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Materialistic Values and Goals
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Tim Kasser
Department of Psychology, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois 61401; email: [email protected]
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Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2016.67:489-514. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2016. 67:489–514 Keywords

First published online as a Review in Advance on money, well-being, prosocial behavior, consumer psychology, economic
August 13, 2015
psychology
The Annual Review of Psychology is online at
psych.annualreviews.org Abstract
This article’s doi: Materialism comprises a set of values and goals focused on wealth, posses-
10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033344
sions, image, and status. These aims are a fundamental aspect of the human
Copyright  c 2016 by Annual Reviews. value/goal system, standing in relative conflict with aims concerning the
All rights reserved
well-being of others, as well as one’s own personal and spiritual growth.
Substantial evidence shows that people who place a relatively high priority
on materialistic values/goals consume more products and incur more debt,
have lower-quality interpersonal relationships, act in more ecologically de-
structive ways, have adverse work and educational motivation, and report
lower personal and physical well-being. Experimentally activating material-
istic aims causes similar outcomes. Given these ills, researchers have inves-
tigated means of decreasing people’s materialism. Successful interventions
encourage intrinsic/self-transcendent values/goals, increase felt personal se-
curity, and/or block materialistic messages from the environment. These
interventions would likely be more effective if policies were also adopted
that diminished contemporary culture’s focus on consumption, profit, and
economic growth.

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Contents
I. MEASUREMENT AND CONCEPTUALIZATION OF MATERIALISM . . . . . . 490
Value and Goal Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Future Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
II. CORRELATES OF DISPOSITIONAL MATERIALISM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
Financial and Consumption Attitudes and Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
Social Attitudes and Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
Ecological Attitudes and Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Educational and Job Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Personal Well-Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Future Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
III. THE MOMENTARY ACTIVATION OF MATERIALISM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
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Overview of Activation Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

Future Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
IV. WAYS TO DECREASE MATERIALISM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
Overview of Materialism-Reduction Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
Interventions to Decrease Materialism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Policies to Decrease Materialism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
V. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506

I. MEASUREMENT AND CONCEPTUALIZATION OF MATERIALISM

The exorbitant cornucopia of consumerism that characterizes the twenty-first century may lead
some to conclude that materialism is a relatively recent development in human experience. Yet in
every historical age and corner of the world, philosophers and religious leaders, economists and
politicians, and playwrights and novelists have identified materialism, greed, avarice, and financial
self-interest as basic human characteristics. Many have decried a focus on money and possessions
in life, claiming that a materialistic outlook undermines deep spirituality, satisfying relationships,
and much else that makes life worth living (for a review, see Belk 1983). Others, in contrast, have
proposed that economic and social systems that encourage this very human desire hold the most
promise for maximizing material wealth (Smith 1776/1976) and individual freedom (Rand 1967).
Despite its prominent place in human experience, the scientific study of materialism long
languished on the sidelines in psychology; the scant attention it did receive came primarily from
psychodynamic and humanistic/existential theorists (e.g., Fromm 1976). Eventually, in the mid-
1980s and early 1990s, consumer researchers and psychologists began conducting quantitative,
empirical projects on materialism, developing tools to measure the construct and theories about
its nature.
The earliest sophisticated attempt to measure materialism (Belk 1985) conceived of the con-
struct as a trait composed of three facets: possessiveness, nongenerosity, and envy. More recent
theoretical statements have proposed that materialism is an aspect of identity (Dittmar 2008,
Shrum et al. 2013). Most empirical research on materialism, however, has followed Richins &
Dawson (1992) and Kasser & Ryan (1993, 1996) by measuring and conceiving of materialism
as a value or goal that reflects the extent to which an individual believes that it is important to
acquire money and possessions, as well as to strive for the related aims of an appealing image and

490 Kasser
 PS67CH20-Kasser ARI 14 November 2015 14:2

high status/popularity, both of which are frequently expressed via money and possessions.1 Un-
derstanding materialism as a value/goal allows researchers to investigate hypotheses about both a
person’s relatively stable disposition toward materialism (as is shown next and in Section II) and
what occurs when materialistic values/goals are momentarily activated in a person’s mind (as is
shown in Section III).
Probably the most widely used device to assess materialism at a dispositional level is Richins &
Dawson’s (1992) Material Values Scale (MVS; for a revised, shortened scale, see Richins 2004).
The MVS consists of three subscales: the centrality of acquisition to a person’s life (e.g., “I like a lot
of luxury in my life”) and the beliefs that acquisition provides happiness (“I’d be happier if I could
afford to buy more things”) and signifies success (e.g., “The things I own say a lot about how well
I’m doing in life”). Variations on this measure have been used in many studies and have inspired
materialism measures for children and adolescents (e.g., Goldberg et al. 2003, Kasser 2005, Opree
et al. 2011). Another widely used means of assessing materialistic aims is the Aspiration Index
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(AI; Kasser & Ryan 1993, 1996), on which participants rate the importance of a variety of goals.
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2016.67:489-514. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

Materialism is assessed by calculating the relative centrality (Rokeach 1973) of extrinsic goals
for financial success (“I will be financially successful”), image (“My image will be one others find
appealing”) and popularity (“I will be admired by many people”) in comparison to nonmaterialistic
goals. Other value- and goal-based approaches in this tradition ask study participants to rank-order
guiding principles in life (Kasser & Ryan 1993, 1996) or to rate how well self-generated personal
strivings help them progress toward more or less materialistic possible futures (Sheldon & Kasser
1995, 1998).

Value and Goal Systems

Since Rokeach’s (1973) publication of The Nature of Human Values, most value researchers have
agreed that any particular value is part of a larger, dynamic system. Schwartz’s (1992) work,
conducted in dozens of nations around the world, shows that values are organized in a circular, or
“circumplex,” fashion, such that every value is consistent with some values, in conflict with other
values, and orthogonal to still other values. Thus, if materialism is indeed a value, it should have
a predictable place in the human value system.
Burroughs & Rindfleisch (2002) were the first to explore this issue empirically. They admin-
istered Schwartz’s value survey, along with the MVS and supplemental assessments of religious,
family, and community values, to 373 US adults. Multidimensional scaling analyses yielded the
results presented in Figure 1; values nearby each other are psychologically consistent, those op-
posite each other are in conflict, and those approximately 90◦ apart are orthogonal. As predicted,
materialism fell within the cluster of self-enhancement values for power and achievement; it was
also nearby values for hedonism and stimulation. At the same time, materialism stood in relative
conflict with collective or self-transcendent values for religiosity, benevolence, family, community,
universalism, and conformity. Such results support the age-old critique that materialism orients
people toward superficial satisfactions and conflicts with caring about the broader world, one’s
family, and/or religious pursuits. Studies in Turkey, Canada, and Germany have yielded paral-
lel findings, particularly regarding the positive association of materialism with self-enhancement
values (Karabati & Cemalcilar 2010, Kilbourne et al. 2005).

1
Materialism has another standard meaning in philosophy, i.e., the belief that all of the world can be explained through
recourse to tangible matter and objective laws. The current review does not consider this form of materialism, nor does it
focus on the distinction between “having” and “being” (Van Boven & Gilovich 2003), a conceptualization focused on how
one chooses to spend one’s money rather than on the desire for money and possessions per se.

