Materialism and Youth Navigating the Lure of Consumerism

Twenty-five centuries ago, the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu marked the danger of

possessions (Kasser, 2003). We are all materialists in our lives up to some extent.

Materialistic goals are important for our daily living and we enjoy materialistic goods to a

level. Being materialistic to certain limits is not evil, until these goods begin to become the

cause of our behaviour and actions. Materialistic desires become obstacles when we are too

attached to worldly possessions rather than spiritual development, relationships and even

peace of mind.

Materialism in Psychology?

Materialism is an interdisciplinary concept but has great importance in the field of

psychology also. Studying materialism is a vital component of studying human behavior.

Throughout life every person view certain things as valuable which may be present in any

form. It may be happiness, spirituality, religion, relationship, family, home life, career,

adventure, fun or in some cases acquiring material possessions (Kasser, 2003). While

socializing an individual starts adopting the ways and norms of the society, materialism is

also seen to be affected by the type of society in which a person lives. Society constantly tells

us the importance of acquiring money which leads to an increase in our happiness, and that

one should constantly try to achieve these goals in order to attain happiness. But it has been

seen that in a constant urge to accomplish these goals of accumulation of wealth and

possessions, we often miss out on various life experiences, depths of interpersonal

relationships, quality of life, and above all our psychological health. A beautiful example of

the above stated situation has been mentioned by Kasser (2003) in book 'The High Price of

Materialism':