Małgorzata Górnik-DuroseInstitute of Psychology, University of Silesia Katowice, Poland

The concept of materialism by Richins and Dawson, widespread among researchers, does not explain psychological mechanisms which lie beneath the special concentration on material aspects of life.

Materialism is a working lay concept – an analysis of this concept can help to develop a deep understanding of the nature of materialism

Materialism appears to have some principal components whose existence has a strong empirical support, showing its deeper nature.

Taking into consideration the history of research into materialism and the lack of consistency in using the term a different name for the old phenomenon should be applied.

A new conceptualization of materialism requires a new methodological approach to its measurement and a new measurement tool.

The results of research conducted with a new measurement tool would uncover and explain certain aspects of materialistic orientation which was missing from studies based on traditional conceptualization of the construct.

The best known definition of materialism by Richins and Dawson (1992) describes it in terms of values, although in fact the authors measure it as an attitude. Belk (1985) claims that materialism is an importance people ascribe the their worldly possessions and relates it to personality traits of possessiveness, non-generosity and envy.

“Affluenza, n., a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more” (de Graaf, Wann, Naylor, 2005). Materialism is „a complication” of affluenza

People concentrate on possessions to a disproportionate extent.

People tend to possess much more than they really need.

People try, by acquiring possessions, to fulfill needs which could be much better fulfilled in a different way.

People strive to possess more than others.

People assess their own and other people’s worth and achievements on the base of acquired possessions.

People perceive having possessions as the final goal in their life.

The method - an interview. The subjects were asked the three following questions: - Who would you describe as a „materialist”? Please finish the following sentence:

A materialist is a person, who …..- How to recognize a materialist? What sort of behaviours do you take into consideration while concluding that a certain person is a materialist?

- What sort of behaviours indicates that a certain person is not a materialist?

The study involved finally 196 subjects – 96 men and 100 women. They were chosen from 4 age groups: 20-35, 36-50, 51-60, above 60.

As a result we obtained a set of about 600 statements on which a content analysis was run.

DRIVES AND DIRECTIONS OF ACTIVITY

CHARACTER OF ACTIVITY

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD

EMOTIONS

VALUESWhat is important in the life of a materialist?

Wealth / power / recognition / comfort / luxury / pleasure

GOALSWhat does a materialist want to achieve?

Money / material possessions / a good look / social position

TYPE OF MOTIVATIONWhat sort of needs does a materialist want to fulfill?

“Showing-off” , distinction / high regard / pleasure / security

DECISION-MAKING CRITERA What sort of rules does a materialist apply while making decisions?

Never gets involved in activities which do not pay-off /Takes into consideration the material assets of a potential partner or acquaintance

SELF-PRESENTATION STYLEHow does a materialist present him/herself?Talks mainly about money and possessions/Wears designer clothes and possesses expensive gadgets /Is highly fashion-conscious

WORLD VIEWSHow does a materialist perceive the principles of social and societal relationships?

Thinks that ”money makes the world go round”/Is convinced that only young, rich and beautiful

people count / Believes that everything in the world has a material value

CHARACTER OF SOCIAL RELATIONSWith what sort of people does a materialist make and maintain contacts and what rules lie beneath them?

Believes that everything can be bought, even friends / Is convinced that it is worth to have only influential friends,

just to make life easier

SOURCE OF EMOTIONAL AROUSALWhat causes emotions in a materialist?

Others possessions and wealth / own possessions and wealth / money – a lot or not enough / competing for material assets

EMOTIONAL MODEWhat sort of emotions does a materialist experience?

Greed / envy / fear / joy / pleasure / happiness / unhappiness

Materialists are driven by certain motivational forces and are oriented towards a specific set of values and goals

Kasser & Ryan, 1993,1996; Kasser, 2002; Kasser, et. al., 2003 Such motivational forces correspond with certain views and beliefs as

how to world is organized and what sort of principles apply to social life

Richins & Dawson, 1992; Ger & Belk, 1999; Christopher & Jones, 2004; Christopher et. al., 2005

The two mental phenomena are basics for the way decisions are made and social interactions taken on and maintained

Kasser, 2002; McHoskey, 1999; Sheldon, Sheldon &Osbaldiston, 2000

They also designate the style of self-presentation, i.e. the way people present themselves in social environment and the sort information about other people they want to obtain in social contacts.

