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There’s no shame in being materialistic – it could benefit society

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Materialism gets a bad press. There is an assumption that people who prioritise “things” are inherently selfish. The stereotype is that of highly materialistic people, living in a different world, where their priority is cash, possessions and status. But is the stereotype true? Our research reveals there are two sides to this story.

Highly materialistic people believe that owning and buying things are necessary means to achieve important life goals, such as happiness, success and desirability. However, in their quest to own more, they often sideline other important goals. Research shows that highly materialistic people tend to care less about the environment and other people than “non-materialists” do. These findings lead to the assumption that highly materialistic people are largely selfish and prefer to build meaningful relationships with “stuff”, as opposed to people.

But other research shows that materialism is a natural part of being human and that people develop materialistic tendencies as an adaptive response to cope with situations that make them feel anxious and insecure, such as a difficult family relationship or even our natural fear of death .

Underlying desires

Materialism is not only found in particularly materialistic people. Even referring to people as “consumers” , as opposed to using other generic terms such as citizens, can temporarily activate a materialistic mindset. As materialism researchers James Burroughs and Aric Rindfleisch said:

Telling people to be less materialistic is like telling people that they shouldn’t enjoy sex or eat fatty foods. People can learn to control their impulses, but this does not remove the underlying desires.

As such, efforts directed towards eliminating materialism (taxing or banning advertising activities ) are unlikely to be effective. These anti-materialism views also limit business activities and places considerable tension between business and policy.

The caring materialists

Our research examined how materialism is perceived across cultures and it revealed that there is more to materialism than just self-gratification. In Asia, materialism is an important part of the “collectivistic” culture (where the emphasis is on relationships with others, in particular the groups a person belongs to).

Buying aspirational brands of goods and services is a common approach in the gift-giving traditions in East Asia. Across collectivistic communities, purchasing things that mirror the identity and style of people you regard as important can also help you to conform to social expectations that in turn blanket you with a sense of belonging. These behaviours are not unique to Asian societies. It’s just that the idea of materialism in the West is more often seen in sharp contrast to community values, rather than a part of it.

We also found that materialists in general are “meaning-seekers” rather than status seekers. They believe in the symbolic and signalling powers of products, brands and price tags. Materialists who also believe in community values use these cues to shed positive light onto themselves and others they care about, to meet social expectations, demonstrate belonging and even to fulfil their perceived social responsibilities. For example, people often flaunt their green and eco-friendly purchases of Tom’s shoes and Tesla cars in public to signal desirable qualities of altruism and social concern.

Reconciling material and collective interests

So how do we get an increasingly materialistic society to care more about the greater good (such as buying more ethically-sourced products or making more charity donations) and be less conspicuous and wasteful in its consumption? The answer is to look to our culture and what sort of collectivistic values it tries to teach us.

We found that a simple reminder of the community value that resonates with who we are as a society can help reduce materialistic tendencies. That said, the Asian and Western cultures tend to teach slightly different ideals of community value. Asian communities tend to pass on values that centre around interpersonal relationships (such as family duties). Western societies tend to pass on values that are abstract and spiritual (such as kindness, equality and social justice).

Unsurprisingly, many businesses have been quick to jump onto this bandwagon. Tear-jerking commercials from Thailand reminding people to buy insurance to protect loved ones, Christmas adverts reminding viewers to be kind to one another are just two examples. But nice commercials alone won’t be enough to do the job.

Social marketers and public policymakers should tap into society’s materialistic tendencies to promote well-meaning social programmes, such as refugee settlement, financial literacy programmes and food bank donations. The key is to promote these programmes in ways that materialists can engage with – through a public display of consumption that communicates social identity.

A perfect example is the Choose Love charity pop-up store in central London, where people get to purchase real products (blankets, children’s clothing, sleeping bags, sanitary pads) in a beautifully designed retail space akin to the Apple store, which are then distributed to refugees in Greece, Iraq and Syria.

Materialism undoubtedly has an ugly face but it is here to stay. Rather than focusing efforts to diminish it, individual consumers, businesses and policymakers should focus on using it for promoting collective interests that benefit wider society.

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A psychologist explains why materialism is making you unhappy

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Materialists lead unhappier lives — and are worse to the people around them. And it seems that social media might be fueling materialistic attitudes, too. This is all according to a fascinating interview the American Psychological Association posted in 2014 with Knox College psychologist Tim Kasser , whose research focuses on materialism and well-being.

Here are the best bits.

Materialists are sad, terrible people:

We know from research that materialism tends to be associated with treating others in more competitive, manipulative and selfish ways, as well as with being less empathetic ... [M]aterialism is associated with lower levels of well-being, less pro-social interpersonal behavior, more ecologically destructive behavior, and worse academic outcomes. It also is associated with more spending problems and debt ... We found that the more highly people endorsed materialistic values, the more they experienced unpleasant emotions, depression and anxiety, the more they reported physical health problems, such as stomachaches and headaches, and the less they experienced pleasant emotions and felt satisfied with their lives.

People become more materialistic when they feel insecure:

Research shows two sets of factors that lead people to have materialistic values. First, people are more materialistic when they are exposed to messages that suggest such pursuits are important ... Second, and somewhat less obvious — people are more materialistic when they feel insecure or threatened, whether because of rejection, economic fears or thoughts of their own death.

Materialism is linked to media exposure and national-advertising expenditures:

The research shows that the more that people watch television, the more materialistic their values are ... A study I recently published with psychologist Jean Twenge ... found that the extent to which a given year’s class of high school seniors cared about materialistic pursuits was predictable on the basis of how much of the U.S. economy came from advertising and marketing expenditures — the more that advertising dominated the economy, the more materialistic youth were.

Materialism is linked to social media use, too:

One study of American and Arab youth found that materialism is higher as social media use increases ... That makes sense, since most social media messages also contain advertising, which is how the social media companies make a profit.

Many psychologists think that materialists are unhappy because these people neglect their real psychological needs:

[M]aterialistic values are associated with living one’s life in ways that do a relatively poor job of satisfying psychological needs to feel free, competent and connected to other people. When people do not have their needs well-satisfied, they report lower levels of well-being and happiness, as well as more distress.

Check out the whole interview at the APA's website.

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Materialism and Well-Being Revisited: The Impact of Personality

• Research Paper
• Open access
• Published: 12 February 2019
• Volume 21 , pages 305–326, ( 2020 )

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• Małgorzata E. Górnik-Durose   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3395-5324 1  

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Although the negative link between materialism and well-being has been confirmed by results from many empirical studies, mechanisms underlying this association still remain partially unexplained. The issue is addressed in this article in two ways. Firstly, the nature of the components of materialism is examined, and secondly—the article demonstrates that personality (particularly neuroticism and narcissism) is one of the important factors linking materialism and well-being. The article presents the results of three empirical studies, in which three main assumptions were verified—that the components of materialism, i.e. acquisition centrality, acquisition as a pursuit of happiness and possession-defined success, have dissimilar impacts on well-being, that materialists with high and low levels of neuroticism and narcissism differ with regard to well-being, and that neuroticism and narcissism mediate the relationship between materialism and well-being. The studies were based on self-reports and utilized well-known, established questionnaire measures of materialism, personality and well-being. The results showed that each component of materialism was associated with well-being in a slightly different way. Of the three possession-defined happiness was the strongest predictor of all aspects of well-being examined and the centrality component was not associated with any of them. Materialists with a high level of neuroticism and low level of grandiose narcissism experienced diminished well-being in comparison to materialism with a low level of neuroticism and high level of grandiose narcissism. Neuroticism and grandiose narcissism were both significant mediators, acting contrary to each other—neuroticism lowered well-being, whereas grandiose narcissism elevated it.

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1 Introduction

The negative association between materialism and well-being is currently almost an axiom in psychology and consumer research. In their extensive meta-analysis Dittmar et al. ( 2014 ) showed that the results of empirical studies concerning this association are consistent and indicate modest negative correlations between various measures of materialism and various aspects of well-being (the average effect is − .19). Some moderating factors (i.e. age, gender, a nation’s rate of economic growth, level of inequality, cultural and value orientations) weaken the connection somewhat, although do not eliminate it. None of them reverses the association and causes it to be positive.

Although the link between materialism and well-being seems to be evident, mechanisms underlying this association still remain partially unexplained, despite many attempts to shed light on it. In this article I would like to address the issue in two ways. Firstly, I intend to examine more closely the domains of materialism. Secondly, I aim to demonstrate that one of the major factors that bring materialism and well-being together is personality, particularly neuroticism and narcissism. Such an approach is relatively novel. Although the domains of materialism were incidentally examined in relation to well-being, there is no systematic study addressing this issue. Despite the abundance of separate empirical findings that show simple connections between materialism and well-being, materialism and personality, and personality and well-being, the connection between the three is a field of empirical investigation which has been neglected thus far. I am convinced that both matters mentioned above deserve more attention from scholars.

1.1 Materialism and Its Domains in Relation to Well-Being

The term “materialism” in psychology relates to people’s desire to acquire and possess material assets. Materialism is understood as the importance people attach to worldly possessions which take a central place in their lives and are expected to be the greatest source of satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Belk 1985 ), or as a high valuation of material goods, that are perceived as a measure of a successful and happy life (Richins and Dawson 1992 ) and a warrant of high status, power, and popularity (Kasser 2002 ).

The conceptualization of materialism, which has been most widely used in psychological studies, was proposed by Richins and Dawson ( 1992 ). They defined materialism in terms of values that direct people’s choices and behaviours in various situations and influence the way people structure their lives and relate to the external world. According to them, overall materialism incorporates three components: acquisition centrality, i.e. placing possessions and their acquisition in the center of one’s life, acquisition as a pursuit of happiness, i.e. believing that possessions and their acquisition are essential to one’s happiness, and possession-defined success, i.e. considering possession as a criterion for judging one’s own and other people’s success.

These three domains are usually combined and the overall materialism index is commonly used in various studies, including those related to materialism and well-being. Very few researchers made an effort to look at the three components of materialism separately. The exception was Ahuvia and Wong ( 1995 ), who showed that of the three the belief that possession can bring happiness was most strongly associated with life dissatisfaction; possession-defined success was also related to life dissatisfaction, but only in some areas, whereas the connection between possession centrality and life (dis)satisfaction was fairly weak and not significant. The same authors demonstrated later that the negative relationship between materialism and needs satisfaction was driven exclusively by the belief related to happiness (Ahuvia and Wong 2002 ). The similar effect of the happiness component was also revealed by Swinyard et al. ( 2001 ) and Roberts and Clement ( 2007 ). Furthermore Pieters ( 2013 ) showed that the vicious cycle of materialism and loneliness was mostly vested in the belief that possession brings happiness and in possession-defined success. Acquisition centrality played a positive role in the cycle decreasing loneliness over time. Also Segev et al. ( 2015 ) found a weak positive correlation between acquisition centrality and life satisfaction alongside a strong negative association between life satisfaction and the happiness component. Such results suggest that it is worth exploring separately the three domains of materialism in relation to well-being.

