The Harmful Impact of Materialism

I found an interesting article about materialism, since the holiday season is upon us please remember what the holiday represents, and what it does not represent- materialism.  Many advertisers would make you think its all about the things you purchase but remember it really is about love this season!!!!

The Harmful Impact of Materialism


In 2002, Psychologist Tim Kasser published a book called The High Price of Materialism that goes to great lengths to lay out the relationship between unhappiness and materialism. What he found may surprise you.
There is a strong positive correlation between materialism and several mental and physical maladies. In other words, people who pursue money and things at the expense of relationships and other meaningful endeavors are more likely to suffer from these 19 problems:

1. Unhappiness
2. Envy and jealousy
3. Depression
4. Social anxiety
5. Passive-aggressiveness
6. Short attention span
7. Poor impulse control
8. Feelings of being controlled
9. Mistrust of others
10. Tendency to treat others as objects for personal gain
11. Shorter, more conflicted relationships
12. Feelings of social alienation
13. Less desire for equality
14. Less generosity
15. Narcissism
16. Substance abuse
17. Poor self-actualization
18. Less enjoyment of daily activities
19. Poor physical health

Of course, correlation does not imply causation (let’s be clear on that point), but the correlation is real nonetheless, and it’s easy to see how materialism does more to perpetuate than remediate the problems in that list.