Richins, 1994, 2004; Christopher & Schlenker, 2004;Christopher, et. al., 2004 Christopher, et. all,2005

Altogether the above listed processes and behaviours result in emotions which create the core of the experiential aspect of materialism

Richins & Dawson, 1992; Christopher & Schlenker, 2004; Wang, Wallendorf, 2006; Kasser, 2002; Solberg, Diener & Robinson,

2003

MOTIVATIONVALUES

LIFE GOALS

Extrinsic

MOTIVATIONVALUES

LIFE GOALS

Extrinsic

RELATIONSHIPWITH THE WORLD

Based on cost – benefit analysis and

„instrumental quasi-friendship”

RELATIONSHIPWITH THE WORLD

Based on cost – benefit analysis and

„instrumental quasi-friendship”

SELF-PRESENTATIONPREFERENCES

Towards the socially recognized image of the Young, Rich and

Beautiful

SELF-PRESENTATIONPREFERENCES

Towards the socially recognized image of the Young, Rich and

Beautiful

??????EMOTIONS???

Mental processes

Behaviours

A psycho-behavioral complex of a multidimensional nature – its core is created by extrinsic values, accompanied by a perception of the world as a zero-sum game; it includes decision criteria used by people in relation to their everyday activity, which are based on a “cost-benefit analysis” and tend to secure material gains, as well as a style of self-presentation, which involves an exposition of socially approved signs of the material success, physical attractiveness and social recognition

A complete indicator of materialism includes all four aspects of the phenomenon, i.e. values, world beliefs, relations with the world and self-presentation preferences.

The mercantile characteristics of an individual should be seen in the context of the wider system of values, beliefs and behaviors. Such an approach can show the relative importance of these characteristics and their weight in relation to other – also significant – psychological features (see Rokeach, 1978; Kasser, 2002).

Materialism is a personal characteristic heavily loaded with social approval. People, even if they have strong materialistic tendencies, tend to present themselves as non-materialists or justify/excuse such inclinations (see Ger & Belk, 1999). Thus, direct self-assessment has limited validity. Our approach is to ask questions mainly related to:

(a) the world as a whole – how an individual perceives it,

(b) general rules and principles – how much an individual agrees or disagrees with them,

(c) a valuation of other people behavior – how much an individual approves or disapproves on that.

The only direct question we asked was related to personal values.

Set A – QPM version A› 173-item questionnaire related to:

- values (38)- motivation (7)- world beliefs (36)- relationship with the world (50)- self-presentation style (42)

› Subjects: 338 – men (n=125) and women (n=213) aged 26 – 73

Set B – QPM version B› 102-item questionnaire related to:

- values (38)- world beliefs (20)- relationship with the world (20)- self-presentation style (24)

› Subjects: 335 – men (n=157) and women (n=178) aged 26 – 74

The Principal Axis Factoring followed by Varimax rotation was used

VALUESInstruction: How much each of the values listed below matters to you Scale: 0 (not at all important) – 7 (very important); -1 – not relevant

FactorMeaning /

descriptionExamples

Cronbach

Set 1N=338

Set 2N=335

MV Materialistic values

being well off, pleasure and sensuous gratification, social recognition, exciting life, high social position, material wealth, success, power and influence, comfortable life, physical attractiveness, fame, keeping young

0,910,89

HV Humanistic values

wisdom, sense of accomplishment, self-respect, tolerance, internal harmony, open mind, social justice, unity with nature, joy of life, knowledge, ethics, benevolence

0,840,85

TV Traditional values

patriotism, God and salvation, faith and religion, social order, respect for tradition

0,800,77

WORLD BELIEFSInstruction: To which extent the below listed statements describe the worldScale: 0 (not at all) – 7 (very well)

FactorMeaning / description

Examples

Cronbach Set 1N=33

8

Set 2N=33

5

MVWMercantile vision of the world

“Money makes the world go round”

“Everyone craves for 5 minutes of fame”

“There is a wide-spread belief in today’s world that if you do not have money and appearance you are nobody”

0,85

0,85

IVWIdealistic vision of the world

“In today’s world neither appearance nor material assets, but inner qualities of people are markers of their social position”

“People care more about peaceful life than fame”

“People believe that money can’t buy things which are most important in life”

0,79

0,78

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORLDInstruction: To which extent you agree with the opinions listed belowScale: 0 (not at all) – 7 (completely agree)

FactorMeaning / description

Examples

Cronbach Set 1N=33

8

Set 2N=335

PPPure

pragmatism

“It is not worth getting involved in activities which do not pay-off

“It is necessary to check on the material assets of a potential partner or acquaintance”

“Friendship is ok, but it is useful to have influential acquaintances”

0,83

0,80

CIChaste

involvement

“Friends and relatives in need should be supported, even if it costs a lot.