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 PS67CH20-Kasser ARI 14 November 2015 14:2

Openness to change

Variety
seeking

Universalism
Community
Self-direction
Stimulation Benevolence

–2 Hedonism 2
Self- Self-
enhancement transcendence
Achievement Religiosity
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Materialism Conformity
Power Tradition
Security
Family

Work

–2

Conservation

Figure 1
Results of multidimensional scaling analyses representing the relative compatibility and conflict of
materialism with other values in the Schwartz value model and with additional values for community, family,
and religiosity (from Burroughs & Rindfleisch 2002). Adapted with permission from the University of
Chicago Press, 2002
c by Journal of Consumer Research.

Grouzet et al. (2005) reported similar findings when 1,854 undergraduates from 15 cultures
rated the importance of goals on the AI. Figure 2 shows the results of circular stochastic modeling
analyses conducted on these data. The extrinsic goals of financial success, image, and popularity
clustered tightly together in all 15 samples assessed; financial success was also relatively compat-
ible with hedonism, as Burroughs & Rindfleisch (2002) reported. Also consistent with previous
findings, the importance placed on these three extrinsic goals stood in relative opposition to com-
munity, affiliation, and self-acceptance goals; financial success was also in relative conflict with
spirituality goals. One advantage of the circular stochastic modeling procedure Grouzet et al.
used is that it provides point estimates reflecting (in this case) where on the circumference of a
circle a particular value lies relative to other values; the more consistent two values are, the more
similar are their respective point estimates, whereas the more in conflict two values are, the closer
to 180◦ apart are their point estimates. The point estimates of Grouzet et al. (2005) showed, for
example, that financial success goals are 33◦ from image and 46◦ from hedonism but 192◦ op-
posed to community feeling and 143◦ opposed to spirituality. Such results again corroborate the
long-standing notion that a life focused around money is relatively compatible with pursuing one’s
image and sensual pleasure but relatively difficult to reconcile with being generous and focused
on a spiritual life.

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 PS67CH20-Kasser ARI 14 November 2015 14:2

Self-transcendence

Spirituality

Community
Conformity

Extrinsic Intrinsic
Popularity

Image
Affiliation
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Self-acceptance

Financial
success Physical health
Safety
Hedonism
Physical self
Figure 2
Results of circular stochastic modeling analyses representing the relative compatibility of extrinsic,
materialistic goals for financial success, image, and popularity and their relative compatibility and conflict
with other goals (from Grouzet et al. 2005). Adapted with permission from the American Psychological
Association.

Future Research
Researchers use many materialism measures besides the MVS and the AI, and although diversity of
measurement has advantages, many studies use single-item measures or measures with unknown
or questionable psychometric properties. A systematic and critical empirical review of materialism
measures would help determine which have the strongest psychometric properties; further work on
the MVS may also be warranted, as its purported three-factor structure does not always emerge
(e.g., Richins & Chaplin 2015). More research is also needed to understand if the meaning of
materialism changes across cultures. Consider for example that Grouzet et al.’s (2005) point
estimates suggested that financial success is somewhat more compatible with image aspirations in
wealthier (27◦ ) than poorer (48◦ ) nations, but somewhat more compatible with safety aspirations in
poorer (49◦ ) than in wealthier (71◦ ) nations. Thus, in wealthy nations, financial success aspirations
are colored more by the style of one’s clothes and handbags, whereas the same goals are more
closely tied to survival in poorer nations. Further research is necessary to explore more fully such
differences, as well as others that might emerge from cross-cultural research.
Researchers’ over-reliance on self-report scales is another major limitation of the literature.
Given that social desirability biases may influence self-reporting of materialism (Mick 1996,
Solberg et al. 2004), researchers could use and improve upon the implicit methods that exist to
measure materialism (Chaplin & John 2007, Schmuck 2001, Solberg et al. 2004). Methods could
also be developed to assess the presence of materialistic values in natural language, newspaper
articles, politicians’ speeches, advertising messages, etc.
Finally, work is needed to explore further materialism’s relationship to other values, to traits,
and to identity. Although materialism’s place in the human value/goal system seems fairly stable,

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 PS67CH20-Kasser ARI 14 November 2015 14:2

some discrepancies between Figures 1 and 2 are notable (i.e., materialism’s relationship to con-
formity and to self-direction/self-acceptance values). In addition, given that materialism has been
conceived as a trait (Belk 1985), that trait and value/goal measures of materialism correlate posi-
tively (see Kasser & Ahuvia 2002), and that materialism is consistently negatively correlated with
agreeableness and openness to experience (e.g., Otero-López & Villardefrancos 2013, Roberts &
Robins 2000), more work is needed to determine the interrelationships between these concep-
tualizations of the construct. Further, if materialism is an aspect of identity (Shrum et al. 2013),
narrative, psychobiographical, and single-case methods might prove useful.

II. CORRELATES OF DISPOSITIONAL MATERIALISM

If materialism is a value/goal with a particular set of relations to other aims in the human value/goal
system, then the pattern of materialism’s relationships to other psychological constructs should
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depend on whether materialism is compatible or in conflict with those other constructs [see, e.g.,
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2016.67:489-514. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

Schwartz’s (1992) discussion of sinusoidal patterns]. Specifically, materialism should correlate

positively with experiences, attitudes, and behaviors relevant to amassing wealth and possessions,
to being concerned about image and popularity, and to pursuing hedonistic pleasures, as these
aims are relatively consistent with materialistic values and goals (see Figures 1 and 2). At the same
time, materialism should correlate negatively with experiences, attitudes, and behaviors relevant to
prosocial, community, and other self-transcendent concerns, and, perhaps to a lesser extent, with
personal growth/self-acceptance strivings, as these aims stand in relative conflict with materialistic
pursuits.
The literature reviewed below on the correlates of dispositional materialism provides substan-
tial support for these general claims.

Financial and Consumption Attitudes and Behaviors

Hypotheses derived from the circumplex models suggest that the priority people place on materi-
alism should be positively associated with consuming at high rates, particularly when consuming
might help build status and an image that others will applaud. Indeed, compared to individuals
who do not care much about materialistic values/goals, individuals who prioritize materialistic
values/goals are rather “loose” with their money, as they have worse money management skills
(Donnelly et al. 2012, 2013) and more gambling problems (Carver & McCarty 2013); they also
endorse attitudes and engage in behaviors that are less thrifty and create more debt (Richins
2011, Watson 2003). A recent meta-analysis (Dittmar et al. 2014) also showed relatively strong
positive associations between materialism and compulsive consumption problems (see Figure 3),
suggesting that materialism is associated with difficulty holding back one’s desires to buy stuff.
Dispositional materialism is also positively associated with consumption-relevant behaviors
and attitudes that are flavored by hedonism, image, and status values. For instance, Dittmar et al.’s
(2014) meta-analysis revealed that materialism scores were positively correlated with engaging
in risky health behaviors (see Figure 3); such behaviors not only often involve consumption (of
cigarettes, alcohol, etc.) but also often have strong hedonistic components. Likewise, materialism
is positively associated with attitudes and behaviors relevant to image, including strong concerns
for fashion and clothing (Kamal et al. 2013, Workman & Lee 2011), and positive attitudes toward,
and intentions to get, cosmetic surgery (Henderson-King & Brooks 2009). Status concerns are
also notable in the motives of people scoring high in materialism, as such individuals typically
report wanting to make money for reasons such as to have a house and cars that are better than
those of their neighbors (Srivastava et al. 2001).