Over the years researchers were proposing various explanation of the negative relationship between overall materialism and well-being. For example, Burroughs and Rindfleisch ( 2002 ) showed that materialists experience less happiness and more negative affect than others because of the inherent conflict between material and collective values. Solberg et al. ( 2003 ) pointed to materialists’ poor social life as a source of lower well-being. They also claimed that striving for material goals provides less emotional gratification than striving for others and that people are more distant from their material goals than from others and least satisfied with what they achieve in the material realm. Shrum et al. ( 2013 ) suggested that materialism is centered on constructing identity through symbolic consumption, and because the process requires reliance on others to validate the results, it causes vulnerability and psychological instability. Dittmar et al. ( 2014 ) tested two explanations of the negative effect of overall materialism on psychological well-being. In relation to the first explanation—that materialists develop unrealistic expectations in the financial realm, which set the stage for disappointment that negatively influences other domains of well-being—the results were not conclusive. The second assumption—that materialism is connected with low needs satisfaction—was verified positively. Recently Donnelly et al. ( 2016 ) suggested that the possible processes that cause unsuccessful pursuits of happiness and satisfaction through the possession of tangible objects are driven by the urge to escape from aversive self-awareness.

Solberg et al. ( 2003 ) referred also to a different explanation of the association between materialism and low well-being—a potential link between materialism and neuroticism, i.e. the personality factor which is highly responsible for negative emotions and low well-being. They finally rejected this hypothesis, but in a later study by Górnik-Durose and Boroń ( 2018 ) the hypothesis was supported. In the current article the way of thinking, which connects materialism with well-being through personality, is continued.

1.2 Materialism and Personality

Investigating relationships between materialism and various personality traits is not a novelty in psychological research. In studies based on the Five–Factor Model of personality (cf. Costa and McCrae 1992 ) positive correlations have been found between materialism and neuroticism and negative between materialism and agreeableness. Data concerning the connections between materialism and extraversion, openness to experience and conscientiousness were not consistent across studies (see Ashton and Lee 2008 ; Otero-López and Villardefrancos 2013 ; Watson 2015 ).

Many malevolent personality traits were also examined in connection with materialism (see Hong et al. 2012 ; Pilch and Górnik-Durose 2016 ), but the personality feature which has received most attention was narcissism. Researchers point out that there are two separate forms of narcissism: grandiose and vulnerable, which share some similarities, but also differ in many ways (Wink 1991 ; Miller et al. 2011 ).They overlap in relation to a sense of personal entitlement, egocentrism, self-absorption, grandiose self-relevant fantasies, callousness, manipulativeness, willingness to exploit others and arrogance. But only grandiose narcissism embraces traits related to magnificence, dominance and aggression, whereas vulnerable narcissism is allied with defensiveness, and its illusory grandiosity disguises feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, incompetence, and negative affect (Miller et al. 2011 ). Data from various studies showed that they are both associated positively with materialism (Bergman et al. 2013 ; Rose 2007 ; Pilch and Górnik-Durose 2017 ).

The configuration of personality features related to materialism, although explicable at first sight, is de facto internally incoherent, incorporating features that are not likely to coexist. The associations between narcissism and low agreeableness and other malevolent features are understandable and supported by results of many empirical studies (e.g. Watson 2012 ; Houlcroft et al. 2012 ), but it is rather difficult to incorporate high neuroticism and high grandiose narcissism into one personality structure. The empirical data show clearly that high grandiose narcissism is accompanied by low neuroticism, or they are not connected at all (see Houlcroft et al. 2012 ; Lee et al. 2013 ; Miller et al. 2011 ). On the other hand vulnerable narcissism correlates positively and quite strongly with neuroticism (Miller et al. 2011 , Houlcroft et al. 2012 ). It is unlikely then that materialists would be both neurotic and narcissistic in a grandiose way; although it could happen in the case of vulnerable narcissism.

Such contradictions in the personality depiction of materialists inspired Górnik-Durose and Pilch ( 2016 ) to look more closely at the associations between materialism and personality traits (within the HEXACO framework). They separated two types of materialists. They both displayed relatively low levels of honesty–humility and agreeableness, but in one case the emotionality level was significantly lower and the extraversion level significantly higher than in the other. The first materialistic type was named the Peacocks, the second, the Mice. The Peacocks were also significantly more narcissistic than the Mice, but only in the grandiose way; no difference was found in vulnerable narcissism. Moreover the Peacocks and Mice had different attitudes towards money and different spending preferences. The Peacocks were prone to seek immediate financial gain, whereas the Mice were anxious and insecure in their money attitudes. Their declared spending was directed toward self-protection, whereas the Peacocks were oriented toward self-aggrandizing. The Peacocks were also more prone to ostentatious consumption than the Mice.

This short description of the Mice and Peacocks suggests that for each type being materialistic fulfills different functions. The Mice, who are rather emotionally unstable and vulnerable, with a tendency to feel anxious, fearful, insecure, use material possessions as reassurance—a “security blanket”, a means to create relatively sheltered life conditions that may protects against deprivation, hostile environmental and social threats (cf. Kasser 2002 ). Their inherent difficulties in gaining support and safe attachment to people results in turning toward more tangible resources that are easily controlled and manipulated (cf. Richins 2017 ). The Peacocks on the other hand possess highly inflated, positive views of the self, accompanied by strong self–focus, feelings of entitlement, seeking admiration and lack of regard for others. To maintain their disproportionately positive self–beliefs, narcissistic Peacocks engage in grandiose self–displays, using appropriate material possessions (Campbell and Foster 2007 ). Displaying the proper material possessions is a self–presentation tactic, which is plainly effective in consumption–oriented societies. In a culture which uses material goods extensively as a communication code, material things of proper brands and varieties—scarce, unique, exclusive, often customizable– are able to deliver appropriate messages, showing desirable personal and societal characteristics of their owner (Lee et al. 2013 ). Thus, proper material goods sustain, validate, and nurture the narcissistic self.

These two strategies—both utilizing material goods—not only serve different purpose, but also may have different consequences in relation to well-being. I assume then that the deceptively simple associations between materialism and well-being may be altered by their connections with personality.

1.3 Neuroticism, Narcissism and Well-Being

The empirical evidence that personality accurately predicts well-being was summarized by DeNeve and Cooper ( 1998 ) and Steel et al. ( 2008 ) in their meta-analyses. They also showed that among personality traits neuroticism is the most prominent factor influencing various aspects of well-being. The same was revealed by Anglim and Grant ( 2016 ). The association is indisputably negative, i.e. rising neuroticism is followed by diminishing well-being. This effect is strong and fundamental and—as Steel et al. ( 2008 ) suggest—involves common biological mechanisms or neural substrates. Neuroticism also influences behaviors and predisposes people to have more negative life experiences that have an impact on their well-being.

In the case of narcissism the empirical evidence is also quite plain—narcissism in its grandiose version elevates well-being, whereas vulnerable narcissism lowers it significantly. It was also demonstrated that narcissism is associated with well-being due to its overlap with self-esteem (Rose 2002 ; Sedikides et al. 2004 ; Zuckerman and O’Loughlin 2009 ).

The impact of personality on well-being means that any relationship between phenomena, which are connected with personality, and well-being may be shaped and transformed by personality, because personality relates to basic regulatory mechanisms and represents fundamental and relatively stable characteristics of a person that underlie individual behavior, beliefs and attitudes and are to some extent biologically determined. Haslam et al. ( 2009 ) showed that associations between values and well-being are due to the variance they both share with personality traits. This may be also the case for materialism. This is why I assumed that neuroticism and narcissism may be powerful factors mediating the relationship between materialism and well-being.

2 Current Investigation

Until now the results of empirical studies related to materialism, personality and well- being showed that:

Materialism is connected with poorer well-being and the effect seems to be mainly due to the belief that acquiring and possessing material goods is essential for happiness and that possessed assets are the best indication of achieving success in life.

Materialism is also associated with certain personality traits—particularly neuroticism and narcissism (positively). These traits distinguish types of materialists. One materialistic type—the Peacocks—is marked by low neuroticism and high grandiose narcissism, the second—the Mice—by high neuroticism and low grandiose narcissism.

Both neuroticism and narcissism correlate significantly with well-being, hence, it would be expected that they may shape well-being also in materialists. Thus far the evidence was found for a mediating role of neuroticism in the relationship between materialism and attitudes towards money and well-being (Górnik-Durose and Boron 2018 ).

The current research is embedded in the findings listed above, but its aim is to extend the investigation and clarify the associations further. It encompasses three separate studies. The objectives of Study I are to verify the assumption that materialists with different levels of neuroticism (i.e. the Mice and Peacocks) would differ in relation to well-being, and to examine further the mediating effect of neuroticism on the relationship between materialism and well-being revealed in previous research. Study II concentrates on the impact of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism on the relationship between materialism and well-being. Its first aim is to examine differences in well-being between the Mice and Peacocks that are due to the level of grandiose narcissism, the second—to test for a mediating effect of narcissism on the relationship between materialism and well-being. Study III consolidates the two aspects of personality connected with materialism analyzed in the two previous studies, i.e. neuroticism and both types of narcissism. The objective is to check how strong these traits are alongside materialism in relation to well-being. In all three studies materialism is deconstructed and the associations of its three dimensions, i.e. possession centrality, possession-defined happiness and possession-defined success, with life satisfaction and well-being is examined. In the concurrent studies different measures of well-being are utilized.

The main hypotheses tested in the three studies were as follows:

Three domains of materialism relate differently to well-being. The possession-defined happiness (MAT/Hap) and possession-defined success (MAT/Suc) are relatively strongly and negatively associated with various aspects of well-being, whereas the centrality component (MAT/Cent) correlates with well-being modestly or not at all

The Mice and Peacocks, identified on the basis of the level of neuroticism (NE) or grandiose narcissism (GN), differ in regard to various aspects of well-being. The low neurotic and high narcissistic Peacocks experience a higher level of well-being than high neurotic and low narcissistic Mice

Personality traits—neuroticism (NE), as well as grandiose (GN) and vulnerable narcissism (VN), mediate the relationship between materialism (MAT) and its two domains, i.e. possession-defined happiness (MAT/Hap) and possession-defined success (MAT/Suc) and various aspects of well-being

2.1 Study I

2.1.1 participants.

The participants were 286 adults from Upper Silesia in Poland (72.4% women) aged 17–59 (M = 25.48; SD = 7.15); 70% of the sample were younger than 26, merely students. The remaining 30% were educated on the higher (54.1%) and secondary (30.6%) levels. The information about the material situation of the participants was gathered by asking them to assess on a scale from 1 (low) to 7 (very high) their monthly income in relation to the subjectively perceived national average. In the younger group the mean score was 2.52 (SD = 1.65), whereas in the older group 3.6 (SD = 1.72).

The participants were recruited by cooperating students via their private social networks on Facebook. No incentives were given for the participation.

2.1.2 Measures

Materialism The 9-item Material Values Scale—as recommended by Richins ( 2004 ), in the Polish version by Górnik-Durose ( 2016 ) was used to measure materialism. Items were rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The three subscale scores (i.e. centrality, e.g. “I like a lot of luxury in my life” ; happiness, e.g. “My life would be better if I owned certain things I don’t have” ; success, e.g. “I like to own things that impress people” ) as well as the overall materialism score were computed.