“Friendship is a harmony of souls not wallets”

“There is no space in close relationships for cost-benefit analysis”

0,83

0,78

SELF-PRESENTATIONInstruction: What is your evaluation of people who behave as described belowScale: 1 (definitely negative) – 7 (definitely positive)

FactorMeaning / description

Examples

Cronbach Set 1N=33

8

Set 2N=33

5

PP“Peacock” presentatio

n

“Often talk how they spend their money”

“Like to have fashionable gadgets”

“Show how wealthy they are”

“Use every occasion to appear in media”

0,880,86

AB Abnegation

“Declare that they are not interested in fashion and new gadgets”

“Have no idea what is the market value of certain things, services and skills”

“Rarely talk about money”

“Avoid official parties and occasions to show their faces”

0,770,75

CGConspicuou

s generosity

“Leave big tips in restaurants”

“Buy family and friend expensive presents”

“Donate generously to charities”0,72

0,63

Study N MV HV TV MVW IVW PP CI PP AB CG

1 81 0,85 0,84 0,77 0,86 0,74 0,80 0,78 0,82 0,81 0,69

2 99 0,91 0,81 0,79 0,88 0,81 0,81 0,85 0,90 0,78 0,54

3 30 0,88 0,87 0,74 0,85 0,84 0,76 0,68 0,88 0,71 0,70

4 175 0,91 0,79 0,72 0,85 0,79 0,79 0,64 0,86 0,71 0,70

5 100 0,91 0,85 0,80 0,86 0,83 0,81 0,75 0,85 0,74 0,54

6 110 0,89 0,82 0,77 0,87 0,77 0,81 0,72 0,84 0,72 0,64

7 74 0,93 0,70 0,67 0,86 0,82 0,88 0,90 0,82 0,81  -

8 106 0,91 0,87 0,82 0,87 0,81 0,83 0,70 0,82 0,76 0,43

9 84 0,84 0,80 0,78 0,83 0,85 0,80 0,84 0,81 0,71 0,54

10 200 0,90 0,85 0,81 0,88 0,74 0,84 0,62 0,88 0,76 0,64

MV HV TV MVW IVW PP CI PP AB CG

Range min 0,84 0,70 0,67 0,83 0,75 0,76 0,62 0,81 0,71 0,43

max 0,93 0,87 0,82 0,88 0,85 0,88 0,90 0,90 0,81 0,70

Indicators of dominance (ID) - a difference between arithmetical means of mercantile and non-mercantile subscales. Their values indicated: ID > 0 suggested a supremacy of mercantile aspects, i.e.

materialistic values, mercantile vision of the world, mercantile relationships (pure pragmatism) and mercantile (peacock) self-presentation;

ID = 0 suggested perfect balance; ID < 0 suggested a supremacy of non-mercantile aspects, i.e.

humanistic and traditional values, idealistic vision of the world, non-mercantile relationships (chaste involvement) and non-mercantile self-presentation (abnegation).

A two-step cluster analysis was conducted on the results of 10 further independent studies with IDs as variables

Definite mercantile versus definite non-mercantile types

Based on study IV

Balanced pragmatics

Based on study III

Heroic contesters

Based on study II

Heroic contesters again

Based on study III

Psychological mercantilism could be treated as multidimensional construct related to various aspects of materialistic / non-materialistic “ways of being”. The aspects (dimensions) of mercantilism are related to: (a) general directions of an individual’s behavior in forms of terminal values, (b) ways of perceiving and understanding external world and principles by which it is ruled, in forms of world beliefs, (c) preferences of decision making in connection with behaviors in relationships with the world, (d) self-presentation tactics.

The profiles created with the four aspects of mercantilism were, however, not coherent in all cases. They were four definite clusters of subjects: (1) definite mercantile individuals –with positive indicators of every aspect of mercantilism (in certain cases with domination of not mercantile self-presentation), (2) definite non-mercantile individuals – with negative indicators of every aspect of materialism , (3) heroic contesters – with negative indicators in most aspects of mercantilism, except of the world beliefs , (4) balanced pragmatists – with average, approaching 0, indicators in every aspects of mercantilism.

A further investigation is needed to identify additional psychological characteristics of these four groups.