Interesting bit on how psychologists characterise consumerism. This text is hacked out of their's:
Consumerism is a "value structure". It emphasises the importance of material possessions and the pursuit of personal wealth. It features:
- a focus on personal material needs;
- less attention to communal goals;
- lower levels of empathy;
- a lack of gratitude;
- greater levels of relationship conflict;
- lower subjective well-being.
The lower well-being is explained in terms of a person being less satisfied with their current resources & always aspiring toward the accumulation of even greater wealth. Also, less satisfaction with friends, family, income, and fun.
The point: Consumerism doesn't appear to make people happy or much use in a community.
Personality predictors of Consumerism and Environmentalism: A preliminary study, Jacob B. Hirsh & Dan Dolderman, Personality and Individual Differences 43 (2007) 1583–1593 [originally found in Clive Hamilton, Requiem for a species]
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