Neuroticism The neuroticism scale (EPQ-N) from the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire EPQ-R(S) in Polish adaptation (Jaworska 2012 ) was used to measure neuroticism. It consists of 12 items with a response scale of 1 (yes) and 0 (no). Positive responses were summed to yield a total score.

Well - being Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF; Keyes 2002 ) in Polish adaptation by Karaś et al. ( 2014 ) was applied to assess well-being. MHC-SF consists of 14 items that represent hedonic (emotional—e.g. ‘‘How often did you feel happy?’’ ) and eudaimonic (psychological—e.g. ‘‘How often did you feel good at managing the responsibilities of your daily life?’’ and social—e.g. ‘‘How often did you feel that you belonged to a community?’’ ) facets of well-being. The 6-point answering scale (ranging from 1—“never” to 6—“everyday”) relates to the frequency of experiencing various symptoms of well-being during the past month. The overall (general) score of well-being (GWB) was computed and used in the analyses.

2.1.3 Results

Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations between study variables are displayed in Table  1 .

2.1.3.1 Well-Being in Groups Differentiated by Materialism and Neuroticism

In the first step participants were divided into subgroups according to MAT and NE scores. The scores below average placed participants to the low MAT or low NE subgroups, the scores equal and above average placed them to the high MAT or high NE subgroups. Finally four subgroups were separated: high_MAT/high_NE (i.e. the Mice), high_MAT/low_NE (i.e. the Peacocks), low_MAT/low_NE and low_MAT/high_NE. The mean scores of well-being (GWB) were compared in those subgroups in one-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s tests (see Table  2 ).

The tests revealed statistically significant differences between the subgroups. First of all the two highly materialistic subgroups—the Mice and Peacocks—differed significantly, with the Mice having the lowest level of GWB among participants and the Peacocks having GWB comparable to the highest well-being of the low_MAT/low_NE subgroup. The Mice on the other hand did not differ significantly from the low_MAT/high_NE subgroup.

2.1.3.2 The Mediating Effect of Neuroticism on the Relationship Between Materialism and Well-Being

In the next step the assumption about the mediating role of neuroticism in the relationship between materialism and its domains and well-being was tested. The mediation analyses were run using the bootstrapping method with bias-corrected confidence estimates. The PROCESS macro model 4 for SPSS developed by Hayes ( 2013 ) was utilized. The 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the indirect effects were obtained with 5000 bootstrap resamples. The intervals that do not contain zero indicate a significant indirect effect. Only those components of MAT that were initially significantly correlated with NE and GWB were taken into consideration (see Table  1 ). Accordingly, two separate mediation analyses were conducted: for MAT and for MAT/Hap as predictors of well-being. The results are presented in Table  3 .

Both total effects of MAT and MAT/Hap on GWB were significant. After controlling for NE the direct effects of MAT became insignificant (full mediation) and the direct effect of MAT/Hap became considerably lower, but still significant (partial mediation). Both indirect effects via NE were significant.

2.1.3.3 Summary of the Results

The results obtained in Study I were consistent with previous findings related to a simple association between MAT, NE and well-being (see Sect.  1 of this article). The differences in NE among materialists were reflected in their GWB. A salient detrimental effect of MAT and NE on GWB was revealed, with NE playing the leading role. MAT not accompanied by NE did not appear to affect GWB very much. The mediation analyses confirmed that the relationship between MAT and GWB was fully mediated by NE, whereas in the case of MAT/Hap the mediation was partial—the belief that material possessions bring happiness hold its unique negative impact on GWB alongside NE. The remaining two components of materialism did not have any significant impact on GWB.

2.2 Study II

2.2.1 participants.

A Polish sample of 123 adults (73.2% women), aged 22–70 ( M  = 35.07; SD  = 10.37) was used in Study II. 88.6% of the participants were educated on the higher level, 11.4%—on the secondary level. As in Study I they were asked to assess their income in relation to the national average. On the scale from 1 to 7 the mean score was 4.22 (SD = 1.49), whereas the mean of the declared monthly income was 2951 PLN (SD = 849), which was slightly above the median of income in Poland at the time of data collection, i.e. in 2016).

The participants were recruited by a cooperating student via Facebook using his social network. No incentives were given for the participation.

2.2.2 Measures

Materialism As in Study I the Polish version of the 9-item Material Values Scale was used to assess materialism.

Narcissism The Polish version of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI; Raskin and Hall 1979 ; Bazińska and Drat-Ruszczak 2000 ) was applied to measure grandiose narcissism. It consists of 34 items (e.g. “I really like to be the center of attention”, “I think I am a special person”) with the answers on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (it’s not me) to 5 (it’s me). Scores were summed to create an overall index. As a measure of vulnerable narcissism the Polish version of Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale (HSNS; Hendin and Cheek 1997 ; Czarna et al. 2014 ) was used. It consists of 10 items (e.g. “My feelings are easily hurt by ridicule or the slighting remarks of others”, “When I enter a room I often become self - conscious and feel that the eyes of others are upon me” ) answered on a 5-point scale from 1 (“very uncharacteristic or untrue/strongly disagree”) to 5 (“very characteristic or true/strongly agree”). Scores were summed to create an overall index.

Subjective Well - being In study II two aspects of subjective well-being (SWB) were assessed as suggested by Pavot and Diener ( 1993 )—satisfaction with life (SWL) and positive (PA) and negative (NA) affects. The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) developed by Diener et al. ( 1985 ) in Polish adaptation by Juczyński ( 2001 ) was used to measure the first aspect. The scale is composed of five items (e.g. “ In most ways my life is close to my ideal“ ) measuring global life satisfaction on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The total score is a sum of the participants’ responses.

The affective component of SWB was measured with the Polish version of Brief Measures of Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS; Watson et al. 1988 ) in Polish adaptation (Brzozowski 2010 ). It consists of 20 adjectives, 10 denoting positive affect (e.g. “excited” ) and 10 denoting negative affect (e.g. “upset” ). Respondents indicated the extent to which each adjective described them in general, using a 1 (hardly at all) to 5 (extremely) range. Separate scores (sums) were computed for positive and negative affect.

2.2.3 Results

Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations between variables are displayed in Table  4 .

2.2.3.1 Well-Being in Groups Differentiated by Materialism and Narcissism

As in Study I the participants were divided into subgroups according to MAT and—this time—GN, because—as Górnik-Durose and Pilch ( 2016 ) demonstrated—the Peacocks differ from the Mice only in relation to GN; no differences were found in VN. The scores below average placed participants in the low MAT or low GN subgroups, the scores equal and above average placed them in the high MAT or high GN subgroups. Four groups were created: high_MAT/high_GN, high_MAT/low_GN, low_MAT/low_GN and low_MAT/high_GN. The members of the high_MAT/high_GN subgroup were the equivalent of the Peacocks, and high_MAT/low_GN were the Mice. The mean scores of well-being (SWL, PA and NA) were compared in those subgroups in one-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s test. The tests revealed statistically significant differences between the subgroups in relation to SWL and both PA and NA (see Table  2 ).

The two high MAT subgroups distinguished by the level of GN did not differ significantly in relation to any aspect of SWB. Yet the high_MAT/low_GN subgroup (the Mice) reported the lowest levels of SWL and PA in the sample. The highest level of SWL and PA was identified in the low_MAT/high_GN subgroup, which experienced also the lowest level of NA. High materialism in highly narcissistic individuals (high_MAT/high_GN subgroup) resulted in the highest level of NA, significantly higher than in the case of narcissists with low materialism.

2.2.3.2 The Mediating Effect of Narcissism on the Relationship Between Materialism and Well-Being

Finally the assumption about the mediating role of both types of narcissism in the relationship between materialism and SWB was tested. As in the previous study the PROCESS macro model 4 was utilized. The macro estimated bootstrapped bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals (CI) for indirect effects in 5000 bootstrap resamples. This time the parallel multiple mediator model was applied. The estimation of indirect effects in such a model allows for a simultaneous test of each mediator while accounting for the shared associations between them (cf. Preacher and Hayes 2008 ). As in Study I only those domains of materialism that were initially significantly correlated with at least one type of narcissism and relevant aspects of well-being were taken into consideration (see Table  4 ). Three separate mediation analyses were conducted for MAT, MAT/Hap and MAT/Suc as predictors of SWL and NA, and one for MAT/Hap as a predictor of PA. In all cases GN and VN were included in the models as parallel mediators. The results are presented in Table  3 .

The results show that total effects of materialism and its two domains on SWL and PA were significant, in the case of NA—marginally. After controlling for GN and VN the associations between MAT and SWB changed. In the case of SWL direct effects remained significant, but the coefficients were altered. For MAT and MAT/Hap the coefficients become lower due to the indirect effect of VN only (the indirect effect of GN was not significant). It suggests a partial mediation. For HAP/Suc both indirect effects were significant, but contrary to each other—the indirect effect of GN was positive, whereas the indirect effect of VN was negative. The GN effect was significantly stronger. In addition the direct effect coefficient for MAT/Suc was higher than the total effect coefficient. It indicates that the impact of MAT/Suc was suppressed by the impact of GN and VN.

In the case of both PA and NA after controlling for GN and VN all direct effects became insignificant (full mediation) mainly due to the indirect effect of VN. The indirect effect of GN was significant, but weaker than the effect of VN only in the case of MAT/Suc and NA.

2.2.3.3 Summary of the Results

The simple associations between MAT, GN, VN and SWB were more or less as expected (see Sects.  1.2 and 1.3 of this article), although the associations between materialism and its domains and affective aspects of SWB were weaker than in other studies. The MAT/Cent correlated significantly neither with GN and VN nor with SWB. The group comparison showed that SWB in materialistic groups differentiated by the level of narcissism was similar. The best combination for high SWL and PA was low MAT accompanied by high GN, the worst—high MAT associated with low GN. Generally GN elevated SWB despite MAT, except for NA, which paradoxically was the highest among materialists with a high level of GN.

The results of the mediation analyses indicate that mainly VN mediated significantly the relationship between all aspects of materialism and SWB. The indirect effect of GN appeared only incidentally. VN and all aspects of materialism were detrimental to SWB, acting synergistically. In the case of GN, MAT and MAT/Suc lowered SWL and elevated NA, whereas GN—acting antagonistically—pushed SWL up and lowered NA. GN and VN slightly suppressed the effect of MAT/Suc on SWL.

2.3 Study III

2.3.1 participants.

The participants were 360 adults (67.5% women), aged 18–76 (M = 35.68; SD = 14.94) from Upper Silesia in Poland. The participants were educated mainly on the secondary (52.5%) and higher (44.4%) level. They were asked to assess their financial situation on a 5-point scale from 1—very poor (not enough to satisfy basic needs) to 5—very good (able to afford a comfortable life). The average score was 3.45 (SD = 0.66) with 54.4% claiming that their material standard of living is mediocre (they have enough to fulfill their needs, but they have to save to cover bigger expenses), and 36.1% claiming that their standard of living is good (they are able to cover most expenses without saving).