494 Kasser
 PS67CH20-Kasser ARI 14 November 2015 14:2

(Compulsive buying) 26

(Health risk behaviors) 8

(Negative self-appraisal) 7

Positive affect 9
Composite subjective
well-being 34

(Depression) 22

Positive self-appraisal 18

(Anxiety) 12

(Other DSM Axis I) 7

(Negative affect) 24
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Physical health 14

Life satisfaction 75

0 –0.05 –0.1 –0.15 –0.2 –0.25 –0.3 –0.35 –0.4 –0.45 –0.5

Figure 3
Summary of meta-analytic findings representing the strength of relationships between materialism and
various types of well-being (based on table 6 of Dittmar et al. 2014). Note: All forms of well-being in this
figure are coded so that a negative correlation indicates that lower well-being is associated with higher
materialism; types of well-being that have been reverse coded are in parentheses. Measures that assess
materialist values and beliefs (e.g., the Material Values Scale) were used as the reference category for
comparing the sizes of these different correlations, and the correlations are based on analyses in which the
type of materialism measure was also entered as a factor. The number of samples used to calculate the
strength of each relationship (i.e., the k) is indicated by the number within its respective bar. Abbreviation:
DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Social Attitudes and Behaviors

Because materialistic aims stand in relative conflict with values/goals for benevolence, family, af-
filiation, and community (see Figures 1 and 2), hypotheses derived from the circumplex models
would suggest that materialism is associated with more interpersonal problems and with negative
social attitudes toward other people. Indeed, compared to those low in materialism, people high in
materialism often get caught in vicious cycles of loneliness (Pieters 2013), have an anxious attach-
ment style (Norris et al. 2012), and have more difficulty balancing family and work commitments
(Promisio et al. 2010). Further, materialism is associated with shorter (Kasser & Ryan 2001) and
lower-quality interpersonal relationships (as rated by their friends and family; Solberg et al. 2004).
Carroll et al.’s (2011) study investigating the materialism of married couples found that, despite
the benefits one might assume would result from sharing similar values, couples who both scored
high in materialism reported lower marital quality than did couples with only one materialistic
partner; couples who were both low in materialism reported the highest levels of marital quality.
Materialism is also associated with treating other people in more self-serving ways. For ex-
ample, compared to those low in materialism, those high in materialism score lower in empathy
(Sheldon & Kasser 1995) and score higher in narcissism (Kasser & Ryan 1996), Machiavellianism
(McHoskey 1999), and the affective and interpersonal aspects of psychopathy (Foulkes et al. 2014).
They also engage in fewer prosocial behaviors (such as volunteering and helping others; Briggs
et al. 2007, Sheldon & Kasser 1995) and more antisocial behaviors (Cohen & Cohen 1996, Kasser

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 PS67CH20-Kasser ARI 14 November 2015 14:2

& Ryan 1993, McHoskey 1999). In business settings, materialism is negatively correlated with
caring about corporate social responsibility (Kolodinsky et al. 2010) and positively correlated with
interpersonally deviant workplace behaviors (Deckop et al. 2015). Materialism scores also predict
more competitive (and less cooperative) behavior in the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game, even when
playing with friends (Sheldon et al. 2000). Finally, people high in materialism have a stronger
social dominance orientation, hold more prejudicial beliefs about out-group members (Duriez
et al. 2007), and are less concerned about the egalitarian aspects of democracy (Flanagan et al.
2005) compared to people low in materialism.

Ecological Attitudes and Behaviors

Because concerns about the health of our planet are reflected in self-transcendent values/goals for
universalism and community feeling, hypotheses derived from the circumplex models in Figures 1
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and 2 suggest that materialism should be associated with caring less about ecological sustainability.
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As predicted, people who strongly endorse materialistic values/goals engage in fewer environmen-
tally beneficial behaviors and have higher ecological footprints (Brown & Kasser 2005, Richins &
Dawson 1992) than those who place a low priority on materialism; they also behave more greedily
and less sustainably in forest management dilemma games (Sheldon & McGregor 2000). Hurst
et al.’s (2013) recent meta-analysis of this literature found modest but consistent negative asso-
ciations between materialism and both ecological attitudes (r = −0.22 across eight studies) and
behaviors (r = −0.24 across nine studies).

Educational and Job Motivation

Researchers have also explored how materialism predicts motivational outcomes in work and edu-
cational settings. Given that money can increase how much people engage in particular behaviors
(although not necessarily the quality of that engagement; Jenkins et al. 1998), and given that ma-
terialistic values are consistent with the achievement values frequently encouraged in work and
educational settings (see Figures 1 and 2), materialism might be positively associated with work
and educational outcomes. On the other hand, because external rewards such as money and grades
typically undermine intrinsic motivation (Deci et al. 1999), and because intrinsic motivations are
reflected in the self-direction and self-acceptance goals that conflict somewhat with materialistic
goals (see Figure 2 in particular), a materialistic focus might be negatively associated with motiva-
tion in work and educational domains. The latter hypothesis has more support at present. When
employees strongly endorse materialistic values/goals, they report more burnout as well as lower
job and career satisfaction (Deckop et al. 2010, Vansteenkiste et al. 2007a). Further, compared to
those who do not much care about materialism, children who prioritize materialistic aims report
higher performance goals and lower mastery goals for their schoolwork, reflecting an orientation
toward extrinsic rather than intrinsic motives for learning; they also have worse learning outcomes
(Ku et al. 2012, 2014).

Personal Well-Being
Since the publication of the earliest studies showing that materialism is negatively associated
with personal well-being (Belk 1985; Cohen & Cohen 1996; Kasser & Ryan 1993, 1996; Richins
& Dawson 1992), and since Kasser’s (2002a) review of that literature, dozens more empirical
investigations have replicated this finding. Dittmar et al. (2014) recently reported a comprehen-
sive meta-analysis of this literature, examining 749 effects from 258 independent samples (many

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 PS67CH20-Kasser ARI 14 November 2015 14:2

