Where does materialism root from, why is it harmful to an individuals

well-being and what insights can Buddhism provide as an alternative to

this unhealthy lifestyle?

Carrie Kuhns

Senior Project Advisor: Libby Cowles

12th Grade Humanities

Animas High School
February 27th 2016
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Part I: Introduction

Youre not your job. Youre not how much money you have in the bank. Youre not the

car you drive. Youre not the contents of your wallet. Youre not your f*cking khakis. Youre the

all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world. Tyler Durdens famous line in the 1999 hit film

Fight Club may sound a little extreme, but in twenty-first century America, a bulk of the

population has compressed their entire existence into their material belongings. Brad Pitt plays

the radical, minimalist named Tyler, and preaches non-materialistic and non-consumerist views

to men who work full time desk jobs to achieve a superficial, material lifestyle. Although this

movie is a piece of fiction, it has revealed a very non-fictional problem in the shopping aisles in

America. To provide an example of exactly how serious materialism and consumerism is, type

into Google, Black Friday Death Count. Since the first Black Friday in 1952, there have been

10 individuals who have lost their lives and more than 100 that have been injured (Blake).

People have been shot, stabbed and beaten to death over objects. These diabolical acts serve to

show exactly how harmful the materialistic lifestyle can be. Even further, statistics on American

consumption show that: more money is spent on fashion accessories than college tuition, and on

average, homes now contain more TVs than they do people, and lastly, despite making up just

over 3% of the global population of children, American kids consume 40% of the worlds toys

(Carey). The desire for goods has become an obsession and consequently, a way of life.

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While having material possessions is normal and is on a surface level, unharmful,

something happens along the line when our emotions and feelings become so connected to the

material item that it inevitably changes the way we think and the way we live. When we become

obsessed with the way material items make us feel and it emotionally cripples us. Even though

the word materialism is muffled in our consumerist society, the definition only grows stronger.

Materialism is the importance one attaches to worldly possessions and the belief that acquisition

of material possessions is the ultimate source of happiness and life satisfaction (Ahuvia &

Wong, Belk, Richins & Dawson , Richins & Rudmin, Sirgy). Peoples constant desire to attach

meaning to their personal belongings, has proven in a myriad of studies to be directly linked to

negative and harmful emotions and also a loss of social connection. (Lee & Ahn

18-42)(Goldsmith & Clark 43-50). People who strive for happiness with the constant acquisition

of materials, are only setting themselves up for dissatisfaction.

It doesnt have to be this way, although the goods life is addictive there are other, and

better ways to reach a life of satisfaction. For the people who recognize that their desire for

materials is negatively affecting their lives, beliefs in Buddhism, a religion based upon

eliminating mans suffering, provide insight about humanity's materialistic tendencies and yields

solutions through practice. A majority of the population has already accepted Buddhism into the

mainstream. Practices such as yoga, meditation and mindfulness are sweeping throughout the

country, so replacing consumerist tendencies with Buddhist practices isnt completely out of the

question. Thorough studies on well being have produced findings that either relate directly or run

parallel to Buddhist ideals. In order to combat the negative effects of Americas growing

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materialistic population, a lucrative method would be infiltrating Buddhist ideals into American

individuals daily lives.

Part II: Historical Context

Did you know that there are 300,000 items in the average American home? (Taylor) Or

that there are an average of 12.7 credit cards per household? (Taylor) We live in a world where

shopping is seen as an enjoyable pastime . How have we gotten here? How did we transform

from a group built on cooperation with nature, into such money hungry individuals? Since the

Stone Age, humans primary struggle has been scarcity. The shortage of such basic needs drives

the desire to beat natures design, to overcome scarcity, and to live in luxury. The urge to

consume beyond our basic needs became the new survival instinct after the Stone Age. As

material goods became more and more plentiful, social classes became more developed around

the agricultural revolution when nomads began settling (Diamond 1). With such inequality

forming, more power came more wealth and more material goods, therefore to be seen as

flourishingly surviving, material goods became a symbolization of a satisfying life.

In 1776, the country America was born. During the early ages of America, the American

dream arose. It is the idea that individuals can achieve a life filled with luxury if they work hard

and contribute to Americas economic system, and back then, it was a necessary ploy in order to

build a countrys economy from the ground up. Adam Smith coined this idea when he wrote his

book The Wealth of Nations in 1776. It served to persuade individuals to be pursue their own

wealth for the greater good of the country and the materials that they acquired along the way

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would pave the way to happiness. In retrospect, this economic boom during the industrial

revolution, worked for the benefit for the country, but not for the individual. The false promise of

life satisfaction from material goods may have gotten people out of poverty but once someone

has met their basic needs, the pursuit of happiness has almost nothing to do with the amount of

possessions their wealth allows them to have.