The participants were recruited via cooperating students using their social network. Once recruited the participants distributed the set of questionnaires further. No incentives were given for participation.

2.3.2 Measures

Materialism As in in the study I and II the Polish version of the 9-item Material Values Scale was used to measure materialism.

Neuroticism Neuroticism was assessed using the appropriate scale from the Polish version of NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa and McCrae 1992 ; Zawadzki et al. 1998 ). The NEO-FFI provides a measure of the five basic personality factors, with 12 items for each factor. Each of the items was assessed on a Likert-based scale ranging from 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). The total score was computed as a sum of the 12 items.

Narcissism As in study II the Polish version of the NPI was used to assess grandiose narcissism and the Polish version of HSNS to assess vulnerable narcissism.

Well - being Two aspects of well-being were assessed—general well-being with MHC-SH as in Study I and Satisfaction with Life with the Polish version of SWLS as in Study II.

2.3.3 Results

Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations between variables are displayed in Table  5 .

2.3.3.1 Well-Being in Groups Differentiated by Materialism, Neuroticism and Narcissism

As in Study I and II the participants were divided into subgroups according to materialism and either neuroticism or grandiose narcissism scores. The mean scores of well-being (SWL and GWB) were compared in those subgroups in one-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s test. The tests revealed statistically significant differences between the subgroups in relation to both measures of well-being (see Table  2 ). The Mice and Peacocks when distinguished on the base of NE level differed significantly with respect to both SWL and GWB; the Mice displayed diminished well-being, but not different from the non-materialistic subgroup with high NE, whereas the Peacock who displayed elevated well-being did not differ from non-materialists with low NE. A similar pattern was observed in the case of the Mice and Peacocks when distinguished on the base of GN—the Mice had the lowest SWL and GWB in the sample (in the case of GWB not different from non-materialistic group with low GN), whereas the Peacocks had significantly higher SWL and GWB.

2.3.3.2 The Mediating Effect of Neuroticism and Narcissism on the Relationship of Materialism with Life Satisfaction and Well-Being

Mediation analyses were conducted in order to reveal relationships between predictors of SWL and GWB. As in the previous studies the PROCESS macro model 4 (Hayes 2013 ) was utilized to test for parallel multiple mediator models. As before the bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals (CI) for indirect effects were estimated in 5000 bootstrap resamples. Neuroticism and both types of narcissism were assumed to be parallel mediators for the relationships between MAT/Hap and MAT/Suc and SWL as well as for the relationships between MAT/Hap and GWB. The results are presented in the bottom part of Table  3 . As in previous studies, all total effects of materialism dimensions on both SWL and GWB were initially significant. After controlling for all three mediators—NE, GN and VN—the coefficients became lower or not significant. The indirect effects of NE and GN were significant and contrary to each other—NE lowered SWL and GWB, whereas GN elevated them. In all cases NE was the stronger mediator than GN. The effect of VN was not significant. In the case of MAT/Hap and SWL the mediation was partial. In the case of MAT/Suc NE and GN fully mediated its relationship with SWL. The same was true for MAT/Hap and GWB.

2.3.3.3 Summary of the Results

The simple associations between variables were as expected. MAT/Hap was negatively associated with both measures of well-being, MAT/Suc correlated significantly only with SWL. MAT/Cent did not correlate with well-being measures. Materialism in all its aspects was positively associated with NE and both GN and VN, which in turn correlated with SWB—NE and VN negatively, GN positively. There was also an association between NE and VN (positive) and NE and GN (negative). The Mice differed significantly from the Peacocks in relation to both SWL and GWB.

The mediation analyses showed that NE and GN were competing mediators in the relationship between materialism and well-being. The effect of MAT/Suc was fully mediated by NE and GN, whereas MAT/Hap remained its unique impact on SWL after controlling for all three personality features.

3 Discussion

The results of the three reported studies generally confirmed the initial hypotheses. The domains of materialism differed with regard to their connections with well-being. Of the three the possession-defined happiness was the strongest predictor of all aspects of well-being, followed by the possession-defined success, which predicted mainly life satisfaction and negative affect. The centrality dimension was not associated with any of the examined aspects of well-being. These results are consistent with the previous findings reported by Ahuvia and Wong ( 1995 , 2002 ), Swinyard et al. ( 2001 ), Roberts and Clement ( 2007 ), Pieters ( 2013 ) and Segev et al. ( 2015 ). They are also in line with Srivastava et al.’s ( 2001 ) claim that motives for having money, not money per se, are important for well-being, and the findings of Garðarsdóttir et al. ( 2009 ) demonstrating that the belief that money and material possessions are essential in the quest for a happier self is a strong negative predictor of well-being. Though Garðarsdóttir et al. ( 2009 ) showed also that the desire for money and material goods to indicate personal success was a positive predictor of well-being.; the findings from the current studies are not consistent with this result—they showed that possession-defined success was a negative predictor of well-being.

The results obtained also confirmed the previous findings showing that materialism is connected with neuroticism and both types of narcissism—grandiose and vulnerable. Both types of narcissism correlated positively with materialism, but only grandiose narcissism was associated positively with well-being as revealed before (e.g. Miller and Campbell 2008 ; Sedikides et al. 2004 ; Rose 2002 ). Vulnerable narcissism generally had a destructive impact on various aspects of well-being, similar to the effect of neuroticism. This similarity is not surprising, because the two are correlated (r = .49; see also Wink 1991 ; Rose 2002 ) and there are overlapping features of both traits, such as anxiety, insecurity, inferiority, inadequacy, defensiveness, and negative affect (Miller et al. 2011 ; Rose 2002 ).

However the results obtained in the current research go far beyond these simple associations reported in previous studies. The novelty of this research resides in examining relations between all three phenomena. This issue was approached from two angles. First, the well-being of the two types of materialists identified previously by Górnik-Durose and Pilch ( 2016 )—the Mice and Peacocks—was compared. The Mice and Peacocks, when distinguished on the basis of neuroticism, differed significantly with regard to general well-being. As expected, the Peacocks (with the low neuroticism level) experienced a higher level of well-being than the Mice (with the high neuroticism level). The same was true when the Mice and Peacocks were differentiated by the level of grandiose narcissism. The Peacocks (with high grandiose narcissism) displayed higher well-being than the Mice (with low grandiose narcissism), but the differences were statistically significant only in one study.

The second approach involved testing for mediating effects of personality traits on the relationship between materialism and well-being. All the personality traits (i.e. neuroticism and grandiose and vulnerable narcissism) mediated the relationship between materialism and its two domains (i.e. the possession-defined happiness and the possession-defined success) and various aspects of well-being. The strongest mediator was neuroticism, which eliminated vulnerable narcissism from the equation, when they both were entered into the mediation model. Neuroticism and grandiose narcissism acted against each other, the former lowered life satisfaction and well-being, whereas the latter elevated them.

The current research revealed clearly that materialistic well-being is affected by personality-driven needs and goals. The reason for this might be—as suggested in the introductory section of this article—that materialism is merely a functional strategy applied in an attempt to solve various problems encountered by people with different personality traits.

Individuals with a high level of neuroticism (hyper-reactive, anxious, fearful and tense, with negative expectations, perceiving what happens to them in negative terms) have problems with finding effective ways of coping or they use them unsuccessfully (cf. Suls and Martin 2005 ). The concentration on material possessions as a source of comfort and security and the belief that this is the way to achieve happiness is an example of such an ineffective strategy. Unfortunately such a strategy is easily adopted, because the promise of finding happiness and comfort in material assets is wide-spread in the contemporary consumer culture and supported by its norms and standards (Kasser et al. 2003 ; Dittmar 2008 ).

Materialism as a misleading tactic of coping with fears, insecurity and self-doubt was described by Donnelly et al. ( 2016 ). The authors presented a theoretical model of materialism as a consumption-based strategy for escaping aversive self-awareness. The model assumes that materialists tend to fall short of standards, and they blame themselves for the shortfalls. These self-attributions of responsibility for failure create a focus on self which is aversive and induces distress and negative emotions resulting in cognitive deconstruction. Finally the cognitive deconstruction leads to impulsive and disinhibited behavior, e.g. excessive shopping and spending, which in turn lead to many psychological problems, including diminished well-being.

The core elements of this model, i.e. falling short of one’s own standards, self-blame, feeling of inadequacy, low self-esteem, maladaptive self-awareness and being prone to negative emotions, refer to core problems experienced by individuals with high level of neuroticism (cf. Suls and Martin 2005 ). Thus, it would be argued that the model refers mainly to one type of materialists, i.e. the Mice, and depicts how neuroticism incorporated in materialism impairs the ability to experience happiness and life satisfaction.

However, Donnelly et al. ( 2016 ) also describe materialists as people aiming at self-aggrandizement, highly concerned with their public image and viewing consumption as strategic image management, thus buying goods that are highly visible to others and symbolize high status. This brings to mind the narcissistic consumption pattern (Sedikides et al. 2007 ; Lee et al. 2013 ; Górnik-Durose and Pilch 2016 ). Campbell and Foster ( 2007 ) suggest that materialism is inherent in narcissism as one of the self–regulatory strategies to enhance self-worth. At the same time narcissists are not prone to self-blame, feeling of inadequacy, low self-esteem, and consequently aversive self-awareness, even if we accept that high self-esteem, demonstrated by narcissists, may be—as traditionally viewed—a “false mask” hiding their fragile self (e.g., Morf and Rhodewalt 2001 ). As chronic self-enhancers, narcissists need material goods more for self-promotion than self-protection (cf. Campbell and Foster 2007 ). This is a different strategy, used by the second type of materialists—the Peacocks.

The Peacocks’ materialism fits better into a different model, which was proposed by Shrum et al. ( 2013 ). The authors present materialism through its functions in the construction and maintenance of the individual identity. According to this model, materialism is a means for meeting or bolstering particular self-related needs, such as self-esteem, distinctiveness and efficacy. In addition—as the authors suggest—materialism understood in terms of an identity pursuit may result in a more positive self-view and even increase happiness and well-being. Therefore the self-oriented narcissistic materialists promoting themselves through the acquisition and possession of material goods have a chance to achieve a satisfactory level of well-being. Their strategy may be effective, because the “language” of material goods as convenient and easily accessible is socially approved and understandable within the consumer culture (Dittmar 2008 ).

Consequently, materialism in connection with neuroticism and narcissism seems to fulfill different functions. In the first case, materialism is a strategy aiming at protection, defense, safety and comfort. In the second it is a strategy aiming at promotion, assertion, self-presentation and self-affirmation. The first type of materialism is defensive and withdrawn, the second—offensive and ostentatious. The first is not successful, thus leads to disappointment and low well-being. The second uses appropriate—from the cultural point of view—means, thus may bring positive outcomes, also in relation to well-being.