unpublished) covering all parts of the populated world. A modest negative correlation (r = −0.15,
95% CI: −0.18 to −0.13) was found between materialism and well-being, but additional analyses
showed that the size of this association depended on the ways that materialism and well-being
were each measured. Regarding materialism measures, correlations were generally stronger for
multidimensional scales (such as the MVS and the AI) that assessed the full array of materialistic
aims than for single-item scales or scales focused solely on money. Regarding well-being, as can
be seen in Figure 3, materialism had consistent, negative associations with a wide array of well-
being measures (including risky behaviors, self-image, affect, and both subjective and physical
well-being), with the size of these effects varying from r = −0.44 to r = −0.13.
The conclusions drawn from these types of cross-sectional studies are complemented by studies
that have used longitudinal and national time-series designs. Over time frames ranging from
6 months to 12 years, college students, emerging adults, and adults who reduced the priority they
placed on materialism reported increases in well-being (Hope et al. 2014, Kasser et al. 2014).
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Nation-level studies conducted in Norway (Hellevik 2003) and the United States (Twenge et al.
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2010) also found that increases over time in national levels of citizens’ materialism correlated with
decreases over time in national levels of citizens’ well-being.
Attempts to understand when and why materialism correlates negatively with well-being have
spawned several theories and empirical investigations. Space limitations preclude a full overview
here, but Dittmar et al.’s (2014) meta-analysis did explore numerous potential moderators and
mediators of this relationship.
In terms of moderators, Dittmar et al. (2014) found that the negative associations between
materialism and well-being were generally robust across study, sample, and cultural characteris-
tics, with only 7 of the 25 moderators examined yielding significant effects. Even in cases where
significant moderation was revealed, the results showed that the negative relationship between
materialism and well-being weakened rather than disappeared. For example, materialism had a
somewhat weak, but still significantly negative, relationship with well-being (a) in samples that
were relatively young, had many males, and were composed of many students and practitioners
of business and law; and (b) in nations that were more economically unequal, had faster eco-
nomic growth, and deprioritized cultural values for enjoyment and pleasure. Dittmar et al. (2014)
interpreted the overall pattern of moderation findings as providing little support for (a) an envi-
ronmental congruence hypothesis claiming that materialism does not hurt well-being if people
work or live in contexts that support materialistic values (see Kasser & Ahuvia 2002, Vansteenkiste
et al. 2006) and (b) a goal-attainment hypothesis claiming that materialism does not hurt well-
being if people succeed in their materialistic goals (see Martos & Kopp 2012, Niemiec et al. 2009;
although see Nickerson et al. 2003 for mixed results).
In terms of the mediation of the relationship between materialism and well-being, Dittmar
et al. (2014) tested two theories. No support was found for the hypothesis that materialism causes
dissatisfaction with one’s financial life that, in turn, causes decreases in general well-being (al-
though see Sirgy et al. 2012). Support was forthcoming for the explanation derived from self-
determination theory (Deci & Ryan 2000, Kasser 2002a) that when people prioritize materialistic
values/goals, they experience relatively low satisfaction of psychological needs for autonomy (feel-
ing free), competence (feeling efficacious), and relatedness (feeling connected). This low level of
need satisfaction, in turn, leads to low levels of well-being (see Ryan & Deci 2001).
This need-based explanation is quite consistent with hypotheses derived from the circumplex
models in Figures 1 and 2. The intrinsic goals for self-acceptance, affiliation, and community
feeling that are represented in the eastern portion of Figure 2 have long been described as those
whose pursuit helps satisfy these three psychological needs (Kasser & Ryan 1996). Thus, as ma-
terialism becomes more important to individuals, intrinsic goals either are “crowded out” [to use

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Frey & Oberholzer-Gee’s (1997) wonderful phrase], leading people to deprioritize such aims in
life, or are experienced as being in conflict with materialistic pursuits (Burroughs & Rindfleisch
2002). Either way, lower need satisfaction would result as the quality of one’s interpersonal rela-
tions declines, as one spends less time pursuing “something bigger” than one’s self, and as one’s
motives are increasingly driven by status and rewards rather than freedom and interest (for further
discussion, see Kasser 2002a).

Future Research
Although the data reviewed in this section suggest that researchers can be confident that materi-
alism is detrimental for people’s financial and consumption behavior, interpersonal relationships,
treatment of our planet, work and educational motivation, and personal well-being, the processes
underlying many of these associations remain unclear. As just discussed, there is growing support
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for a need-based explanation of the negative relationship between materialism and well-being.
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Further, investigators have started to explore the pathways through which materialism is posi-
tively correlated with compulsive consumption (e.g., Donnelly et al. 2013, Richins 2011). That
said, the relationship between materialism and many of the other variables discussed above re-
quires substantial further investigation to clarify the mechanisms involved. Particularly vexing is
the question of why people persist at materialistic values/goals when such pursuits are associated
with personally unhelpful outcomes. As discussed in Section IV, experiences of insecurity/threat
and ongoing modeling of materialism each lead people to prioritize materialism; do they also
explain why people maintain a value/goal orientation that yields little long-term satisfaction?
Improvements in study designs are also warranted. Many of the studies reviewed above as-
sess outcomes with retrospective self-report surveys. More compelling designs would utilize diary
reports of objective behaviors, reports of peers, and/or observations of study participants in the
laboratory or in natural settings; such methods could be applied to many of the types of behav-
iors discussed above (i.e., financial, ecological, educational, etc.). Greater variety in the types of
samples utilized is also needed. Although some studies have investigated materialism in children
and in less economically developed nations, such studies are underrepresented in the literature.
More studies that use prospective and longitudinal designs would be useful, as would studies with
experimental designs. Indeed, as discussed in Section III, experiments that momentarily activate
materialistic values/goals hold substantial promise for better understanding dynamics relevant to
these aims, as do experiments that test interventions to reduce materialism (see Section IV).

III. THE MOMENTARY ACTIVATION OF MATERIALISM

Although most research on materialism has operationalized the construct as a dispositional,
individual-difference variable, a fundamental theoretical assumption underlying the circumplex
models presented in Figures 1 and 2 is that each of these values/goals is present, at least to some
extent, in all people, because they represent fundamental motivations basic to all humans (Grouzet
et al. 2005, Schwartz 1992). As such, even though a particular person may not place a high priority
on a particular aim (such as materialism) at a dispositional level, that aim is nonetheless present
within his/her psyche. If this is true, then that aim can be momentarily activated and should
influence that individual’s behavior soon after activation.
Maio et al. (2009) took this idea a step further by arguing that if a particular value/goal is
activated at a moment in time, the circumplex arrangement of values/goals suggests that two
predictable sets of effects should ensue. First, activation of a value/goal should increase behaviors
and attitudes that reflect the values/goals that are consistent with the activated value/goal; this

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can be called a bleed-over effect. Second, activation of a value/goal should suppress behaviors and
attitudes that reflect the values/goals that are in conflict with the activated value/goal; this can
be called a seesaw effect. Applied to Figure 2, this argument suggests that momentary activation
of financial success goals should (at least temporarily) increase people’s attitudes and behaviors
relevant to the acquisition of not only money and possessions, but also image, popularity, and
hedonism goals, as these goals are compatible with financial success aims. At the same time, the
activation of financial success goals should suppress people’s valuing of the intrinsic goals that lie
on the opposite side of the circumplex, thereby decreasing people’s focus on community feeling,
affiliation, and self-acceptance.
A small but growing body of experimental studies supports these hypotheses, yielding many
findings that parallel those reported above for studies of dispositional materialism.

Overview of Activation Findings

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Several studies have supported the bleed-over effect by using experimental manipulations that
activate materialism in ways that many people encounter in their day-to-day lives. For instance,
viewing movies (e.g., Wall Street) and advertisements with materialistic themes increases mate-
rialistic and appearance-related concerns (Ashikali & Dittmar 2012, Shrum et al. 2011), relative
to viewing control stimuli. Being referred to as a “consumer” rather than a “citizen” causes study
participants to have more positive implicit evaluations of the self-enhancing values with which
materialism is consistent (Bauer et al. 2012). Thinking of one’s own time (versus another person’s
time) in terms of money leads people to report that economic criteria are particularly important in
their decision-making (Pfeffer & Devoe 2009). And viewing faint (versus blurred) images of $100
bills increases people’s endorsement of free-market economic systems (Caruso et al. 2013). Each
of these studies supports the proposition that a materialistic prime causes a shift toward greater
concern with topics, values, self-concepts, and economic systems that reflect the values/goals that
Figures 1 and 2 suggest are compatible with materialistic concerns.
The kinds of seesaw effects that Maio et al.’s (2009) logic predicts are also notable in the
activation literature, particularly for outcomes that reflect the prosocial behaviors and attitudes
reflected in universalism values and community feeling goals. For instance, after being primed
with materialistic (versus control) images or thoughts, people report a higher social dominance
orientation (Caruso et al. 2013) and behave more selfishly in community (Frey & Oberholzer-Gee
1997) and environmentally relevant (Bauer et al. 2012) resource dilemmas. Several studies also
show that momentarily activating materialism (versus other topics) causes people to be less likely
to help others and to donate money (Roberts & Roberts 2012, Vohs et al. 2006, Wierzbicki &
Zawadzka 2014). Such results occur even in children as young as 5 years old (Gasiorowska et al.
2012) and may be due to the belief that money issues should play a key role in one’s decisions
(Pfeffer & Devoe 2009).
Interpersonal behaviors are also suppressed by the activation of materialism. Vohs et al. (2006)
reported a series of studies demonstrating that exposure to materialistic (versus neutral) primes
causes people to prefer to be self-sufficient and to distance themselves from others. And in one
telling study (Goldberg & Gorn 1978), 4- and 5-year-old children who watched a program with
two commercials for a particular toy (versus no commercials) later chose to play with the toy by
themselves rather than with their friends in a sandbox.
Motivation for academic behavior is also affected by activating materialistic values/goals. Fram-
ing a task as concerning extrinsic (rather than intrinsic) goals caused decreased depth of processing,
persistence, and performance (Vansteenkiste et al. 2004). Similarly, Chinese students shifted to-
ward a performance orientation (and away from a mastery orientation) after a materialistic (versus