At the same time until about 1840 the Industrial Revolution arrived and thrived. This

consumer driven movement maximized production with the transition to new manufacturing

processes such as going from hand production methods to machines. The Industrial Revolution

marked a major turning point in the history of materialism. Almost every aspect of daily life was

influenced in some way. In particular, average income and population began to show sustained

growth. Economists say that the major impact of the Industrial Revolution was that the standard

of living for the general population began to increase consistently for the first time in history.

Thus inviting even more consumption.

Throughout the history of the US there are obvious key events that lead to more and more

consumption. The Great Depression and World War II invited an even higher standard of living.

Around the 1950s the white picket fence ideal, a huge symbol of the American Dream, hit every

city in America. The ability to be able to buy a 4 bedroom house with a white picket fence and a

two car garage was the image that gave people the happy rush of buying the new fad, so they

kept on consuming (Heinberg). Advertisements arose in the 1880s. Industries ranging from soap

to canned food to cigarettes introduced new production techniques, created standardized products

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in unheard-of quantities, and sought to find and persuade buyers. On March 25, 1925 the

television was invented. TV made it easier than ever to advertise and commercialize and yet

again, consumerism increased even more (Heinberg). Finally from 2001 to today in 2017, social

media has been one of the biggest advertising tool and is owned by 78% of Americans

(Heinberg). The standard of living has never been higher and consumption continues to rise.

Today Americans are surrounded by advertisements promoting materials by saying: this

product will make you happier, and this other item will give you a better status. Some people

think that having an iPhone will make them happier, that it is a symbol of superiority. Americans

often chase that elusive state called happiness with the same aggressive energy we use to

compete in the marketplace, buying the latest flat-screen TV or a custom sports car for an

all-too-fleeting moment of bliss. The appetite for wealth and material goods isn't driven by

hardship, but by inner discontent. The people of the United States believe that they can buy their

way to happiness, that wealth is the path to permanent fulfilment and well-being. They measure

success in terms of the quality and price of the material goods they can buy, or in the size of

their salaries.

Traveling backward through many centuries, Buddha himself explains in the Four Noble

Truths, that one of the primary causes of suffering is attachment (Bodhi). As he pointed out

more than 2500 years ago, satisfying the boundless desires cannot attain true happiness.

Therefore, economic development must consider and include reduction of poverty and wealth

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inequality first, before true economic growth can prevail for all those in society. The potential is

there for us all.

In the East, historically, it has been tradition for householders to support wandering

monks, mendicants, ascetics, and other traveling holy men. It was completely possible for

these men to survive owning nothing but the clothes on their backs, and in some regions, even

clothing was an option. With modern society in Western countries, this lifestyle just doesnt

work well anymore. Generally speaking, we dont look at homeless people as holy men, often

its quite the opposite.

Buddhism has always had the ability to take humans back to their roots and unchain them

from the shackles of corporate influence. It has given people a sense of what is really important.

Part III: Research and analysis

Why are Americans so Materialistic?

It is a well known statement that money doesnt buy happiness. So then what causes

people to be so materialistic?. Many economists and politicians believe that acquisitiveness, the

impulse to buy and possess things, is natural to human beings.(Taylor). However other

scientists and psychologists believe that there are holes in this theory and that acquisitiveness is

best understood in psychological terms and that materialism is a reaction to inner discontent. As

human beings' it's normal to experience an psychological discord, caused by the incessant jargon

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in the mind, which creates a disruption inside, and often triggers negative thoughts (Taylor).

Another source of psychological discord is the strong sense of separateness many people feel, the

sense of being isolated individuals living in a world which is out there. These individuals look

to external things to try to alleviate their inner discontent (Taylor).

Branching off from the vague description of individual discontent, scientists have

succeedingly separated the desire for material goods into two basic concepts. One of the two

reasons that have been presented, is that the acquisition of materials is an investment in the

pursuit of happiness. It is clear that in this capitalist country, the main goal of consumption is

happiness (Lee & Ahn 18). This is an interesting concept because all of the studies come to show

that consumption is in fact directly related to diminished well-being. Consequently, a trait found

in more materialistic people is that they see happiness as something that resides in the future that

can be obtained like a goal, while opposingly, non-materialistic people see happiness as a state of

being (Williams S269). Consumerism might be good for the economy, but not for the individual.