4 Limitations of the Current Research and Directions for the Future Investigations

The results of the three studies are quite conclusive—personality does matter in the relationship between materialism and well-being. However the current studies have some limitations that should be overcome in future research. For instance, in the present studies only one approach to materialism was applied, according to which materialism is a value influencing the way people behave and make decisions (Richins and Dawson 1992 ; Richins 2004 ). Future research should consider other conceptualizations of this phenomenon. Would the concentration on extrinsic goals as a sign of materialism (cf. Kasser 2002 ) in connection with neuroticism and narcissism have similar effects on well-being? Other researchers also pointed out other mechanisms responsible for diminished well-being among materialists, such as a conflict between values, poor social relationships, perception of the fulfillment of material goals and need satisfaction (see Sect.  1.1 of this article). How strong would the mediating effects of narcissism and neuroticism remain alongside these factors?

There are also some methodological issues of the present studies. First of all the data were obtained via self-report. Personality constructs, values and attitudes are commonly measured in this way, thus the assumption was made that the respondents’ self-reports are an adequate indicator of their internal states and that the respondents are able to report them accurately. However usually self-report measures are overburdened with common method biases. In the present studies some design techniques, suggested by Podsakoff et al. ( 2003 ) were applied to minimize them. For instance, to reduce the potential for social desirability bias the procedure allowed the protection of respondents’ anonymity, to decrease evaluation apprehension the participants were reminded that there are no wrong answers, to reduce statement ambiguity well-established and valid measures were utilized. Also the unwanted measurement context effects, which would produce artefactual covariation, were minimalized by placing the statements relating to dependent, independent and mediating variables in a proper order. Nonetheless all these techniques can only minimalize, but not eliminate, the limitations of the self-report studies. Thus, experimental or longitudinal designs are needed to verify the preliminary findings presented in this article.

The next limitation of the present studies is connected with the nature of the research samples. All three studies were based on convenience samples (relatively small in the case of Study II), drawn from one metropolitan area (Upper Silesia in Poland). The participants were predominantly female, well-educated and relatively wealthy members of the middle-class (with the exception of students in Study I who reported having rather low financial resources). This raises the issue of generalizability. The future research should be conducted in larger, demographically varied, preferably representative, samples. Also the moderating role of the material standard of living of the participants, should be examined more closely, taking into consideration that results of previous research indicated that a poor standard of living has been connected with a higher level of materialism (cf. Ahuvia and Wong 2002 ; Kasser 2002 ) and neurotic materialists reported having a worse material situation than narcissistic materialists (Górnik-Durose and Pilch 2016 ). The cross-cultural approach would be also beneficial to verify the universality of the associations between personality, materialism and well-being.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my colleagues and students for their help in collecting data, especially Teresa Sikora, Agnieszka Pasztak-Opiłka, Ewa Wojtyna and Mikołaj Haczek from the Institute of Psychology, University of Silesia in Katowice, and Steve Durose for compiling the database for my research.

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Górnik-Durose, M.E. Materialism and Well-Being Revisited: The Impact of Personality. J Happiness Stud 21 , 305–326 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00089-8

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87 Materialism Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best materialism topic ideas & essay examples, 📝 simple & easy materialism essay titles, 👍 good essay topics on materialism, ❓ questions about materialism.

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Real Materialism and Other Essays

Galen Strawson, Real Materialism and Other Essays , Oxford UP, 2008, 478pp., $50.00 (pbk), ISBN 9780199267439.

Reviewed by Andrew Melnyk, University of Missouri

Nineteen previously published papers, with an introduction, make up Galen Strawson’s latest book; nearly all of them have been revised for republication only lightly or not at all. They address an impressively broad range of philosophical topics: the place of mind in the physical world, knowledge of the world in itself, color and color vocabulary, self-consciousness, conscious experiences, conceptions of oneself, intentionality in relation to conscious experience, freewill, causation, and Hume on causation. The papers are not all parts of a grand philosophical design, though they are thematically related to one another in various ways. The most important connecting thread is Strawson’s endorsement of what he calls realistic materialism , which, despite its name, actually denies the conventional materialism or physicalism that is widely, though by no means universally, assumed in current philosophy of mind. Perhaps half the book either defends realistic materialism or addresses issues in the philosophy of mind within the framework that it provides. The main appeal of the book, in my view, lies in the lively and undoubtedly intelligent contrarianism of its author, who provides abundant challenges to widely-held views, especially in the philosophy of mind, and in his large philosophical ambitions. He seems to me, for instance, to want to re-make contemporary philosophy of mind from scratch.

Alas, I have significant general misgivings about the book. There is needless repetition both within and across papers, even while key positions and moves are never made really clear. The book is bloated with material that should have been eliminated or ruthlessly condensed, but which was apparently included on the principle that no thought should ever go to waste. Relevant contemporary literature — I noticed this especially in the papers in the philosophy of mind — is either ignored or discussed in such general terms that it might as well have been ignored (e.g., Joe Levine’s work, the literature on representationalism, or Ruth Millikan’s work on intentionality). Rarely does the book engage in detail with the arguments of individual opponents, opponents being more likely to make an appearance, and to be dispatched, collectively. There is nothing like enough careful argumentation; indeed, Strawson’s official line is that tight arguments are over-rated (3). There is, however, a good amount of very feeble argumentation. One example: in “Real Intentionality: Why Intentionality Entails Consciousness”, Strawson objects to the view that “we need a survival-and-well-being-based normative notion of function in order to make sense of the notion of misrepresentation” as follows:

This cannot be right, for there is … no incoherence in the idea of a Pure Observer who can represent and misrepresent, and know it, in a way completely unconnected with any such notion of function. (288; emphasis in original)

As it stands, however, Strawson’s objection fails — and for a familiar reason. By saying that there is “no incoherence in the idea of a Pure Observer”, Strawson clearly means that his Pure Observer is conceivable in the sense of violating no a priori semantic constraints on the concept of representation. Those who advance the view targeted by Strawson’s objection (e.g., Millikan), however, explicitly present their view not as an analysis of the concept of representation that can be evaluated a priori by appeal to what is conceivable but instead as an a posteriori identity hypothesis as to what representation turns out to be . Indeed, they mustn’t present their view of representation as a conceptual analysis, for, given their view of what representation is, representations in general, and hence concepts, and hence the concept of representation in particular don’t have semantic analyses. The passage in which this unsuccessful objection occurs is not the only occasion on which Strawson makes what, in the current state of debate, will strike many as a very naïve use of the method of possible cases.

Despite these defects, the book still contains some very good material. I was fully persuaded, for example, by the paper arguing that Hume never held a regularity theory of causation (“David Hume: Objects and Power”), and I much enjoyed “The Impossibility of Ultimate Moral Responsibility”, as well as the acute discussion (in “Consciousness, Free Will, and the Unimportance of Determinism”) of whether it matters if determinism is true.

I was much less impressed with the work in the philosophy of mind, partly because it operates within the framework of Strawson’s realistic materialism, which I find to be an unsatisfactory basis for a philosophical research program — for reasons that I will now explain. Realistic materialism is presented in the first two papers of the book, the title essay “Real Materialism” and “Realistic Monism: Why Physicalism Entails Panpsychism”, and is a view of the place of the qualitative character of experiences in the wider world. 1 As I understand it, it comprises five claims:

1) Experiential phenomena are perfectly real.

2) Experiential phenomena are such that:

(i) they’re “part of fundamental reality” (35);

(ii) we know them to exist with certainty (23);

(iii) in having experience, “we are directly acquainted with certain features of the ultimate nature of reality” (25, 41);

(iv) “the having [of them] is the knowing” (25);

(v) “we can’t be radically in error about [their] nature” (55, note 7).

3) Not “all aspects” of experiential phenomena “can be described by current physics, or some non-revolutionary extension of it” (22).

4) Still, experiential phenomena are “physical in every respect” (23, 35, 37).

How can claim 4 and claim 3 be consistent? According to Strawson, we need (a) to distinguish between structural physical features and intrinsic physical features and (b) to adopt the epistemologically structuralist view that physics only gives us knowledge of the world’s structural features. Given (a) and (b), claim 3 is true if the qualitative character of an experience is not a structural physical feature of the world. Claim 4 can be true too, however, if, as Strawson holds:

5) The qualitative character of an experience is an intrinsic physical feature of the event of neurons firing (22, 37).

Real materialism, I should note, is not a novel position; as Strawson acknowledges, it is essentially the position proposed by Grover Maxwell in 1978 (51, note 126). Both are inspired by Russell, of course.

Claim 3 is a very strong claim, entailing the falsehood of every kind of conventional (non-eliminative) physicalism about experiential phenomena. Why should we accept claim 3, according to Strawson? Why, for example, should we disbelieve the type-identity view that phenomenal properties form a proper subset of neurophysiological properties? One might have expected Strawson to endorse familiar arguments for property dualism, e.g., Jackson’s knowledge argument or Kripke’s appeal to the necessity of identity, since, though they don’t establish that the qualitative characters of experience fail to be intrinsic physical features, they do (if successful) establish that they fail to be structural physical features. In fact, however, he doesn’t endorse these arguments, at least explicitly. 2 His official argument for claim 3 is that its negation amounts to eliminativism about experiential phenomena, which “is mad” (22). 3 That the negation of claim 3 amounts to eliminativism is said to follow “from the fact that current physics contains no predicates for experiential phenomena at all, and that no non-revolutionary extension of it could do so” (22, note 17; 56, note 9). Unfortunately, Strawson doesn’t here say how he knows this putative fact. In particular, he doesn’t say why he feels entitled to rule out the possibility that, exactly as type-identity physicalists suppose, certain immensely complex predicates from current physics in fact pick out the qualitative characters of experiential phenomena, even though this can’t be discovered a priori . 4 I conjecture, however, that one way he thinks he can rule out this possibility is by attending introspectively to his own experience (54-55, note 6). For, in his Introduction, he characterizes phenomenal properties as "properties whose whole and essential nature can be and is fully revealed in sensory experience " (12; my emphases). If this characterization of phenomenal properties is correct, then no phenomenal property can be such that some scientific term or concept picks out that very property in a way that represents more of the property’s essential nature, e.g., its internal structure, than is represented when we are directly acquainted with that property in experience. 5 But a complex predicate from current physics that picked out a phenomenal property would represent a great deal of the property’s internal structure that goes unrepresented when we are acquainted with that property in experience. So no complex predicate from current physics can pick out a phenomenal property.

Presumably, Strawson means the first premise of this argument — that phenomenal properties are “properties whose whole and essential nature can be and is fully revealed in sensory experience” — to follow somehow from claim 2. However, he gives no reason, at least that I could find, for believing claim 2. Nevertheless we do need a reason; claim 2 is not forced upon us as claim 1 is. For even if, as Strawson holds, introspection assures us that experiential phenomena exist and hence that claim 1 is true, claim 2 goes much further: it purports to describe experiential phenomena in philosophically sophisticated metaphysical and epistemological terms. Since introspection has evolved by natural selection, as Strawson would allow, it’s unlikely to be capable of informing us directly of claim 2 — or indeed of any claim of comparable philosophical theoreticity. Perhaps claim 2 can be inferred from weaker claims about experience more plausibly regarded as direct deliverances of introspection; if so, however, this will need to be shown. The same points apply, of course, if claim 2 is expanded to include the claim that phenomenal properties are “properties whose whole and essential nature can be and is fully revealed in sensory experience”.