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 PS67CH20-Kasser ARI 14 November 2015 14:2

no) prime, and British students gave up more quickly on a puzzle after a materialistic (versus
affiliative) prime (Ku et al. 2014).
Some evidence also suggests that materialistic primes affect well-being outcomes. For instance,
priming extrinsic (versus intrinsic) values decreases motivation to engage in the health-promoting
behavior of exercise (Vansteenkiste et al. 2007b). Although Solberg et al. (2004) did not find im-
mediate effects on well-being after materialistic primes, Bauer et al. (2012) reported that viewing
advertisements of luxury consumer goods (versus neutral images) caused increases in negative
affect. Further, thinking about one’s time as money (versus control procedures) caused increased
feelings of impatience, decreased happiness from leisure-time activities on the Internet, and de-
creased pleasure from listening to a song (Devoe & House 2012).

Future Research
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The literature on the momentary activation of materialistic values/goals is clearly in its infancy, but
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its importance should not be underestimated. First, using many of the same types of outcomes that
have been studied in correlational research, these findings provide some experimental evidence
pointing to the possibility that a focus on materialistic values causes some of the same delete-
rious outcomes reviewed in Section II. Second, taken as a group, these studies provide further
evidence that materialism is a value/goal with a predictable set of relations to other values/goals
in the human motivational system. Without the kinds of predictions derived from the models in
Figures 1 and 2, and from Maio et al.’s (2009) theoretical insights, the studies reviewed above
could seem like a miscellany of unrelated findings. But by understanding materialism’s relative
place in the value/goal system, it becomes sensible that the momentary activation of materi-
alism not only increases concerns for money, image, and status, but also suppresses prosocial
and proenvironmental behavior, interpersonal connections, educational motivation, and personal
well-being.
As research unfolds in the years to come, a few issues are worthy of consideration. First, might
the well-known undermining effect of intrinsic motivation by financial and other extrinsic rewards
(Deci et al. 1999) be understood from a value/goal conflict perspective? Perhaps rewards momen-
tarily activate the materialistic values/goals in the western portions of Figures 1 and 2, thereby
suppressing the kinds of intrinsic motivations represented in self-direction and self-acceptance
pursuits. Second, although there are a few inklings of the mediational processes involved when
materialistic values/goals are momentarily activated (e.g., Pfeffer & DeVoe 2009), substantially
more work is required to understand exactly how activation causes bleed-over and seesaw effects.
Third, in life outside of the laboratory, people rarely experience only a single exposure to any
particular set of stimuli, much less to the materialistic stimuli so common in consumer culture. As
such, more externally valid designs would explore the effects of frequent exposures to materialistic
stimuli (both in and out of focal awareness).
A final, crucial methodological issue concerns the use of control groups that are neutral with
regard to values/goals. Some experimental studies have compared behaviors or attitudes of people
exposed to a materialistic prime with people exposed to a prime that might have momentarily
activated some other value/goal, such as community feeling or spirituality. Although such designs
are appropriate when researchers are interested in studying the overall dynamics of the value/goal
system, they make it difficult, if not impossible, to know conclusively what effects drove the
observed results. For example, imagine a study in which the experimental group is primed with
stimuli relevant to materialistic values/goals and the control group is primed with stimuli relevant
to universalism values/goals. If the group primed with materialistic stimuli donates less to charity
than does the control group, this effect could be due to materialism’s suppression of prosocial

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behaviors (i.e., a seesaw effect), to universalism’s activation of prosocial behaviors (i.e., a bleed-over
effect), or to both effects working together. Thus, when researchers want to isolate materialism’s
effects, a control group that is neutral with regard to values/goals should be included in the study
design.

IV. WAYS TO DECREASE MATERIALISM

The literature reviewed thus far suggests that a variety of detrimental outcomes are associated
with, and perhaps caused by, a relatively high prioritization of materialistic values/goals. Although
both the historical record and the theoretical assumptions underlying the circumplex models
of values/goals suggest that materialistic values will probably never be excised from the human
psyche, it is possible that people could focus less on materialistic pursuits. How, then, to decrease
materialism?
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Overview of Materialism-Reduction Strategies

Crompton & Kasser (2009) and Kasser (2011a,b) presented three sets of strategies to decrease
materialistic, extrinsic values/goals. These strategies are not only supported by empirical and
theoretical work, but are also flexible enough to be applied at many levels, ranging from therapeutic
and community interventions to broader policies and practices.
The first set of strategies involves activating and encouraging the values/goals that stand in
relative opposition to materialistic values/goals. As reviewed above, when people focus on materi-
alistic values/goals, they tend to deprioritize behaviors and attitudes associated with the intrinsic
and self-transcendent values/goals on the opposite side of the value/goal circumplex (see Figures 1
and 2). But the converse is also true: To the extent people prioritize intrinsic and self-transcendent
values/goals for community, for connection with others, and for their own personal growth, they
tend to place less priority on materialistic values/goals. As such, interventions and policies that
activate and encourage intrinsic and self-transcendent aims not only should support the attitudes
and behaviors consistent with those healthier aims (i.e., the bleed-over effect), but should also reap
the additional benefit of suppressing materialistic values/goals (i.e., the seesaw effect).
A second set of strategies involves attempts to reduce the extent to which people are exposed
to and affected by messages in their social surroundings suggesting that money, possessions,
status, and image are important values/goals to pursue. Numerous studies show that exposure
to materialistic messages causes people to prioritize these values/goals. For instance, individuals
report relatively high materialism scores when their parents espouse materialistic values (Goldberg
et al. 2003, Kasser et al. 1995) or engage in materialistic parenting practices (Richins & Chaplin
2015), when they experience peer pressure concerning materialism (Banerjee & Dittmar 2008),
and when they were raised in an overall materialistic milieu (Ahuvia & Wong 2002). Materialistic
values are also relatively high when students pursue academic topics that encourage materialistic
values (Sheldon & Krieger 2004) and when people live in wealthy neighborhoods that model
materialistic values (Zhang et al. 2014). Television use is also positively correlated with materialism
(Good 2007, Nairn et al. 2007, Schor 2004, Sirgy et al. 1998); indeed, longitudinal (Opree et al.
2014), quasi-experimental (Brand & Greenberg 1994), and experimental (Shrum et al. 2011)
studies all support the conclusion that exposure to materialistic (versus non-materialistic) messages
through this medium can cause increases in materialism. At a broader societal level, increases in
the materialism of American youth from 1976–2007 (of the sort represented in Figure 4) are
predicted by increases in the percentage of the US Gross Domestic Product that was due to
advertising expenditures (Twenge & Kasser 2013). Finally, when people live under capitalistic
economic systems that are more competitive, deregulated, and free-market oriented (versus more

