Is a Materialistic Value Orientation Bad for You

Having a materialistic value orientation (MVO) describes an individuals desire for material objects, financial success, and a desirable status. We’re constantly receiving messages supporting the importance of money and possessions, in the form of values within society and family life, as well as in the media.

But are we aware of the consequences that this can have on behaviour? And is it detrimental to our health and relations with others in our shared environment?This essay will discuss the findings of research linking an MVO with subjective well-being, and the implications that it can have on our behaviour and attitudes in our daily lives. There has been much research into and around the subject concerning MVO with subjective well-being. The majority of research in this area has demonstrated that individuals who have a strong MVO do in fact report having a lower quality of life.Kasser and Ryan (1993) claimed that striving for material goods does not fulfil instrinsic human needs, in attempts to explain the inverse relationship between materialism and subjective well-being (SWB). Kasser, Ryan, Couchman, and Sheldon (2004) further proposed that people with an MVO struggle to satisfy three psychological needs; competence, relatedness and autonomy. People with an MVO personality struggle to fulfil their need to feel competent, as they often feel insecure and badly about themselves.

Research to support such claims comes from Sirgy (1998; in Kasser, Ryan, Couchman, and Sheldon, 2004), who found that materialistically orientated individuals compare themselves against others who may be doing better or worse than themselves, and attempt to project what they may become in the future. Relatedness is another psychological need undermined by an MVO, and individuals are found to experience higher levels of emotion and conflict, causing shorter relationships (Kasser and Ryan, 2001; in Kasser, Ryan, Couchman, and Sheldon, 2004).The third need undermined by an MVO is autonomy. People tend to focus more on the rewards of a situation or task, than enjoying or considering the welfare of others in an activity (Sheldon and McGregor, 2000). In a study focusing on the relative centrality of financial success in comparison with other pursuits (including self-acceptance, affiliation and community feeling), it was found that individuals experience worse psychological adjustment when goals for financial success exceeded those for other life domains (Kasser and Ryan, 1993).Specifically, a strong MVO, where financial success is valued as more important than intrinsic goals, is associated with self-actualization and vitality and positively associated with depression and anxiety.

Such findings have also been replicated in a cross-cultural study using a Russian sample (Ryan, Chirkov, Little, Sheldon, Timoshina, & Deci, 1999). Similar results have been reported by Cohen and Cohen (1996: In Kasser, Ryan, Couchman, and Sheldon, 2004), who found that adolescents who admire others because of things they do not have themselves are at risk of developing personality disorders later on in life.Other research has also showed that strivings for power has harmful effects on individuals. Research by Emmons (1991) has provided an important contribution to our understanding of how strivings for power can affect our well-being, as he followed the moods of participants influenced by different events for twenty-one consecutive days. Subjects also listed fifteen of their personal strivings, which were later categorized into four different areas; achievement, affiliation, intimacy and power.

Results of this study showed that power strivings, reflecting desires to control, impress and compete with others were negatively correlated with well-being including higher experiences of stress. Kasser, Ryan, Couchman, and Sheldon (2004) suggested that an MVO can also contribute negatively towards social and environmental problems, and restrain such individuals from working cooperatively in solving such issues. An MVO has also been linked to destructive behaviours and attitudes towards the environment.Examples have been derived from research showing an association between materialistic values and greed, where participants took part in simulated social dilemmas, where ecological issues were involved. Findings showed that participants with higher extrinsic values tended to be much more greedy, preferred to compete more than cooperate, and consumption of resources was much higher than for those with intrinsic values (Sheldon & McGregor, 2000).

Two forms of materialism have been proposed.Instrumental materialism’ concerning the use of material possessions as a means of fulfilling personal values and life goals, and ‘terminal materialism’ referring to the use of material possessions to gain status and generate envy and admiration of others; the latter being regarded as detrimental to life satisfaction (Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton, 1981: In Srivastava, Locke and Bartol, 2001). It is important to note that the majority of research into materialism assumes that individuals value money primarily for the purposes of purchase, consumption and even social comparison.However, such studies can be regarded as limited, as they tend to ignore other motives for financial success, such as family support, charity, and overcoming self-doubt.

A study by Srivastava, Locke and Bartol (2001), aimed at developing an extensive list of motives, successfully demonstrated that there are in fact many different motives for wanting and earning money. They concluded that money itself is not harmful, as it is beneficial in helping to satisfy numerous needs; however, suggested, “materialism is an attempt to substitute money for the proper use of one’s mind”.In contrast to the above research, wealthier people have been consistently found to be happier than those who are not (Diener, Suh, Lucas, and Smith, 1999; In Srivastava, Locke and Bartol, 2001), experience fewer stressful life events (Wilson et al. , 1995: in Diener and Biswas-Diener, 2002) and have better health and mental health (Langner and Michael, 1963: in Diener and Biswas-Diener, 2002).

As well as this, rich people are also perceived to be more intelligent and successful than their poorer counterparts.However, they are also perceived to be more unfriendly and cold (Dittmar, 1992: in Diener and Biswas-Diener, 2002). It can also be argued that the desire for, or acquisition of goods and money can be seen as a desirable activity when looking from a cultural perspective. People are often socialized in a culture to have certain goals, values and behaviours, which in turn generates feelings of well-being due to adopting cultural goals related to the norms of their culture valued by society.However, it is important to understand that it is not having a large amount of money that counts, but instead the responsibility and participation in the daily production and consumption activities concerned within the culture (Diener and Biswas-Diener, 2002).

When looking at research in this area, it is important to note that there are several limitations due to the nature of the research. Firstly, it is often difficult to establish cause and effect, due to much of the data being correlational. Casual relationships cannot be made due to the direction of effect being unclear.We should instead only make assumptions when looking at findings using correlational data.

Secondly, data is mostly collected through self-report methods and interviews, where experimenters rely on the honesty of participants to produce reliable experimental findings. It is extremely difficult to avoid using self-report methods when studying internal mental states, and even using significant others cannot guarantee reliable data. It can therefore be concluded that placing too much importance on material goods can be harmful not only to our health, but also to the welfare of society, in forming relationships and also fulfilling satisfaction.Despite the fact that striving for power and financial success to be encouraged and acceptable in some cultures, it can be easy for such motives to lose sense of responsibility, and in effect, spiral out of control. However, the formation of an MVO can be argued as not within our control, as it can derive from insecurities in childhood or adulthood, influences from the media, and messages from our parents and peers.

Though they shape our behaviour and the people we are today, the consequences have been shown to be detrimental.Therapists are now available to help clients disengage from an MVO, but should focus on the clients lifestyle as a whole, instead of just the symptoms. Although it is generally agreed that just a little bit more money would make us happier, is it not the things that money can’t buy such as a loving family, good health and community support, which are more important in providing longer-lasting sources of happiness and warmth? Even if we do manage to achieve materialistic orientated goals, such as financial success, we are never truly satisfied as we are continually seeking for that little bit more.