Experimental insights into the socio-cognitive effects of viewing materialistic media messages on welfare support

Abstract

Experimental insights into the socio-cognitive effects of viewing materialistic media messages on welfare support

Materialistic cues make us miserable: A meta‐analysis of the experimental evidence for the effects of materialism on individual and societal well‐being

“…We included experimental studies that induced materialism by (a) exposing participants to VS in the form of either advertisements of luxury products (e.g., Ashikali & Dittmar, 2012; Bauer et al, 2012; Jiang et al, 2014; Ku & Zaroff, 2014), visual descriptions of desirable material items and gadgets by peers (Ku et al, 2014), or TV advertisements for toys (Goldberg & Gorn, 1978); (b) having participants complete a scrambled‐sentence task with materialistic concepts embedded within it (e.g., Bauer et al, 2012; Liang et al, 2016); (c) asking participants to write about unfulfilled material desires (e.g., Maggaß, Hamm, & Ozimek, 2018), to describe a situation in which economic resources, social popularity, and appearance had a positive impact on their life (e.g., Moldes, 2018) or to write about the benefits of having money and possessing the trendiest toys (e.g., Ku et al, 2014); (d) framing a situation from a consumer perspective (e.g., Bauer et al, 2012); (e) having participants read materials from a fashion magazine (e.g., Ku & Zaroff, 2014) or a rags‐to‐riches story from a newspaper (e.g., Leyva, 2018); or, (f) using environmental cues such as luxury shop window displays or screensavers presented in the background (e.g., Lamy et al, 2016; Zhang & Zhang, 2016).…”

“…Experimental research on materialism has adopted different methodologies to induce a materialistic focus. For example, some authors have primed materialism by exposing participants to visual stimuli (VS) such as advertisements or fashion magazines (e.g., Ashikali & Dittmar, 2012; Bauer, Wilkie, Kim, & Bodenhausen, 2012), while others asked participants to read a text from a magazine or newspaper highlighting the importance of money and consumption (e.g., Ku & Zaroff, 2014; Leyva, 2018). Some have induced a materialistic focus through subtle environmental cues such as shop window displays (e.g., Lamy et al, 2016; Zhang & Zhang, 2016) or screensavers running luxury fashion images in the background (e.g., Jiang, Gao, Huang, DeWall, & Zhou, 2014).…”

The Road to Psychopathology: Neoliberalism and the Human Mind

“…Materialism is linked to reduced happiness, poorer psychological (and physical) health, weaker relationships, less caring treatment of others, and lower subjective well‐being after materialistic (vs. nonmaterialistic) goals are achieved (Kasser, ). Television shows glamorizing wealth and constant exposure to advertisements cultivate materialistic values, and indirectly reduce support for anti‐neoliberal government welfare programs (Leyva, ).…”

Human Rights Pathways to Just Sustainabilities

“…Solidified relations of power within social institutions can squeeze out empathy and robust relations of interdependence in favor of narrow, hegemonic conceptions of wellbeing based on the interests of a few, who begin to believe in their natural entitlement. This is reinforced by dominant cultural epistemologies-in media, economic discourses, and even education-that valorize self-interest [24,44] materialism [45,46], masculinity [47], supremacy [48], and domination [49,50]. Those in positions of privilege mistake the signals of their own power and prestige as personal, rather than as socially and relationally constructed, and develop a sense of justice and justification vis-à-vis inequality, exploitation, discrimination, and harm.…”