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 PS67CH20-Kasser ARI 14 November 2015 14:2

8.5
Male
8.3
Black
Low SES
8.1

Desire for expensive items

7.9 White
High SES
7.7
Female
7.5

7.3

7.1

6.9

6.7
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6.5
1976-78 2005-07
Figure 4
Increases in the desire of US youths for expensive items from 1976–78 to 2005–07, across socioeconomic
status (SES), gender, and race (from Twenge & Kasser 2013). Adapted with permission from Sage
Publications.

regulated and cooperative), they more strongly endorse materialistic and self-enhancing values
for money, power, status, and the like (see Kasser 2011c, Kasser et al. 2007, Kilbourne et al. 2009,
Schwartz 2007). Materialism can therefore be decreased by removing materialistic messages from
the environment, by reducing people’s exposure to those messages, and/or by providing people
with strategies to diminish the effect of those messages when they are encountered.
A third set of strategies involves helping people to feel less insecure, threatened, and worried
about their ability to satisfy their physical and psychological needs. Multiple types of data show that
threat and insecurity cause people to place a relatively high priority on materialistic values/goals.
For instance, high levels of materialism are associated with experiential avoidance (Kashdan &
Breen 2007), motivations and self-presentational strategies designed to overcome feelings of in-
competence and insecurity (Christopher et al. 2005, Christopher & Schlenker 2004, Srivastava
et al. 2001), and dreams of falling and death (Kasser & Grow Kasser 2001). Materialistic values,
goals, and behaviors increase as a result of threat-inducing experimental manipulations involving
hunger (Briers et al. 2006), uncertainty (Chang & Arkin 2002), social exclusion (Twenge et al.
2007), physical pain (Zhou et al. 2009), thoughts of death (Kasser & Sheldon 2000), and concerns
about economic insecurity (Sheldon & Kasser 2008). People with family histories characterized
by cold, inconsistent, and/or controlling parental styles, by parental divorce, by food insecurity,
and by economic stress also place a relatively high priority on materialistic values [Allen & Wilson
2005, Cohen & Cohen 1996, Kasser et al. 1995, Richins & Chaplin 2015, Rindfleisch et al. 1997;
see also the life history methods advocated by Moschis 2007 and used in numerous studies (e.g.,
Nguyen et al. 2009)]. Materialism is also increased by threats induced at broader societal levels, in-
cluding recent political and economic turmoil (Ger & Belk 1996) and economic stress, instability,
and disconnection (Abramson & Inglehart 1995, Twenge & Kasser 2013). If these threats can be
reduced, or if people can learn to respond to these threats differently, materialism should decline.
In sum, efforts to decrease materialism should be successful to the extent that they activate and
encourage intrinsic and self-transcendent values/goals, reduce exposure (or the effects of exposure)
to societal models of materialistic values, and/or increase a sense of felt security and safety. The

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next section discusses some of the interventions that have been shown to reduce materialism
and explains how their effectiveness can be understood as consistent with these strategies. Some
broader policies that could utilize these strategies are then briefly mentioned.

Interventions to Decrease Materialism

Several studies have directly shown that when people are led to focus on intrinsic and self-
transcendent values/goals, they shift away from materialistic values. For example, Weinstein et al.
(2009) conducted four laboratory studies in which participants reported their aspirations after be-
ing exposed to scenes or objects that either reflected nature (thereby activating a self-transcendent
value) or scenes or objects that were human-made. To the extent people became immersed in
the nature stimuli, they deprioritized extrinsic aspirations and increased the value they placed on
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intrinsic aspirations. Environmental norms also mitigate the tendency to behave in more materi-
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alistic and greedy ways after thinking about one’s own death (Fritsche et al. 2010). Similar results
occur when spiritual or religious values are activated. For instance, recalling a spiritual event
decreases materialistic desires (Stillman et al. 2012), and reading an essay that reviews evidence
supporting the existence of the afterlife decreases people’s greedy behaviors after thinking about
death (Dechesne et al. 2003). Lekes et al. (2012) conducted one of the more ambitious studies
examining the potential benefits of activating intrinsic values. Undergraduates selected their two
most important intrinsic values and then wrote brief essays about the importance of these values
in their lives. Doing so led to immediate increases in well-being compared to the control group
members, who focused on everyday topics such as cooking dinner. Over the next month, partici-
pants in the experimental group were sent weekly emails reminding them of their chosen intrinsic
values, providing them with quotes expressive of intrinsic values, and inviting them to reflect on
their intrinsic values; subjects in the control group received parallel emails. Participants in the in-
trinsic reflection group who reported deep engagement with the exercises shifted toward intrinsic
and away from extrinsic aspirations, with consequent benefits for their well-being; engagement in
the control exercises yielded no such changes.
Interventions that improve people’s feelings of security also cause decreases in materialism. For
instance, adolescents whose self-esteem was temporarily boosted became less materialistic soon
afterward (Chaplin & John 2007). Similarly, thinking about high-quality interpersonal relation-
ships shifts people away from materialistic, extrinsic goals (Clark et al. 2011, Sheldon & Kasser
2008); nostalgic recollections also decrease people’s attachment to money, apparently because such
recollections typically involve memories of positive interpersonal activities (Lasaleta et al. 2014).
Having the opportunity to deeply consider one’s own death also reduces materialism. In contrast
to the effects that typically occur when people undergo a standard mortality salience manipulation
(Arndt et al. 2004), when people reflect on their own death in a deep, involved manner (Cozzolino
et al. 2004) or on a daily basis (Lykins et al. 2007), they shift away from extrinsic, materialistic
values and toward more intrinsic values. The fact that similar shifts occur after near-death expe-
riences (Ring 1984) and as a result of posttraumatic growth (Tedeschi & Calhoun 2004) suggests
that deep consideration of one’s own death may impel people to view their lives in ways that lead
them to reject materialistic values/goals.
Indeed, inward reflection in and of itself shifts people away from materialistic values/goals.
For example, merely reconsidering one’s ratings on the AI causes people to less strongly prior-
itize extrinsic goals and more strongly prioritize intrinsic goals (Sheldon et al. 2003). Gratitude
reflections also produce declines in materialistic values/goals (Lambert et al. 2009). Further, when
individuals who participated in a meditation program became more mindful, they also reported

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smaller gaps between their current and desired financial situation; this, in turn, benefitted their
well-being (Brown et al. 2009).
Interventions with adults can also help children become less susceptible to consumer culture’s
influences. Children’s materialistic values are less affected by exposure to advertising when their
parents use an active style that critiques commercials and when they involve their children in
discussions about family consumption decisions (Buijzen & Valkenburg 2005). Experimental evi-
dence also shows that when adults make factual (e.g., “Those commercials are intended to sell”)
or evaluative (“These commercials are stupid”) comments while watching advertisements with
children, the children report more negative attitudes toward the commercials, with consequent
reductions in their expressed desire for the product advertised (Buijzen 2007). Kasser et al. (2014)
combined these techniques with other materialism-reduction strategies in an in-depth intervention
with adolescents and their parents. Participants were randomly assigned either to a no-treatment
control group or to an established financial planning program that met for three, 3-hour group
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sessions. The program critiqued consumer culture and attempted to decrease the influence of its
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messages (via discussions of the power and purpose of advertising); it also attempted to activate
intrinsic values by encouraging value reflection, by facilitating discussions about the importance of
sharing one’s money (i.e., universalism and community values/goals), and by helping participants
develop value-based plans for their money. Materialism was measured before the intervention
and again ∼2 months and ∼10 months after it ended. Latent growth curve analyses showed that,
compared to adolescents in the control group, those in the intervention group decreased in ma-
terialism over time, a trend still evident ∼10 months after the intervention ended. What’s more,
those adolescents who began the study high in materialism and who received the intervention
showed sustained increases in self-esteem over time, whereas their counterparts in the control
group experienced decreases in self-esteem.