The pursuit of happiness through material goods is simply not the path to happiness.

The other reason behind materialism is the ability to express maintain and signal ones

self concept to others (Chaplin & John 480). To get a better idea of materialism and symbolism,

one study has been done collected on children and teens. The studies conclude that self esteem is

essentially the main factor in materialism. In the study done by Lan Nguyen Chaplin and

Deborah Roedder John, they examined age differences in materialism with children and

adolescents 8-18 years old. In study 1, Chaplin and John found that the link between self esteem

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and material goods was particularly strong at certain ages. Materialism increases from middle

childhood to early adolescence and declines from early to late adolescence (Chaplin & John

482). Furthermore they found that age differences are mediated by changes in self esteem

occurring from middle childhood through adolescence. In study 2, they prime self esteem to

obtain further evidence of causal link between self esteem and materialism (488). As expected ,

they found that inducing high self esteem decreases expressions of materialism. Inducing high

self esteem reduces materialism among adolescents so dramatically that age differences in

materialism disappear (490).

Digging deeper into human psychology, there have been various attempts to measure

materialism by examining personality traits or attitudes. While many studies are problematic

because of the difficulty to measure materialism as a personality trait, there have also been very

successful studies proving the correlation between materialism and individual well being. One of

these studies focuses on the social context of consumption. As many consumers use goods to

express their personalities and to establish their social relationships, an online forum was ran by

Aaron Ahuvia and Nancy Wong from the University of Michigan ran an online forum searching

for a correlation between materialism and overall life satisfaction. The data was part of a larger

study conducted in a Midwestern university. Completed questionnaires were collected from 200

students (110 female). Subjects were seniors enrolled in the undergraduate marketing course.

Administered questionnaires were in scheduled group sessions in the fall semester of 1994.

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Ahuvia and Wong found that there is in fact a strong correlation between the two variables as

shown in Graph 1 (Ahuvia & Wong).

Graph 1

Consistent with past studies, there was a general negative relationship between life

satisfaction and materialism (graph 1). Not surprisingly, the material value scale was most

closely related, to satisfaction about level of income (r=-.34) and standard of living (r=-.33),

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although it was also notably related to satisfaction with friendships (r=-.16) and a general sense

of fun and enjoyment (r=-.14). This shows that material value is primarily associated with

unhappiness through its direct connection to material satisfaction, but it was not inconsistent with

the idea that materialists may neglect their social relationship and more intrinsically enjoyable

activities in favor of material acquisition. Looking at the material value subscales, the happiness

subscale, which measures the degree to which respondents believe that acquiring more stuff

would make them happy, is clearly the most closely associated with life dissatisfaction. The

belief that success in life can be measured by possessions is frequently related to life

dissatisfaction. But the connection between possessions playing a central role in one's life and

being dissatisfied with one's life is weak, although it is still significant for the scale as a whole.

Materialism and Well-Being

While most US citizens have been fed the idea that consuming goods will lead to a

satisfying and even a happy life from the ads that they are strategically exposed to, there is an

opposing factor. While consumerism supports Americas capitalist economy, a myriad of studies

have shown that, outside of poverty, acquiring goods does nothing to increase life satisfaction

and may very well diminish happiness in an individual (Ahuvia & Wong). With this information,

the questions are asked, Well how can that be? How does giving importance to my possessions

make me unhappy? While there a wide variety of answers, these four interpretations will cover

the basic objective.

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Consuming for status attracts the urge to display an individual's personality through the

things they own. First of all, materialism invites social comparison, and competition. Scientists

Goldsmith and Clark proclaim that, Material goods act as symbolic representations of the image

consumers have of themselves that they want to express to surrounding others. (Goldsmith &

Clark 44) Material goods can also signify membership and status. Consuming for status,

suggested by Eastman, Goldsmith & Flynn in 1999, can be defined as the motivational process

by which individuals strive to improve their social standing through the conspicuous

consumption of consumer products that confer and symbolize status both for the individual and

surrounding others. (Goldsmith & Clark 45). While the need to feel accepted is a trait in all

human beings, acceptance comes from connection and people seem to have the twisted version

that what you wear or what your car looks like makes you more well liked as a person. The truth

is that people are buying things they dont need to impress people that they dont like.