Philosophers who accept claims 1, 2, and 3 usually go on to endorse some sort of dualism, of course, treating the qualitative character of an experience as something entirely non-physical, as something not even supervening on or realized by the physical, but not Strawson. Instead, in claim 5, he treats the qualitative character of an experience as an intrinsic physical feature of a neural event. On what grounds? One rationale for claim 5 is that, given claim 1, it follows, more or less, from claims 3 and 4 (see 71). I have already discussed support for claim 3. What about claim 4? Much empirical evidence exists for claim 4, in my view, but it’s evidence that experiential phenomena are structural physical phenomena, something that claim 3 actually contradicts. I know of no evidence that experiential phenomena are intrinsic physical phenomena (given Strawson’s assumption of epistemological structuralism about physics). So supporting claim 4 is problematic for a realistic materialist. Strawson’s endorsement of claim 4 seems in fact to rest on his attraction to a unified view of the world, the idea presumably being that, given claim 4, all features of the world are unified in being physical, whether structural-physical or intrinsic-physical (51). Nevertheless Strawson insists that we have no grasp of “the essential nature of the physical”, so he can’t substantiate the idea that the intrinsic features of the world that are the qualitative characters of experiences share a genuine physicality with the structural features of the world that physics reveals (46). This first rationale for claim 5 therefore fails.

A second rationale for claim 5 appeals to ontological economy (50, 59, 66). I think it can be reconstructed as follows:

Structural physical features exist, but structural physical features can’t exist unless intrinsic physical features do too, so intrinsic physical features exist. The qualitative characters of experiences exist also, but, according to claim 3, they aren’t structural physical features. So either they’re identical with intrinsic physical features, as claim 5 says, or they’re entirely non-physical features. The former option — claim 5 — is more economical, and hence, other things being equal, to be preferred.

Strawson doesn’t argue that other things are in fact equal. Are they? I don’t know, though the answer would turn in part on the relative abilities of realistic materialism and its best dualist rival to explain puzzling features of the mind. I also note that this rationale for claim 5 uses the recently-contested premise that structural physical features require intrinsic physical features, i.e., that the physical world couldn’t be purely structural. 6

The points made in the preceding paragraphs only partly explain why I’m not at all drawn to realistic materialism. There’s also the point that realistic materialism raises at least two inter-related questions to which, in its present form, it offers no answers. (i) According to Strawson, realistic materialism entails micropsychism , the view that “at least some ultimates are intrinsically experience-involving”, which he takes to imply that each ultimate involves a distinct subject of experience (71). Since human subjects of experience are not ultimates, and hence not the subjects of experience involved in ultimates, there must be some way in which the latter combine to form human subjects of experience. But how? Strawson raises this question himself, but he doesn’t try to answer it (72). This omission is serious, for so long as the question goes unanswered, realistic materialism hasn’t actually told us what my, or your, or any human subject’s experiencing of red is. Also, an answer to this question seems necessary for an answer to the second question. (ii) Realistic materialism, when joined with epistemological structuralism about physics, entails that we, i.e., human subjects of experience, can only know about the world’s structural features — except when we attend introspectively to the qualitative characters of our own experiences and thereby acquire knowledge of the intrinsic features of certain neural events in our own brains. But how is this supposed to work? Why does the epistemic handicap we labor under when we enquire scientifically disappear when instead we attend introspectively to our own experiences? What is it about introspection that gives it access to the intrinsic features of certain of our brain events? And why are the intrinsic features of only some, but not all, of our brain events accessible to introspection? These questions are not touched by realistic materialism in its present form.

A recurring theme in Strawson’s discussion of realistic materialism is that (i) we have no conception of what it is to be physical on the basis of which we might form any rational expectation at all that the mental couldn’t be physical and (ii) this point, though clearly appreciated in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, has been missed by contemporary students of the mind-body problem (e.g., 20, 38-40, 54). I entirely agree that we have no conception of physicality, if physicality is construed in Strawsonian fashion as a genuine property, a genuine meta-property, in fact, that is possessed by all physical properties (20). Nevertheless I strongly doubt that any student of the mind-body problem in the second half of the twentieth century has ever thought that we do have such a conception — a break with the past perhaps reflected in the terminological shift, to which Strawson attaches no importance, from “materialism” (and “matter”) to “physicalism”. Recent students formulate the mind-body problem in a way that doesn’t require a conception of physicality as a meta-property. They can do so because, unlike philosophers of earlier generations, they are able to draw upon the concrete achievements of the various branches of science over the past hundred years. Thus, pace Strawson, the mind-body problem today — our mind-body problem — is to understand how our everyday descriptions of ourselves as thinkers, feelers, and reasoners fits together with the extraordinarily rich scientific descriptions of ourselves provided by cognitive neuroscience, molecular biology, biochemistry, and, yes, even fundamental physics (54). Of course, these scientific descriptions probably don’t represent the last word, but so what? They don’t need to in order for the mind-body problem to be worth addressing. It’s interesting, at least to many of us, to contemplate our best scientific guesses as to the nature of the world and then speculate on how they hang together. Any detailed solution to the mind-body problem that we produce will naturally inherit the provisional and tentative character of the scientific descriptions with which the problem was formulated, but if scientists can tolerate fallibility, why not philosophers too?

1 And hence a view about intentional states, since Strawson holds that intentional states are experiential states.

2 He does give an argument that differs only terminologically from Joe Levine’s well known Explanatory Gap argument (63).

3 In his Introduction, Strawson compares deniers of phenomenal consciousness to psychiatric patients (6; and see note 31)!

4 On 54, note 3, he cites an argument from his own earlier work, but I won’t discuss it here.

5 Compare “element having atomic number 79” with “gold”, “NaCl” with “salt”, and so on.

6 See chs. 2 and 3 of James Ladyman and Don Ross, Every Thing Must Go: Metaphysics Naturalized (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

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Essay on Materialism

Materialism refers to a collection of personality traits. The contemporary world is full of people who possess materialistic trait. They have a belief that owning and acquisition of the right properties is the vital ingredients of happiness. These people think that success is judged by the things individual possesses. Philosophers and theologians have been complaining for long that materialism is contrary to moral life. More often the goal of gaining material wealth is regarded as empty and in result it prevents a person from being involved in a normal life. The consequences of pursuing materialistic lifestyle are the inability to reach the state of happiness in one’s life. The empirical studies, carried out to find the correlation between happiness and materialism , have confirmed negative correlation between the two.

Being materialistic is bad, as it leads to the creation of the world of difference in the way people treat other human beings. The materialistic people hardly treat others as their equals and often go extra mile to show off their wealth . They hardly care about anyone but themselves and frequently tend to exploit and trample people through the process of a dog eat dog world. It is, therefore, important for people to follow the teachings of the Bible and become moral. The little things we possess, we need to share with the poor as this will ensure equality in the society. Materialism nurtures corruption and causes the society to be impoverished.

Materialistic people use every available means to ensure that the rest of the people in the society remain poor. The aspect of materialism is more pronounced in the third world countries, where leaders are driven by greed and in the process embezzle public funds to maintain their status.

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Materialism and Happiness

This essay will discuss the relationship between materialism and happiness, exploring how the pursuit of material possessions impacts individual well-being and life satisfaction. It will examine psychological theories and research findings on the subject, discussing the potential negative effects of materialism on mental health and social relationships. The essay will also offer perspectives on finding balance and redefining success beyond material wealth. At PapersOwl too, you can discover numerous free essay illustrations related to Emotion.

How it works

At one moment in our lifetime we have felt the feeling of happiness. Happiness can come into our lives through many ways such as spending time with family and friends, getting hired at a facility or even something as small as eating your favorite dessert. Many people can tell another person about the times that they have felt happy but, what really is happiness? According to Psychology Today, the meaning of happiness is defined as, “someone who experiences frequent positive emotions, such as joy, interest, and pride, and infrequent (though not absent) negative emotions, such as sadness, anxiety and anger” (Psychology Today).

Happiness can be categorized into three different types, explained scientifically and viewed through a philosophical perspective.

There are many ways someone could feel this emotion and there has been research over the possible factors affecting one’s happiness. Some of these factors include, attachment and relatedness, attitude towards our physical well-being, goals and self-performance, social status and money, types of personality, our positive and negative sentiments, and time and location. The types of happiness can also be generalized into three categorizes, pleasure, passion and purpose. Happiness through pleasure is a short spike of happiness that can be experienced through meeting friends, going to a party or watching a movie that usually ends when the action is over. Happiness through passion is stronger and lasts longer than pleasure. This can be seen when a person dedicates so much time and effort into something they have been working on and feels proud about what they have accomplished. The last category is happiness through purpose. When one is experiencing happiness through purpose, a person can feel appreciated and as if they are a part of something such as a family. This is when someone really understands the why behind their what he or she does. The level of purpose happiness is superior amongst the others because it is long lasting and truly meaningful. Of course there are also negative ways in which people can feel happiness. For example, people could feel happiness through perfectionism which involve unrealistic goals , social comparison, materialism which people attach their happiness to objects and money and maximizing. A negative example of feeling happiness through bad patterns include doing drugs for the good feeling it brings, breaking the laws to feel superior and hurting other people’s feelings to make oneself feel good.

In order for humans to feel happiness, our brains must produce chemical reactions. Although there are many different types of molecules that the brain manufactures, there are seven that stand out more than the others. The seven molecules include endocannabinoids, dopamine, oxytocin, endorphins, GABA, serotonin and adrenaline. Endocannabinoids are naturally produced cells in humans and are cannabinoid receptors that make up the endocannabinoid system which are involved in various human functions such as appetite, pain sensation, mood and memory. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is in charge of the brain’s reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine also helps regulate movement and emotional responses, and it enables a person not only to see rewards, but also to take action to move toward them. Oxytocin is a hormone that influences human bonding and sexual reproduction. According to Psychology Today, “in some studies, high levels of oxytocin have been correlated with romantic attachment. Some studies show if a couple is separated for a long period of time, the lack of physical contact reduces oxytocin and drives the feeling of longing to bond with that person again” (The Neurochemicals Of Happiness). Endorphins are chemicals that are in charge of blocking pain and controlling emotions. Endorphin levels often increase when a person is working out, feeling happy or during sexual intercourse. GABA is a short term for gamma-Aminobutyric acid. GABA is an inhibitory molecule that slows down neurons and creates a feeling of calmness. GABA can be negatively increased by drugs such as xanax but it can also be increased positively by activities such as yoga or meditation. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that greatly contributes to feelings of well-being and happiness. There are many important reasons why serotonin is so important to humans. Some of which include the regulation of mood, social behavior, appetite and digestion, sleep, memory, and sexual desire. Low levels of serotonin is often associated with depression. The seventh molecule is adrenaline.

Adrenaline is responsible for the flight or fight response. The release of adrenaline creates a sudden surge of energy that can make one feel very alive. (Happiness & All You Need To Know About The Science Behind It).

