materialistic values and environmental challenges tim kasser, ph.d
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Materialistic Values and Environmental Challenges
Tim Kasser, Ph.D.
Materialism
• Can purchase happiness• Important to work and consume• Financial profit and economic growth are
main priorities• Life is meaningful and people are
successful to the extent they have money, possessions, and the right image
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.
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
Ecological Damage
Ecological Outcomes
• Care less about the environment– Saunders & Munro (2000); Schwartz (1994)
• Fewer pro-environmental behaviors– Brown & Kasser (2005); Gatersleben et al. (in prep);
Kasser (2005); Richins & Dawson (1992)
• Higher Ecological Footprints– Brown & Kasser (2005)
Tragedy of the Commons
• Sheldon & McGregor (2000) assigned people to one of three groups:– All high materialistic– 2 high/ 2 low materialistic– All low materialistic
• Played a forest-management game• High materialist groups harvested more forest
more quickly
Tragedy of the Commons
Diminished HappinessKasser (2002)
• Lower– Happiness
– Life Satisfaction
– Vitality
• Higher– Anxiety
– Depression
– Substance Use
– Physical Symptoms
Social Behavior
• Care less about social justice, loyalty
• Lower empathy• More Machiavellian &
Competitive• Less pro-social
behavior• More anti-social
behavior
Two-fold Strategy
Mater-ialism
Causes
Causes of Materialism(Kasser et al. 2004)
• Social Modeling– Higher if friends, parents, peers care– Higher if more television– Higher if liberal capitalism
• Insecurity– Higher if cold parenting, divorce– Higher if poverty– Higher if thinking of death or hungry
Two-fold Strategy
Mater-ialism
Causes HealthyValues
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
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.”
Personal Well-being
• More happiness• More life satisfaction• Higher vitality• Less depression• Less anxiety• Fewer physical
symptoms
Social Well-being
• More pro-social behavior
• More empathy• More cooperation• Less antisocial
behavior
Ecological Well-being
• More environmentally friendly behaviors
• Lower Ecological Footprint
• Less consumption in forest dilemma game
Two-fold Strategy
Mater-ialism
Causes HealthyValues
Advertising
• Designed to promote consumerism
• Often creates feelings of insecurity
• Presence everywhere promotes social norm that consumerism is good
Advertising -Directions
• Remove ads from public places
• Ban advertising to children
• Tax advertising as a form of pollution
• Use revenue to promote intrinsic values
Goal FramingVansteenkiste et al (2004)
• Subjects - education students• Asked to read a text on recycling framed either:
– Intrinsic - would benefit community– Materialistic - would save money
• Those with Intrinsic frames:– Learned for more autonomous reasons– Learned material more deeply– Were more likely to visit library to learn more– Were more likely to go on later trip to recycling plant
Goal Framing
• Important implications for social marketing• Beware connecting environmental behavior to
materialistic aims because doing so:– Reinforces materialistic values, which are bad for the
environment– In and of itself leads to lesser motivation
Voluntary Simplicity
• Rejection of work-spend lifestyle
• Instead focus on “inward riches” of caring about personal growth, family, volunteer activity, and ecology (Elgin, 1993)
VS Lifestyle
High
Well-being
Ecologically
Responsible
Behaviors
VS Lifestyle
High Intrinsic &
Low Materialistic
Values
High
Well-being
Ecologically
Responsible
Behaviors
Voluntary Simplicity - Directions
• Explore ideas about happiness and values, then educate about Voluntary Simplicity
• Use established programs– Your Money or Your Life– Simplicity Circles
National Indicators of Progress
• Currently Gross Domestic Product is dominant• Alternative indicators include metrics of intrinsic
values in computation• Examples:
– National Well-being
– Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness
– Happy Planet Index
– Genuine Progress Indicator
Gross Domestic Product vs. Genuine Progress Indicator
National Indicators - Directions
• Adopt Alternative Indicators
• Hopefully, citizens will recognize that increases in GDP ≠increases in Quality of Life
• Thus, new policies will be developed
Martin Luther King, Jr.
We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented society” to a “person-oriented society.”
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