Tim Kasser, Ph.D.
Knox College

Why are marketers willing to manipulate children, to open their emotional vulnerabilities, to sell them things they don=t really need?

Research shows that when materialistic values direct one=s behavior, people become less concerned with the well-being of others and more likely to treat other people, including kids, as objects to be manipulated. 

1.  Place less value on helping others (Kasser & Ryan, 1993), taking care of others (Cohen & Cohen, 1996), social justice, equality, being honest and loyal (Schwartz, 1996).

2.  Decreased empathy for others (Sheldon & Kasser, 1995).

3.  Increased anti-social and decreased prosocial behavior (Cohen & Cohen, 1996; Kasser & Ryan, 1993; McHoskey, 1999).

4.  More selfishness (Richins & Dawson, 1992) and narcissism (Kasser & Ryan, 1996).

5.  More Machiavellian (McHoskey, 1999).

So we must understand materialism as a disease which has infected some individuals, leading them to put the almighty dollar ahead of the well-being of children. 

CITATIONS

Cohen, P. & Cohen, J. (1996). Life values and adolescent mental health. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Kasser, T. & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 410-422. 

Kasser, T. & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: Differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 280-287.

McHoskey, J. W. (1999). Machiavellianism, intrinsic versus extrinsic goals, and social interest: A self-determination theory analysis. Motivation and Emotion, 23, 267-283. 

Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 303-316. 

Schwartz, S. H. (1996). Values priorities and behavior: Applying of theory of integrated value systems.  In C. Seligman, J. M. Olson & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The psychology of values: The Ontario symposium, Vol. 8 (pp. 1-24).  Hillsdale, NJ:  Erlbaum.