whether because of rejection, economic fears or thoughts of their own death. Materialism is linked to media exposure and national-advertising expenditures: The research shows that the more that people watch television, the more materialistic their values are ... A study I recently published with psychologist Jean Twenge ... found that the extent to which a given years class of high school seniors cared about materialistic pursuits was predictable on the basis of how much of the U.S. economy came from advertising and marketing expenditures the more that advertising dominated the economy, the more materialistic youth were. Materialism is linked to social media use, too: One study of American and Arab youth found that materialism is higher as social media use increases ... That makes sense, since most social media messages also contain advertising, which is how the social media companies make a profit. Many psychologists think that materialists are unhappy because these people neglect their real psychological needs: [M]aterialistic values are associated with living ones life in ways that do a relatively poor job of satisfying psychological needs to feel free, competent and connected to other people. When people do not have their needs well-satisfied, they report lower levels of well-being and happiness, as well as more distress. Check out the whole interview at the APA's website. Will you support Voxs explanatory journalism? Millions turn to Vox to understand whats happening in the news. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today to help us keep our work free for all. Next Up In The Latest
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