Along with this idea of social comparison,Human desire is an infinite feeling and

materials are finite. When people cannot afford their desires, there comes a strong feeling of

dissatisfaction because they are continually putting effort into spending their scarce earnings on

objects that never bring them the gratification they expect; but alas there is always something

more promising in the horizon. Meanwhile even consumers with a high income will face the hard

truth that money and wealth dont guarantee happiness. Due to their insatiable desire and

unrealistic expectations, materialistic individuals find it more difficult to be satisfied. Therefore,

even with an increased consumption, one may feel unhappy because one's aspirations are always

growing. (Goldsmith & Clark 44)

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Another component of negative well-being from materials, is it is solely an extrinsic

value. In many research studies across the world it is now completely know that extrinsic goals

contribute little to happiness and life satisfaction. Beyond the limitations of poverty, intrinsic

goals are essential to an individual's happiness. Studies have found that materialistic individuals

rely on factors outside of the individual, such as financial success and acquisition of possessions,

to achieve satisfaction and happiness (Lee & Ahn 22). The preoccupation with material goods

may lead to neglect other life domains such as social and interpersonal relationships. Overall the

desire for objects is universally seen as an extrinsic value. If it is life satisfaction that these

individuals are searching for, a bountiful amount of research credits intrinsic values such as

relationships with others, compassion, health, hobbies, and meaningful work, are all components

of happiness and a meaningful, satisfactory life. In the award winning film Happy, scientists,

religious figures, and common people come together to make a compelling story that explores

human happiness through interviews with people from all walks of life in 14 different countries.

They come to conclusion that intrinsic values have proven time and time again to improve an

individual's overall satisfaction in life (Belic).

Materialism also affects an individual's connections with others. Importance of

possessions ultimately leads to self centered traits such as selfishness, non generosity and envy

because having money oriented values makes a person focus ones own wealth and well-being

rather than on other peoples well being (Lee & Ahn 22). Therefore, because people do not want

to regard themselves as selfish, such incongruity may also lead to dissatisfaction and

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unhappiness. A lack of concern for others has also seemed to lead to loneliness, a large

depressive factor as well (Williams S268).

In congruence to the psychology of social connections, studies with materialism have

varied from country to age to social class but a journalist, Coren Apicella, takes things a step

further by studying the effects of endowment and materialism on a tribe in Tanzania. His

research shows that when given a object, a person is going to become attached to it and not want

to give it away. In capitalist societies a consumer's attachment to their objects drives the

economy. While in the Hadza tribe in Tanzania, people are so acclimated to having to give up

materials, they don't secure their emotions to the object. In fact they would often trade different

goods for the greater good of the community and so the tribe can become even more

interdependent. Apicella wrote People tend to hate to lose stuff they already own. This trait,

known as the endowment effect, is likely handed down to us by evolution, since it is visible

cross-culturally as well as in non-human primates. However, new research suggests certain

cultures place a brake on this evolutionary trait, whereas capitalistic societies put it on steroids.

This insight on the closest tribe to mirror early civilizations, serves to prove the fact that humans

arent born to love their objects at the rate that modern society does today. Apicella ends his

interview with this quote When you're on your deathbed, no one ever says, you know, I wish I

had that iPhone 5S or whatever it is. People talk about their social relationships and the things

that they wish they said to somebody, the things that they wish they did with somebody, and not

the material possessions. I think we're just becoming too attached to these, and we're placing too

much value on them. And that's part of the reason why, I think, we see the endowment effect..

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This entire study supports the concept that if humans truly want to be happy and satisfied, they

can learn from their roots that materials are a luxury, but they do not help focus on the intrinsic

values we need for fulfillment (Apicella & Siegle).

Buddhism and its Remedies for Materialistic People

Taking a step back, lets consider consumerism, which results from a materialistic

mindset. Modern economics measure the standard of living by the amount of annual

consumption. This assumes that a man who consumes more, is better off than one who

consumes less. Under this materialistic logic, consumption becomes the end goal and purpose of

all economic activity. The need for indulging human satisfaction sharpens the focus for

maximizing production and consumption. Such a belief generates maximum profit with

minimum cost and marketing and advertising ingrain the popular belief that happiness can only

be achieved from indulging ones desires in acquiring wealth and limitless commodities. Such

distorted views lead to suffering in man and hoarding of wealth in order to satisfy the limitless

desires (Bodhi 16-18).

From that last thought, we can transfer into Buddhism. In Buddhism, wealth itself is not

evil, but mans endless craving for wealth is the issue at hand. While a materialistic person is

mainly interested in accumulating goods, a practicing Buddhist is mainly interested in liberation.

Contentment is truly of great wealth. And wisdom is better than wealth as it leads to the highest

goal in this life (Wayment,Wiist, Sullivan & Warren 586).

