Researchers have found that low self-esteem and materialism are not just a correlation, but also a causal relationship where low self esteem increases materialism, and materialism can also create low self-esteem. The also found that as self esteem increases, materialism decreases. The study primarily focused on how this relationship affects children and adolescents. Lan Nguyen Chaplin (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and Deborah Roedder John (University of Minnesota) found that even a simple gesture to raise self-esteem dramatically decreased materialism, which provides a way to cope with insecurity.
Not for nothing is Sociology dismissed by some as "the science of pointing out the obvious." Anybody who hadn't already seen the link between conspicuous consumption and low self esteem raise your hand...
I think we all know people in our lives who fit this pattern, who fill their empty lives with consumer goods, and their empty heads with celebrity gossip. The people I know who are like this also all seem to take a triffecta by also having substance abuse and/or eating disorders to boot. Inevitably, they never quite understand why they're still unhappy.
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