‘You come back fighting. That’s what gives you the drive to achieve’: The extraordinary psychological construction of the super-rich in entertainment documentaries

Carr, Philippa; Goodman, Simon; Jowett, Adam; Abell, Jackie

doi:10.1177/09579265211013117

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Thus, in their study of female business owners' autobiographies, Adamson and Johansson (2020) identify a downplaying of class and wealth differences as these owners stress their ordinariness and the universality of gender struggles. This self-portrait has been reinforced by TV media, who portray the wealthy as particularly resilient, hard-working, and psychological superior in comparison with ordinary people (Carr et al, 2021). Of course, this emphasis on ordinary lifestyles is a somewhat recent phenomenon (Friedman & Reeves, 2020).…”

Section: The Moral Evaluation Of Personal Conductmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legitimate Wealth? How Wealthy Business Owners are Portrayed in the Press

Waitkus

Wallaschek

2022

Soc Just Res

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Germany has one of the highest levels of wealth concentration of any Western capitalist country. Research on the legitimization of economic inequality highlights that wealth elites tend to stress meritocratic arguments for legitimizing elite positions and wealth accumulation. However, whether this is also the case for wealthy business owners and how the media tends to portray those remains largely unknown. Drawing on a unique sample of 899 press articles from eight different media outlets between 2014 and 2018, we find a rather generous media debate. Based on descriptive evidence and a latent class analysis, we identify six latent frames illustrating how wealthy business owners are portrayed in the press. We show that the sources of wealth (inheritance, investment, entrepreneurship) are often used to highlight these owners’ deep economic relevance to the German economy, while the use of wealth is predominantly framed as a mean for profit-seeking. For wealthy business owners, moral evaluation of personal conduct is less present in the media and, when it is present, is rarely negative. Our study is the first analysis of press coverage of the wealthiest German business owners indicating a legitimizing media debate of high wealth concentration in an advanced capitalist society.

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Section: The Moral Evaluation Of Personal Conductmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legitimate Wealth? How Wealthy Business Owners are Portrayed in the Press

Waitkus

Wallaschek

2022

Soc Just Res

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“…In contrast to less affluent groups, the extreme wealth of the super‐rich is presented as aspirational in entertainment documentaries (Carr et al, 2021). Programme titles such as ‘How the other half lives’ minimise constructions of extreme wealth and decrease the need for accountability.…”

Section: Using Discursive Psychology To Explore How Wealth Inequality...mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘How the other half lives’?: Taking a critical approach to the social psychology of economic inequality and extreme wealth

Carr

2023

Social & Personality Psych

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The negative impact of economic inequality on social issues and wellbeing is of importance to social psychology that historically has an interest in social justice. Social Identity Theory is explored as an approach that acknowledges the wider context of social issues. The use of experiments encounters challenges in categorizing wealth and how individuals account for extreme wealth. Mainstream research agendas in psychology are not neutral and draw upon current ideology (such as neoliberalism) that can often maintain inequality. These difficulties are addressed by Critical Social Psychology driven by a social justice agenda that challenges the acceptance of neoliberal values. The application of Critical Social Psychology to wealth inequality is demonstrated with research using UK media data. Critical feminist psychology is discussed to explore the role of class and how to challenge the stigmatization of working-class people. Finally, this paper outlines how Discursive Psychology addresses how extreme wealth and the practices of the super-rich are warranted. A discursive approach questions the acceptance of wealth inequality as an everyday assumption and demonstrates how dominant discourse draws upon individualism. Furthermore, Discursive Psychology has examined how accountability for problematic practices,

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“…This paper eschews the use of the phrase “high value” regarding price: I defer to the economic philosophers Jevons (1871) and Menger (1871) and the accepted notion that value is relative. A social construct of affluence unobtainable by the masses is reinforced by the mass media, be it “reality” TV, TikTok or Instagram, whereby extreme affluence is, if not celebrated, then normalised and part of everyday life (Serafini and Maguire, 2019; Carr et al ., 2021). This normalisation is a recent evolution of the capitalist system inherently linked into the market and desire for luxury goods: most cannot afford such goods yet are conditioned to desire such items whilst passively accepting they will not own such goods.…”

Section: The Social Acceptance Of Luxury Owned By the Few: Indoctrina...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sailing the tide of over consumption: applying a business history approach to explore the rising demand of luxury yachts and travel since 1979

Connors

2023

WHATT

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify how the socio-economic trends caused by the economic deregulation of the last four decades have led to a high-net-worth strata of individuals and families that conspicuously consumes luxury items and are the main customers in the luxury yacht market.Design/methodology/approachA selected cross-section review and discussion of relevant publications and theories within the field of tourism, social sciences, business and economic history are synthesised with relevant data to outline the factors leading to socio-economic change and conspicuous consumption.FindingsThis paper advocates for the synthesis of scholarly techniques found within the discipline of Business History to illuminate the development of a luxury yachting industry over the past four decades. Using the varieties of capitalism approach this paper demonstrates that the local characteristics of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in combination with the international globalisation and trade deregulation since 1980 has led to a new super wealthy class that engages in conspicuous consumption. Using a schema based on critical juncture theory, light has been shed on the specific factors underpinning the demand for luxury yachts as part of this conspicuous consumption.Originality/valueThis paper adds a new set of methodologies and theoretical tools to the student of luxury tourism that embed the practice within the context of socio-economic changes brought forth by economic globalisation since 1979, opening up new avenues of research.

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‘You come back fighting. That’s what gives you the drive to achieve’: The extraordinary psychological construction of the super-rich in entertainment documentaries

Cited by 5 publications

References 42 publications

Legitimate Wealth? How Wealthy Business Owners are Portrayed in the Press

Legitimate Wealth? How Wealthy Business Owners are Portrayed in the Press

‘How the other half lives’?: Taking a critical approach to the social psychology of economic inequality and extreme wealth

Sailing the tide of over consumption: applying a business history approach to explore the rising demand of luxury yachts and travel since 1979

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