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According to the Buddhist point of view, consumption is simply a means to promote

human well-being. However when one indulges for the purpose of feeding desires, this can lead

to an increase in suffering. Such process is described by Bhikkhu Bodhi (18-19): ignorance

infiltrates our cognitive systems; it issues in a series of distortions (vipallsa) which infect our

perception (saa), thinking (citta), and views (dihi). The Buddha mentions four such distortions:

the notions that impermanent is permanent, that the painful is pleasant; that the insubstantial is a

self, and that the unbeautiful is beautiful. Finally, we adopt views that affirm the mistaken

notions of permanence, pleasure, selfhood, and beauty.(Buddha).

For instance, if you type in the question Who is the happiest man on earth? on the

internet, Matthieu Ricards name and smiling face appear at the top of the page. Matthieu is a

tibetan buddhist monk and has granted a neuroscientist from the University of Wisconsin,

Richard Davidson to perform a 12 year study on his brain on meditation and compassion.

Research has been conducted on multiple Buddhist monks and their brains in an attempt to

ascertain what specifically makes them happier than the average person. The scans showed that

when meditating on compassion, Ricards brain produces a level of gamma waves, those linked

to consciousness, attention, learning and memory Davidson said. The scans also showed

excessive activity in his brains left prefrontal cortex compared to its right counterpart, allowing

him an abnormally large capacity for happiness and a reduced tendency towards negativity

(Addley).

Aside from the supernatural beings and miraculous powers residing in buddhist text, the

average American would benefit from the teachings of Buddha. The book Buddhas Brain by

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Rick Hanson, PH.D and Richard Mendius, MD, discuss how combining breakthroughs in

neuroscience with insights from thousands of years of contemplative practice, can offer an

individual the use of their mind to shape their brain for greater happiness (Hanson & Mendius).

A large fraction of Buddhist practice is mindfulness. Mindfulness means being fully

aware of something, in the moment with it, and not judging or resisting it. Mindfulness

meditation is a contemplative practice that activates multiple pathways in the brain which allows

the meditator to withdraw their attention from stressful matters, relaxing and bring awareness

into the body (85). Even among novices, brief mindful meditation interventions produce

increased positive affect, better immune system responses, and better psychological responses to

stress and negative emotions. Mindfulness training has also been shown to improve ones social

relationships (85).

On another note, compassion is a popular technique for self love in Buddhism.

Compassion can be defined as the emotion one experiences when feeling concern for another's

suffering and desiring to enhance that individual's welfare Essentially, they observed that

compassion training compared with memory training: 1) increased positive affect, even in

response to others suffering, and 2) was associated with stronger activations in a specific neural

network. The results suggest that compassion training can serve as a new, powerful method for

enhancing positive affect in response to adverse situations (Klimecki).

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With the implementation of these practices a materialistic individual can shift their focus

from their exterior image to their internal values. Practices such as meditation, mindfulness, and

compassion have such powerful and positive effects on the human brain almost the opposite

effect that materialistic personalities have on the mentality of an individual.

Part IV: Conclusion

Existing scientific research on the value of materialism yields clear and consistent

findings. People who are more focused on materialistic values have lower personal well beings

and psychological health than those who believe materialistic pursuits are relatively unimportant.

These relationships have been documented in samples of people ranging from the wealthy to the

poor, from teenagers to the elderly, from the Australians to the South Koreans. These studies

document that strong materialistic values are associated with a pervasive undermining of

people's well-being , from low life satisfaction and happiness, to depression and anxiety, to

physical problems such as headaches and to personality disorders, narcissism and antisocial

behavior.

With the integration of Buddhist practices such as meditation, compassion, and many

others, materialistic people who are willing to change their lifestyle might find some refuge. His

Holiness the Dalai Lama, a prodigious religious figure in Buddhism, quotes I believe that the

very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment.

Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on

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external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace. When humans across the globe,

not only in America, can focus on intrinsic values before their extrinsic values, I believe we will

start to see a shift in widespread happiness. In the meantime, because happiness is a goal every

single person can admit they have and it will become a solid foundation for those who embrace

the importance of their intrinsic values, we will start to see a change in other matters as well.

Its important to understand that no one is saying that owning things is bad. The problem

lies in your attachment to the superficial feeling that the material gives you. So if you catch

yourself in this materialistic trap, if you find yourself valuing your materials more that the people

around you, or if you are so focused on the future that you cannot live in the now, there is a way

out. By letting go of status and a future goal of happiness, start living for experiences right now

and start loving the people around you.

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