In The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, sociologist Max Weber points out that there has been a predisposition to amassing material things since this country’s founding (1930). Puritans, the original colonizers were Calvinists, and as such, they believed in predestination. In this tradition, God already knows who is going to end up in heaven or hell; however, for Puritans, this also meant that those destined for heaven would also be blessed with material prosperity in this life. The Puritans then worked hard to attain material wealth but also led ascetic lifestyles—no drinking, no dancing, and no enjoyment of their wealth. As Weber points out, all of this was so that these forefathers of the American Dream could assure themselves that they were truly one of the chosen.
American materialism still exists in our society’s materialistic value orientation (MVO), as defined by Kasser and Kanner:
From our perspective, an MVO involves the belief that it is important to pursue the culturally sanctioned goals of attaining financial success, having nice possessions, having the right image (produced, in large part through consumer goods) and having a high status (defined mostly by the size of one’s pocketbook and the scope of one’s possessions (2004).
Further, Kasser and Kanner focus on two questions:
- What causes people to care about and to accept materialistic values and to “buy into” high consumption behavior?
MVO develops in individuals through two pathways:
- From personal experiences and environments that deny peoples’ basic psychological needs of safety, relatedness and love, and competence and autonomy
- From exposure to social models that encourage materialistic values – parents who are excessively materialistic or by heavy exposure to the advertisements and influences of our materialistic culture or by schooling (Kasser & Kanner, 2004)
- What are the personal, social and ecological consequences of an individual’s or a society’s having a strong MVO?
According to Kasser and Kanner, personal well-being declines as materialism becomes more centralized in someone’s value system. Further, they show that an MVO encourages behaviors that damage interpersonal and community relations and destroy the ecological health of the planet.
Many psychologists, economists, and neuroscientists have presented research that shows how easily money can become addictive (Layard, 2005, Peterson, 2007). The human brain constantly engages in what is called “hedonic adaptation.” When we reach a higher level of income, we initially derive satisfaction from it. However, very soon, we adapt mentally and emotionally to that higher level and need even more money to achieve the same level of happiness. Through the same mechanisms by which we can succumb to drugs, alcohol or gambling, people can become addicted to money.
Current psychological theories characterize money as both a tool (a function of money as what it can be exchanged for) and as a drug (a maladaptive function of money as an interest in the money itself) (Lea and Webley 2006). Essentially, this posits that people not only value money for its instrumentality—that is, how it enables people to achieve goals—but for itself— that is, for the totally false sense of control, security, and power that it gives (Vohs et al. 2006). Conversely, Price et al. (2002) have shown that physical and mental illness after financial strain due to job loss is triggered by reduced feelings of personal control.
Unfortunately, even with enormous amounts of money, the wealthy are no happier than the less wealthy. In fact, they are actually more prone to depression and psychopathology (Kasser & Kanner, 2004, p. 129). Adults who engage in conspicuous consumption are largely trying to compensate for our unique human awareness of mortality and the pursuit of self-worth and meaning that this engenders or, simply put existential anxiety, or the fear of going out of existence (Kasser & Kanner, 2004, p.128). National and time-series studies attest to the fact that large amounts of wealth have little or no effect on happiness. Real purchasing power has more than doubled in the United States, France, and Japan over the last fifty years, but life satisfaction has not changed at all (Seligman, 2002, p. 153; Layard, 2005).
I believe that people with an MVO are at risk for anxiety, psychological problems, family dysfunctions, health problems, and personal financial problems. The evidence for this is voluminous (Kasser and Kanner 2004). These attitudes cause real damage and are then major contributors to social problems that undermine the fabric of our society. MVO even contributes to world discord, as the exportation of American materialism emphasizes the gulf between the haves and the have-nots around the globe.