Future research. Although support is accumulating for the materialism-reduction strategies

articulated in this section, the studies reviewed above suffer from numerous weaknesses. First, most
involved brief, one-off interventions, with only a handful (Brown et al. 2009, Kasser et al. 2014,
Lekes et al. 2012) endeavoring to implement interventions that might lead to sustained changes
in materialism; more studies of this latter type are needed. Second, most of the interventions have
been conducted with samples that are rather financially privileged. Would these interventions be
effective among individuals who are experiencing substantially more economic stress? Third, the
exact processes responsible for the beneficial effects of some interventions remain unknown. For
example, why do the various reflection interventions lead people to orient away from materialism?
Does reflection diminish feelings of insecurity in the same way that mindfulness helps decrease the
experiential avoidance (Hayes et al. 2012) known to be associated with materialism (Kashdan &
Breen 2007)? Does reflection help people orient their lives around an organismic valuing process
that recognizes how well intrinsic and self-transcendent values/goals succeed in promoting health
and well-being (see Kasser 2002b, Sheldon et al. 2003)? Understanding such mediational processes
could lead to the development of even more effective interventions.

Policies to Decrease Materialism

The evidence reviewed above suggests that materialistic values/goals can become less important
when people orient their lives around intrinsic and self-transcendent values/goals, try to shield
themselves (and their children) from the messages of consumer culture, and/or engage in activities
that help increase felt security. Ultimately, however, individual-level attempts to orient away from

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Table 1 Policy proposals to diminish materialism and their relevance to materialism-reduction strategies
Policy proposal Relevance to strategies
Replace or supplement existing measures of progress that are Would diminish the modeling of materialistic values/goals by
primarily economic (e.g., Gross National Product, consumer governments and encourage pursuit of intrinsic/
confidence) with alternative measures (e.g., Gross National self-transcendent values/goals; might also promote felt security
Happiness Index, Well-Being Index, and Human Development if progress on alternative measures improves
Index). Such measures can be used at national, regional, or local
levels (as is already the case in Bhutan and the US city of Seattle)
Repeal existing tax deductions for business advertising expenses; Would penalize efforts to promote materialistic values/goals,
instead, tax advertising and marketing expenses at a 10% “value thereby potentially diminishing their presence in the
pollution” rate, using the resulting revenue to fund programs environment; if revenue were used for the proposed purpose,
that promote intrinsic/self-transcendent values/goals and felt would encourage intrinsic/self-transcendent values/goals and
security promote felt security
Ban advertisements in schools, on school buses, and in learning Would diminish modeling of materialistic values/goals
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materials
Remove advertising from public spaces (as has been done in São Would diminish modeling of materialistic values/goals
Paulo, Brazil and Grenoble, France)
Ban advertising targeted at children (as has been done in Brazil, Would diminish modeling of materialistic values/goals; might
Sweden, Norway, and Quebec, and as is being recommended by promote felt security of children (who would no longer be
the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights) manipulated by advertisers)
Empower localities so they can refuse to allow certain Would diminish the power of purveyors of materialistic
corporations to operate in their areas values/goals; might promote felt security
Pass amendments that differentiate the constitutional rights of Would diminish the power of those who purvey materialistic
persons from the constitutional rights of corporations values/goals
Reinstate requirements that corporations balance attempts to Would diminish the power of those who purvey materialistic
maximize financial profit with community responsibility values/goals and would encourage them to pursue intrinsic/
self-transcendent values/goals

materialistic values/goals will be hampered to the extent that people are frequently encouraged by
their peers, employers, media, and government to focus on materialistic values, and to the extent
that the economic system under which they live suggests that possessions, profit, and economic
growth are crucially important aims. Materialistic values/goals would be more likely to decline
if the culture and economy promoted feelings of security rather than threat, and if intrinsic and
self-transcendent values/goals were encouraged more than materialistic aims.
Cultural and economic shifts of these sorts will require broader policy changes. Table 1 reviews
a number of policies that hold promise for decreasing materialism; it also explains how each policy is
relevant to the materialism-reduction strategies articulated in this section. Given space limitations
for the current review, and given that these policy suggestions have not yet been subjected to nearly
as much empirical scrutiny as have person-level interventions to decrease materialism, I offer just
one comment regarding them. (Readers interested in other policy suggestions are referred to
Kasser 2011a,b.)
Psychologists and other academics are often reticent about, and rarely rewarded for, investi-
gating topics of a politically sensitive nature and then writing about the societal implications of
their findings (Hoffman 2015, Kasser & Kanner 2004). Nonetheless, research is clearly needed to
inform effective policy-making so as to reduce materialism and the personal, social, and ecological
ills associated with it. For example, one proposal mentioned in Table 1 that has gained some
traction concerns the use of alternative indicators of national progress (e.g., Bates 2009, Diener &

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Seligman 2004) to replace dominant measures such as Gross National Product. Gross National
Product clearly privileges materialistic values over other values, as it increases whenever money
changes hands, even when that money is used to purchase antidepressants, clean up toxic waste,
build prisons, go to war, etc. The proposed alternative indicators, in contrast, typically focus on
intrinsic and self-transcendent values/goals by directly assessing well-being, interpersonal connec-
tions, the health of one’s community and natural environment, etc. Social scientists have been at
the forefront of efforts to design such alternative indicators, and they could contribute further by
asking questions such as: How do people behave in laboratory simulations where one or another
type of indicator is used as a measure of “success”? What factors would increase the likelihood
that politicians actually would use the alternative indicators in their decision-making? What types
of interventions would be most effective in raising a community’s standing on alternative indica-
tors? Similar sets of research questions could be asked about all of the other policies described in
Table 1 (see, e.g., Kunkel et al. 2004 for numerous research questions relevant to advertising
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aimed at children).
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V. CONCLUSION
In closing, I hope that readers take the following three points from this review.
First, although materialism may have trait-like and identity-like features, I hope to have shown
the usefulness of considering materialism as a set of values/goals with particular dynamic relations
to the other aims in the human value/goal system. I believe that this means of conceptualizing
the construct provides the best way of integrating the diverse array of findings that have been
reviewed here, including the associations of materialism with one’s debt levels, treatment of other
people and the planet, health behavior, and personal well-being, among others variables.
Second, I hope readers see that although it may be easy to believe that research on materialism
mostly concerns the study of materialistic individuals who strongly prioritize such aims in life, a
more useful, and, I think, more accurate attitude is to recognize that all of us have materialistic
tendencies. These tendencies can be activated in a particular moment, enhanced when we see
them modeled in society, and brought on by temporary or chronic feelings of threat or insecurity.
As such, researchers need to ask not only, “Who is materialistic?” but also “When are people
materialistic?”
Third, given that materialism is not likely to disappear from the human psyche, given the ills
associated with it, and given how much contemporary culture encourages people to pursue materi-
alistic values/goals, I believe the most important question for materialism researchers to confront
in the coming years is the following: “How can people create lives, organizations, economies, and
societal structures that acknowledge humans’ materialistic tendencies but that do not allow those
tendencies to run rampant over other valuable aims in life?”

