| About Knox Academic Admission Alumni News - Sports Services Search |
|
| ||||
Monday, October 7, 2002
Contact: Peter Bailley
news@knox.edu
309-341-7715
GALESBURG -- Turns out that trying to keep up with the Joneses is a real drag.
That's the conclusion offered by Tim Kasser, associate professor of psychology
at Knox College, in his new book, "The High Price of Materialism," published
in September by MIT Press. [Download
photo of cover.]
The book is based on numerous studies that examined values and emotional well-being. Kasser concluded that people who strongly value the pursuit of wealth and possessions report lower psychological well-being than those who are less concerned about such aims.
While traditional wisdom and anecdotes have long criticized the pursuit of wealth, Kasser says his book offers a scientific explanation of the relationship between materialism and psychological well-being. It also includes his recommendations for non-materialistic activities for individuals, families and societies.
"This is not another book that just says 'materialism is bad'," Kasser says. "It is an attempt to provide a psychological theory of materialism and to describe the research that supports it."
According to Kasser, extensive research indicates four sets of needs that are fundamental to well-being: physical security, feelings of competence and self-worth, relationships with other people, and autonomy and self-expression. The research indicates, he writes, that "well-being and quality of life increase when these four sets of needs are satisfied and decrease when they are not."
"Materialistic values become prominent," Kasser writes, "in some individuals who have a history of not having their needs well met." The dilemma of materialistic values, he writes, is that "they do a poor job of satisfying people's needs, and thus contribute even more to people's misery."
Kasser: Why Materialism Fails
Summarizing the research, Kasser concludes: "Sometimes people experience circumstances — such as nonnurturing parents, poverty and death anxiety — that lead them to feel insecure... At the same time, insecurity also makes it likely that people will pursue materialistic aims, as both inner predispositions and external consumer culture suggest that resources can purchase security. Thus, materialistic values are both a symptom of an underlying insecurity and a coping strategy taken on in an attempt to satisfy needs."
"As with other coping strategies that may make people feel good in the short term — self-isolation, denial of the problem, and hedonistic pleasures such as drinking or sex — materialistic pursuits may in the long term actually maintain and deepen feelings of insecurity," he writes.
Reviews
Kasser's book has received critical praise from scholars in the U.S. and other countries. "For years, social scientists knew relatively little about the question, "Does money buy happiness?" wrote reviewer Juliet Schor of Boston College, "Now, based on more than a decade of original research, Tim Kasser provides a powerful answer."
Richard Eckersley, of the Australian National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health wrote, "The importance of Kasser's message is hard to overestimate; it reaches beyond our personal lives to the world situation [and] will add gathering momentum for achieving a fundamental shift in values."
Recommendations
In the book, Kasser also makes 19 recommendations — for individuals, families and the nation — that he describes as "an alternative vision to materialistic values."
Kasser recommends that people ask themselves "whether materialistic values have actually worked for you, or whether they continue to perpetuate your problems." For families, he suggests that parents "limit exposure to materialistic messages," such as television and commercials. He echoes a recommendation from physicians to ban television for children under the age of two.
At the national level, Kasser recommends that the U.S. follow the lead of European countries that have restricted advertising directed at children. "In Greece, advertising of toys to children is banned between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. No advertising targeted at children under 12 is allowed in Sweden or Norway," he writes.
Biography
Kasser has taught psychology at Knox since 1995. He has researched and written
extensively about materialism and quality-of-life-issues. Kasser received his
undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University and his doctorate at the University
of Rochester. [Download
photo of Tim Kasser.]
Kasser is one of a group of psychologists who co-signed a widely circulated letter to the American Psychological Association, criticizing research directed at marketing to children. In an article about the letter, Kasser and a colleague wrote that research psychologists who help develop advertising aimed at children "raise grave ethical concerns regarding the proper use of psychological expertise and threaten the public's trust in the profession."
Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 48 states and 40 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.
Related Pages-end-