Happiness is important for human beings because it gives a reason to live. Happiness can help us achieve goals and can help us not only change our lives but other people’s lives. When a person is not happy, it can lead to the feeling of being lost, depressed and even thoughts of taking their own lives. According to The Greater Good Science Based Insights for a Meaningful Life,

“Broaden our thinking in ways that make us more flexible, more able to see the big picture, and more creative. Accumulate and compound over time, transforming us for the better by building the resources—strength, wisdom, friendship, and resilience—we need to truly thrive. Are the most important ingredient in determining a person’s resilience in hard times. Positive emotions help both our bodies and our minds cope with stress, challenge, and negative feelings” (Is Happiness Actually Important?).

Research has found that people who are happy are found to be more successful than those who are unhappy. Christine Carter states, “They get better performance reviews, have more prestigious jobs, and earn higher salaries. They are more likely to get married, and once married, they are more satisfied with their marriages” (Is Happiness Actually Important?). Therefore, happiness is important because it improves the quality of life of people.

In relation to happiness, there is an important man who lived named Socrates. Socrates was born and lived nearly his entire life in Athens. His father Sophroniscus was a stonemason and his mother, Phaenarete, was a midwife. As a young man, Socrates showed an appetite for learning. Plato describes him eagerly acquiring the writings of the leading contemporary philosopher, Anaxagoras, and says he was taught rhetoric by Aspasia, the talented mistress of the great Athenian leader, Pericles. His family apparently had the moderate wealth required to launch Socrates’ career as a foot soldier. After becoming a soldier and participating in military campaigns, Socrates became a student to Plato. (Socrates). Socrates was more interested in the mind than the physical body. His greatest contributions include the Socratic irony and the Socratic method. Socrates was also known as the father of western philosophy. Happiness was a topic in which Socrates spoke about. According to Socrates, “happiness flows not from physical or external conditions, such as bodily pleasures or wealth and power, but from living a life that’s right for your soul, your deepest good” (On happiness- Socrates). If a human being does not know what’s good for their soul, then they will be fooled into pursuing happiness based on what is conventional like money or materialistic items. If he or she does know what is good for their soul, then they will do it naturally, since it is the nature of good to be desired. This is the path to happiness in Socrates mind. Important things that Socrates valued in order to be happy include, relationships, generosity, self-knowledge and career. (Socrates).

One of the most famous philosophers that studied the meaning of happiness is named Aristotle. Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Greece. Aristotle was sent to Athens to enroll at Plato’s academy at the age of seventeen where he spent a total of twenty years there as a student under another famous philosopher by the name of Socrates and later became a professor. Throughout his life, Aristotle made great contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. Aristotle died at the age of sixty two in 322 BC. His works and studies greatly influenced modern thoughts and ideas. Aristotle studied and discovered the four levels of happiness. The first level he mentioned was the “Laetus” which means happiness in Latin. In laetus is a short termed happiness that is usually derived from receiving a gift or enjoying a meal. Aristotle thought ,“as long as the person does not forget the other levels there is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying the pleasures of level 1” (Aristotle Believed There Are Four Levels Of Happiness That Humans Strive For). The second level is felix ego gratification which ultimately means happiness from comparing oneself to others or being better than others. This type of joy can be long termed or short termed. If this level of happiness is a constant everyday feeling, it can lead to self-absorption, jealousy, cynicism, and the oppression of others. The third level is the beatitudo. The happiness from doing good for others and making the world a better place.” The last level is the “Sublime Beatitudo” which according to Aristotle is the ultimate, perfect happiness. This level is the most difficult to acquire and describe because it is a fulfilling feeling.

In the next paragraphs, I will be writing about whether happiness has changed throughout the years. As previously states, Socrates believed that true happiness could not be attained by external conditions and the person will not know what truly makes them happy unless they know what is good for them. Socrates believed that generosity, relationships such as friends and family, career and self knowledge were important aspects to becoming happy. Keeping best friends close, a career in which involves challenging the mind, donating money while keeping others in mind and self examination are all ways to obtain happiness according to Socrates.

Finally, Aristotle’s view is quite similar as he believed that happiness from materials was not true happiness but a very short termed feeling of joy that is dangerous if one focuses too much on objects. Also, he gathers that happiness from comparing oneself to others or being too- self absorbed is not a good way to obtain happiness and can even lead to the point of someone feeling worthless. On the other hand, Aristotle also thinks that one can be happy from serving others by giving. Aristotle considers that happiness comes from giving because humans desire to connect with other people to form bonds and unite. The ultimate form of obtaining happiness in Aristotle’s opinion was by searching truth and perfection. Some examples of searching for truth include through religion, purpose and philosophy. Now that we understand the basics of how these two very important and famous philosophers viewed happiness, we can compare them to how today’s society view on happiness has changed. There was a study conducted in 1938 where a large group of people were asked to write down the answer to question, what is happiness and their responses were evaluated. Out of all the two hundred twenty six letters received, security, knowledge and religion were seen by participants as being the three most important characteristics of happiness. Another study was conducted in 2014 in order to compare the three major factors of happiness according to the people to the study from 1938. In the study of 2014, it was found that people still valued security as a contributor to happiness but instead of knowledge and religion, leisure and a good humour were the new top three answers to what is happiness? I believe nowadays many people associate money with happiness because money brings us stability, leisures, luxuries, entertainment and a sense of success but money and everything it comes with is not something that Socrates and Aristotle believed in. Yes, times have changed and so have people’s opinions and thoughts on what happiness really is. Therefore there are many aspects to the question of what the meaning of happiness is including science, history, the importance and philosophy but the question is still asked to this very day and will always be asked. What is happiness and has it changed?

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, best analysis: money and materialism in the great gatsby.

Book Guides

In The Great Gatsby , money is a huge motivator in the characters' relationships, motivations, and outcomes. Most of the characters reveal themselves to be highly materialistic, their motivations driven by their desire for money and things: Daisy marries and stays with Tom because of the lifestyle he can provide her, Myrtle has her affair with Tom due to the privileged world it grants her access to, and Gatsby even lusts after Daisy as if she is a prize to be won. After all, her voice is "full of money—that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. . . . High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl. . . ." (7.106).

So how exactly does materialism reveal itself as a theme, how can it help us analyze the characters, and what are some common assignments surrounding this theme? We will dig into all things money here in this guide.

Money and materialism in the plot Key quotes about money/materialism Analyzing characters via money/materialism Common assignments and analysis of money/materialism in Gatsby

Quick Note on Our Citations

Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby , so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book.

To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text.

Money and Materialism in The Great Gatsby

In the opening pages, Nick establishes himself as someone who has had many advantages in life —a wealthy family and an Ivy League education to name just two. Despite not being as wealthy as Tom and Daisy, his second cousin, they see him as enough of a peer to invite him to their home in Chapter 1 . Nick's connection to Daisy in turn makes him attractive to Gatsby. If Nick were just a middle-class everyman, the story could not play out in the same way.

Tom and Daisy 's movements are also supported by their money. At the beginning of the novel they move to fashionable East Egg, after moving around between "wherever people played polo and were rich together," and are able to very quickly pick up and leave at the end of the book after the murders, thanks to the protection their money provides (1.17). Daisy, for her part, only begins her affair with Gatsby after a very detailed display of his wealth (via the mansion tour). She even breaks down in tears after Gatsby shows off his ridiculously expensive set of colored shirts, crying that she's "never seen such beautiful shirts" before (5.118).

Gatsby 's notoriety comes from, first and foremost, his enormous wealth , wealth he has gathered to win over Daisy. Gatsby was born to poor farmer parents in North Dakota, but at 17, determined to become rich, struck out with the wealthy Dan Cody and never looked back (6.5-15). Even though he wasn't able to inherit any part of Cody's fortune, he used what he learned of wealthy society to first charm Daisy before shipping out to WWI. (In a uniform she had no idea he was poor, especially given his sophisticated manners). Then, after returning home and realizing Daisy was married and gone, he set out to earn enough money to win Daisy over, turning to crime via a partnership with Meyer Wolfshiem to quickly amass wealth (9.83-7).

Meanwhile, Tom's mistress Myrtle , a car mechanic's wife, puts on airs and tries to pass as rich through her affair with Tom, but her involvement with the Buchanans gets her killed. George Wilson , in contrast, is constrained by his lack of wealth. He tells Tom Buchanan after finding out about Myrtle's affair that he plans to move her West, but he "[needs] money pretty bad" in order to make the move (7.146). Tragically, Myrtle is hit and killed that evening by Daisy. If George Wilson had had the means, he likely would have already left New York with Myrtle in tow, saving both of their lives.

Hardly anyone shows up to Gatsby's funeral since they were only attracted by his wealth and the parties, not the man himself. This is encapsulated in a phone call Nick describes, to a man who used to come to Gatsby's parties: "one gentleman to whom I telephoned implied that he had got what he deserved. However, that was my fault, for he was one of those who used to sneer most bitterly at Gatsby on the courage of Gatsby's liquor and I should have known better than to call him" (9.69).

In short, money both drives the plot and explains many of the characters' motivations and limitations.

Key Quotes About Money

Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I must have you!"

—THOMAS PARKE D'INVILLIERS

The epigraph of the novel immediately marks money and materialism as a key theme of the book—the listener is implored to "wear the gold hat" as a way to impress his lover. In other words, wealth is presented as the key to love—such an important key that the word "gold" is repeated twice. It's not enough to "bounce high" for someone, to win them over with your charm. You need wealth, the more the better, to win over the object of your desire.

"They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together." (1.17)

Our introduction to Tom and Daisy immediately describes them as rich, bored, and privileged. Tom's restlessness is likely one motivator for his affairs, while Daisy is weighed down by the knowledge of those affairs. This combination of restlessness and resentment puts them on the path to the tragedy at the end of the book.

"There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before…." (3.1-3.6)

The description of Gatsby's parties at the beginning of Chapter 3 is long and incredibly detailed, and thus it highlights the extraordinary extent of Gatsby's wealth and materialism. In contrast to Tom and Daisy's expensive but not overly gaudy mansion , and the small dinner party Nick attends there in Chapter 1 , everything about Gatsby's new wealth is over-the-top and showy, from the crates of oranges brought in and juiced one-by-one by a butler to the full orchestra.

Everyone who comes to the parties is attracted by Gatsby's money and wealth, making the culture of money-worship a society-wide trend in the novel, not just something our main characters fall victim to. After all, "People were not invited—they went there" (3.7). No one comes due to close personal friendship with Jay. Everyone is there for the spectacle alone.

He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher—shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange with monograms of Indian blue. Suddenly with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily.

"They're such beautiful shirts," she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. "It makes me sad because I've never seen such—such beautiful shirts before." (5.117-118)

Gatsby, like a peacock showing off its many-colored tail, flaunts his wealth to Daisy by showing off his many-colored shirts. And, fascinatingly, this is the first moment of the day Daisy fully breaks down emotionally—not when she first sees Gatsby, not after their first long conversation, not even at the initial sight of the mansion—but at this extremely conspicuous display of wealth. This speaks to her materialism and how, in her world, a certain amount of wealth is a barrier to entry for a relationship (friendship or more).