SUMMARY POINTS
1. Materialistic aims are a fundamental part of human value/goal systems; they concern
becoming wealthy, obtaining possessions, presenting an appealing image, and being of
high status.
2. Materialistic aims are in relative conflict with self-transcendent and intrinsic values/goals
that concern having good interpersonal relationships, helping the world be a better place,
growing as a person, and being spiritual.

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3. Meta-analytic results document that to the extent people prioritize materialistic aims,
they report higher levels of compulsive consumption, lower personal well-being, more
physical health problems, and more ecologically destructive attitudes and behaviors.
4. To the extent people prioritize materialistic aims, they also consume more and incur more
debt, have lower-quality interpersonal relationships, treat other people in less caring ways,
and have adverse educational and occupational motivation.
5. Momentarily activating materialistic aims increases concerns for psychologically compat-
ible values (e.g., money, image, status) and suppresses concerns for the intrinsic and self-
transcendent aims that are in psychological conflict with materialism (including prosocial
and proenvironmental behavior, interpersonal connections, educational motivation, and
personal well-being).
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6. Interventions to reduce materialism are effective when they activate and encourage in-
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trinsic and self-transcendent values/goals, reduce exposure (or the effects of exposure)
to societal models of materialistic values, and/or increase a sense of felt security and
safety.
7. Numerous policy approaches could reduce materialism by increasing the extent to which
cultures and economies promote feelings of security rather than threat, and by encour-
aging intrinsic and self-transcendent values/goals rather than materialistic aims.

FUTURE ISSUES
1. Although materialism can be validly measured with self-report instruments, the field
would benefit from the development of implicit measures of materialism and means of
coding materialistic values/goals in natural language, politicians’ speeches, life narratives,
etc.
2. Substantially more research on materialism is needed that utilizes samples of children and
people from economically developing cultures and that uses prospective, longitudinal,
and experimental designs.
3. Although the mediators of the negative relationship between materialism and well-being
are fairly well documented, research has yet to definitively reveal the processes that explain
the relationships between materialism and other problematic outcomes (e.g., compulsive
consumption, ecologically damaging behaviors).
4. Further research is required to understand the reasons why people continue to prioritize
materialistic values/goals even when such aims bring little satisfaction.
5. To increase the external validity of research on the activation of materialistic aims, studies
need to expose participants to materialistic stimuli more frequently (as opposed to only
once or twice).
6. Most studies that have attempted to reduce materialism involve brief interventions that
likely have short-lasting effects; more in-depth interventions are needed to test if longer-
lasting reductions in materialism can occur.

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 PS67CH20-Kasser ARI 14 November 2015 14:2

7. The development and implementation of policies to decrease materialism will be fa-

cilitated if researchers study and write about broader, macro-oriented topics such as
advertising to children and alternative indicators of progress.
8. A crucial question for researchers to consider is how people can create lives, organizations,
economies, and societal structures that acknowledge humans’ materialistic tendencies but
that do not allow those tendencies to run rampant over other valuable aims in life.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
The author is not aware of any funding or financial holdings that might be perceived as affecting
the objectivity of this review. That said, the author does sit on the boards of directors of two
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not-for-profit organizations (the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center
for a New American Dream) whose work is directly relevant to reducing materialism in society.

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Annual Review of
Contents
Psychology

Volume 67, 2016

In Pursuit of Three Theories: Authoritarianism, Relative Deprivation,
and Intergroup Contact
Thomas F. Pettigrew p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 1
Drug Addiction: Updating Actions to Habits to Compulsions
Ten Years On
Barry J. Everitt and Trevor W. Robbins p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p23
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Remembering Preservation in Hippocampal Amnesia

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Ian A. Clark and Eleanor A. Maguire p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p51

Beyond Words: How Humans Communicate Through Sound
Nina Kraus and Jessica Slater p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p83
Episodic Memory and Beyond: The Hippocampus and Neocortex
in Transformation
Morris Moscovitch, Roberto Cabeza, Gordon Winocur, and Lynn Nadel p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 105
Counterfactual Thought
Ruth M.J. Byrne p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 135
Psychological Reasoning in Infancy
Renée Baillargeon, Rose M. Scott, and Lin Bian p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 159
Socioemotional, Personality, and Biological Development: Illustrations
from a Multilevel Developmental Psychopathology Perspective
on Child Maltreatment
Dante Cicchetti p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 187
The Affective Neuroscience of Aging
Mara Mather p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 213
Gene × Environment Determinants of Stress- and Anxiety-Related
Disorders
Sumeet Sharma, Abigail Powers, Bekh Bradley, and Kerry J. Ressler p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 239
Automaticity: Componential, Causal, and Mechanistic Explanations
Agnes Moors p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 263
Psychology of Habit
Wendy Wood and Dennis Rünger p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 289
Media Effects: Theory and Research
Patti M. Valkenburg, Jochen Peter, and Joseph B. Walther p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 315

vi
 PS67-FrontMatter ARI 23 November 2015 19:6

Changing Norms to Change Behavior

Dale T. Miller and Deborah A. Prentice p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 339
Consistency Versus Licensing Effects of Past Moral Behavior
Elizabeth Mullen and Benoı̂t Monin p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 363
Justice and Negotiation
Daniel Druckman and Lynn M. Wagner p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 387
Stereotype Threat
Steven J. Spencer, Christine Logel, and Paul G. Davies p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 415
Toward a Social Psychology of Race and Race Relations for the
Twenty-First Century
Jennifer A. Richeson and Samuel R. Sommers p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 439
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Theodiversity
Ara Norenzayan p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 465
Materialistic Values and Goals
Tim Kasser p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 489
Beyond Work-Life “Integration”
Joan C. Williams, Jennifer L. Berdahl, and Joseph A. Vandello p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 515
Vocational Psychology: Agency, Equity, and Well-Being
Steven D. Brown and Robert W. Lent p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 541
Causal Inference in Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
(DOHaD) Research
Suzanne H. Gage, Marcus R. Munafò, and George Davey Smith p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 567
From Brain Maps to Cognitive Ontologies: Informatics and the Search
for Mental Structure
Russell A. Poldrack and Tal Yarkoni p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 587
Modular Brain Networks
Olaf Sporns and Richard F. Betzel p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 613
Sequential Sampling Models in Cognitive Neuroscience: Advantages,
Applications, and Extensions
B.U. Forstmann, R. Ratcliff, and E.-J. Wagenmakers p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 641
Evidence-Based Practice: The Psychology of EBP Implementation
Denise M. Rousseau and Brian C. Gunia p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 667
Scientific Misconduct
Charles Gross p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 693
The Council of Psychological Advisers
Cass R. Sunstein p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 713

Contents vii