To be honest, I'm passing this along because it fits my world view pretty precisely, which is that people buy things that meet their preferences. From Slate's Gretchen Rubin on the Happiness Project:
So I’ve always been interested in this topic. But it seems to me that a lot of behavior that people consider “materialistic” is actually motivated not by a wish to boost self-esteem through stuff or to show off possessions to other people – in a “Keep up with the Joneses” kind of way – but by other reasons.
For example, take the guy who always buys the latest tech gadget – not from a desire to show that he can afford the most expensive new device, but to feed his fascination with technology, and perhaps also to maintain his reputation as a maven, the person to whom everyone can go for advice.
Take the couple who constantly renovate their house by adding a deck, adding a garden, putting in a new kitchen – not to show off to the neighbors, but as a way to get an atmosphere of growth in their lives. They see their house getting nicer, and that gives them satisfaction.
Take the person who buys beautiful furniture. My mother, who has a tremendous appreciation for objects and a huge amount of expertise on what gives objects quality, would appreciate and acquire beautiful furniture even if she were the last person on earth.
Clothes are puzzle. Some people appreciate beautiful clothes for their own sake; it’s not all about making a display for other people, though that’s part of it, too. Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary: “I must remember to write about my clothes next time I have an impulse to write. My love of clothes interests me profoundly; only it is not love; and what it is I must discover.” Is this materialistic?
For better or worse, buying things is a way to engage with them and with the world. If you’re interested in a certain kind of object, you often express that interest by researching, shopping, and buying it. People who can’t afford art go to museums, but when people who like art can afford it, they usually want to buy art, too. People who love to cook want to buy elaborate tools and ingredients. People who love music want to buy music.
2 comments:
Perhaps I shouldn't be so skeptical of something I've spent so little time trying to understand, but I think the happiness research of recent years is complete horsefeathers. Wasn't there something about interpersonal utility comparisons in grad micro (if not before)?
The reason anti-capitalist economists like Robert Frank and his ilk have resorted to "happiness" research is precisely because Samuelsonian "utility" research (and its mutant offspring, the "social welfare function") have pretty much been finally debunked by the twin prongs of (1) the impossibility of interpersonal utility comparisons and (2) the Arrow Impossibility Theorem.
Now, with "happiness research," they're not even pretending that their work isn't pure econo-alchemy anymore.
Quite pitiful, actually.
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