"She's got an indiscreet voice," I remarked. "It's full of——"

I hesitated.

"Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly.

That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money—that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. . . . High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl. . . . (7.103-106)

Daisy herself is explicitly connected with money here, which allows the reader to see Gatsby's desire for her as desire for wealth, money, and status more generally. So while Daisy is materialistic and is drawn to Gatsby again due to his newly-acquired wealth, we see Gatsby is drawn to her as well due to the money and status she represents.

I couldn't forgive him or like him but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. . . . (9.146)

Here, in the aftermath of the novel's carnage, Nick observes that while Myrtle, George, and Gatsby have all died, Tom and Daisy are not punished at all for their recklessness, they can simply retreat "back into their money or their vast carelessness… and let other people clean up the mess." So money here is more than just status—it's a shield against responsibility, which allows Tom and Daisy to behave recklessly while other characters suffer and die in pursuit of their dreams.

Analyzing Characters Through Materialism

We touched on this a bit with the quotes, but all of the characters can be analyzed from the point of view of their wealth and/or how materialistic they are. This analysis can enrich an essay about old money versus new money, the American dream , or even a more straightforward character analysis , or a comparison of two different characters . Mining the text for a character's attitude toward money can be a very helpful way to understand their motivations in the world of 1920s New York.

If you analyze a character through this theme, make sure to explain:

#1 : Their attitude towards money.

#2 : How money/materialism drives their choices in the novel.

#3 : How their final outcome is shaped by their wealth status and what that says about their place in the world.

Character Analysis Example

As an example, let's look briefly at Myrtle . We get our best look at Myrtle in Chapter 2 , when Tom takes Nick to see her in Queens and they end up going to the New York City apartment Tom keeps for Myrtle and hosting a small gathering (after Tom and Myrtle hook up, with Nick in the next room!).

Myrtle is obsessed with shows of wealth , from her outfits, to insisting on a specific cab, to her apartment's decoration, complete with scenes of Versailles on the overly-large furniture: "The living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles" (2.51). She even adopts a different persona among her guests : "The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected moment by moment and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through the smoky air" (2.56).

In Myrtle's eyes, money is an escape from life with her husband in the valley of ashes , something that brings status, and something that buys class. After all, Tom's money secures her fancy apartment and allows her to lord it over her guests and play at sophistication, even while Nick looks down his nose at her.

Obviously there is physical chemistry driving her affair with Tom, but she seems to get as much (if not more) pleasure from the materials that come with the affair—the apartment, the clothes, the dog, the parties. So she keeps up this affair, despite how morally questionable it is and the risk it opens up for her—her materialism, in other words, is her primary motivator.

However, despite her airs, she matters very little to the "old money" crowd, as cruelly evidenced first when Tom breaks her nose with a "short deft movement" (2.126), and later, when Daisy chooses to run her over rather than get into a car accident. Myrtle's character reveals how precarious social climbing is, how materialism is not actually a path to happiness/virtue.

Common Assignments and Discussion Topics About Money and Materialism in The Great Gatsby

Here are ways to think about frequently assigned topics on this the theme of money and materialism.

Discuss Tom & Daisy as people who "smash things and retreat into their money"

As discussed above, money—and specifically having inherited money—not only guarantees a certain social class, it guarantees safety and privilege : Tom and Daisy can literally live by different rules than other, less-wealthy people. While Gatsby, Myrtle, and George all end up dead, Tom and Daisy get to skip town and avoid any consequences, despite their direct involvement.

For this prompt, you can explore earlier examples of Tom's carelessness (breaking Myrtle's nose, his behavior in the hotel scene, letting Daisy and Gatsby drive back to Long Island after the fight in the hotel) as well as Daisy's (throwing a fit just before her wedding but going through with it, kissing Gatsby with her husband in the next room). Show how each instance reveals Tom or Daisy's carelessness, and how those instances thus foreshadow the bigger tragedy—Myrtle's death at Daisy's hands, followed by Tom's manipulation of George to kill Gatsby.

You can also compare Tom and Daisy's actions and outcomes to other characters to help make your point—Myrtle and Gatsby both contribute to the conflict by participating in affairs with Tom and Daisy, but obviously, Myrtle and Gatsby don't get to "retreat into their money," they both end up dead. Clearly, having old money sets you far apart from everyone else in the world of the novel.

What do Nick's comments about money reveal about his attitude towards wealth?

This is an interesting prompt, since you have to comb through passages of Nick's narration to find his comments about money, and then consider what they could mean, given that he comes from money himself.

To get you started, here is a sample of some of Nick's comments on money and the wealthy, though there are certainly more to be found:

"Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn." (1.4)

"My own house was an eye-sore, but it was a small eye-sore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires—all for eighty dollars a month. (1.14)

Nick's comments about money, especially in the first chapter, are mostly critical and cynical. First of all, he makes it clear that he has "an unaffected scorn" for the ultra-rich, and eyes both new money and old money critically. He sarcastically describes the "consoling proximity of millionaires" on West Egg and wryly observes Tom and Daisy's restless entitlement on East Egg.

These comments might seem a bit odd, given that Nick admits to coming from money himself: "My family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this middle-western city for three generations" (1.5). However, while Nick is wealthy, he is nowhere near as wealthy as the Buchanans or Gatsby—he expresses surprise both that Tom is able to afford bringing ponies from Lake Forest ("It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that" (1.16), and that Gatsby was able to buy his own mansion ("But young men didn't—at least in my provincial inexperience I believed they didn't—drift coolly out of nowhere and buy a palace on Long Island Sound" (3.88)), despite the fact they are all about 30 years old.

In other words, while he opens the book with his father's advice to remember "all the advantages [he's] had," Nick seems to have a chip on his shoulder about still not being in the highest tier of the wealthy class . While he can observe the social movements of the wealthy with razor precision, he always comes off as wry, detached, and perhaps even bitter. Perhaps this attitude was tempered at Yale, where he would have been surrounded by other ultra-wealthy peers, but in any case, Nick's cynical, sarcastic attitude seems to be a cover for jealousy and resentment for those even more wealthy than him.

Why does Gatsby say Daisy's voice is "full of money"? What does it reveal about the characters' values?

Gatsby's comment about Daisy's voice explicitly connects Daisy the character to the promise of wealth, old money, and even the American Dream . Furthermore, the rest of that quote explicitly describes Daisy as "High in a white palace, the King's daughter, the golden girl…" (7.106). This makes Daisy sound like the princess that the hero gets to marry at the end of a fairy tale—in other words, she's a high-value prize .

Daisy representing money also suggests money is as alluring and desirable—or even more so—than Daisy herself. In fact, during Chapter 8 when we finally get a fuller recap of Daisy and Gatsby's early relationship, Nick notes that "It excited [Gatsby] too that many men had already loved Daisy—it increased her value in his eyes" (8.10). In other words, Gatsby loves Daisy's "value" as an in-demand product .

But since Daisy is flighty and inconsistent, Gatsby's comment also suggests that wealth is similarly unstable. But that knowledge doesn't dampen his pursuit of wealth—if anything, it makes it even more desirable. And since Gatsby doesn't give up his dream, even into death, we can see how fervently he desires money and status.

Connecting new/old money and materialism to the American dream

In the world of The Great Gatsby , the American Dream is synonymous with money and status —not so much success, career (does anyone but Nick and George even have a real job?), happiness, or family. But even Gatsby, who makes an incredible amount of money in a short time, is not allowed access into the upper echelon of society, and loses everything in trying to climb that final, precarious rung of the ladder, as represented by Daisy.

So the American Dream, which in the first half of the book seems attainable based on Gatsby's wealth and success, reveals itself to be a hollow goal. After all, if even wealth on the scale of Gatsby's can't buy you entry into America's highest social class, what can? What's the point of striving so hard if only heartbreak and death are waiting at the end of the road?

This pessimism is also reflected in the fates of Myrtle and George, who are both trying to increase their wealth and status in America, but end up dead by the end of the novel. You can read more about the American Dream for details on The Great Gatsby 's ultimately skeptical, cynical attitude towards this classic American ideal.

Connecting money to the status of women

Daisy and Jordan are both old money socialites, while Myrtle is a working class woman married to a mechanic. You can thus compare three very different women's experiences to explore how money—or a lack thereof—seems to change the possibilities in a woman's life in early 1920s America.

Daisy maintains her "old money" status by marrying a very rich man, Tom Buchanan, and ultimately sticks with him despite her feelings for Gatsby. Daisy's decision illustrates how few choices many women had during that time—specifically, that marrying and having children was seen as the main role any woman, but especially a wealthy woman, should fulfill. And furthermore, Daisy's willingness to stay with Tom despite his affairs underscores another aspect of women's roles during the 1920s: that divorce was still very uncommon and controversial.

Jordan temporarily flouts expectations by ""[running] around the country," (1.134) playing golf, and not being in a hurry to marry—a freedom that she is allowed because of her money, not in spite of it. Furthermore, she banks on her place as a wealthy woman to avoid any major scrutiny, despite her "incurable dishonesty": "Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever shrewd men and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible. She was incurably dishonest. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage, and given this unwillingness I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young" (3.160). Furthermore, by the end of the novel she claims to be engaged, meaning that like Daisy, she's ultimately chosen to live within the lines society has given her. (Even if she's not actually engaged, the fact she chooses to tell Nick that suggests she does see engagement as her end goal in life.)

Myrtle feels trapped in her marriage, which pushes her into her affair with Tom Buchanan, an affair which grants her access to a world—New York City, wealth, parties—she might not otherwise have access to. However, jumping up beyond her roots, using Tom's money, is ultimately unsustainable—her husband finds out and threatens to move out west, and then of course she is killed by Daisy before they can make that move. Myrtle—both working class and a woman—is thus trapped between a rock (her gender) and a hard place (her lack of money), and perhaps for this reason receives the cruelest treatment of all.

So all three women push the boundaries of their expected societal roles—Daisy's affair with Gatsby, Jordan's independent lifestyle, and Myrtle's affair with Tom—but ultimately either fall in line (Daisy, Jordan) or are killed for reaching too far (Myrtle). So Gatsby ultimately provides a pretty harsh, pessimistic view of women's roles in 1920s America.

What's Next?

In The Great Gatsby, money is central to the idea of the American Dream. Read more about how the American Dream is treated in The Great Gatsby and whether the novel is ultimately optimistic or pessimistic about the dream.

Money (or the lack of it!) is also why the novel's symbols of the green light and the valley of ashes are so memorable and charged. Read more about those symbols for a fuller understanding of how money affects The Great Gatsby.

Want the complete lowdown on Jay Gatsby's rags-to-riches story? Check out our guide to Jay Gatsby for the complete story.

Thinking about indulging in a little materialism yourself alà Gatsby? We've compiled a list of 15 must-have items for fans of The Great Gatbsy book and movie adaptations .

Looking for other literary guides? Learn more about The Crucible , The Cask of Amontillado , and " Do not go gentle into that good night " with our expert analyses.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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