Consumer Culture, Identity and Well-Being: The Search for the 'Good Life' and the 'Body Perfect' (European Monographs in Social Psychology) PDF
Preview Consumer Culture, Identity and Well-Being: The Search for the 'Good Life' and the 'Body Perfect' (European Monographs in Social Psychology)
Consumer Culture, Identity and Well-Being European Monographs in Social Psychology Sponsored by the European Association of Experimental Psychology Series Editor: Professor Rupert Brown, Department of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NP The aim of this series is to publish and promote the highest quality of writing in European social psychology. The editor and the editorial board encourage publica- tions which approach social psychology from a wide range of theoretical perspectives and whose content may be applied, theoretical or empirical. The authors of books in this series should be affiliated to institutions that are located in countries which would qualify for membership of the Association. All books will be published in English, and translations from other European languages are welcomed. Please submit ideas and proposals for books in the series to Rupert Brown at the above address. Published The Quantitative Analysis of Social Representations Willem Doise, Alain Clemence, and Fabio Lorenzi-Cioldi A Radical Dissonance Theory Jean-Léon Beauvois and Robert-Vincent Joule The Social Psychology of Collective Action Caroline Kelly and Sara Breinlinger Social Context and Cognitive Performance Jean-Marc Monteil and Pascal Huguet Conflict and Decision-Making in Close Relationships Erich Kirchler, Christa Rodler, Erik Hölzl, and Katja Meier Stereotyping as Inductive Hypothesis Testing Klaus Fiedler and Eva W alther Intergroup Relations in States of the Former Soviet Union Louk Hagendoorn, Hub Linssen, and Sergei Tumanov The Social Psychology of Ethnic Identity Maykel Verkuyten Consumer Culture, Identity and Well-Being Helga Dittmar Forthcoming Title The Passionate Intersection of Desire and Knowledge Gregory Maio Consumer Culture, Identity and Well-Being The Search for the “Good Life” and the “Body Perfect” Helga Dittmar With contributions from Emma Halliwell, Robin Banerjee, Ragna Garðarsdóttir and Judita Jankovic´ To the family who are closest to my heart, both young—Ben, Eric, Lars, Marius, Michelle, Molly, Patrick—and young at heart—Margot, Rod, and Steffi First published 2008 by Psychology Press 27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Psychology Press 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Psychology Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business © 2008 Psychology Press Cover design by Design Deluxe All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The publication has been produced with paper manufactured to strict environmental standards and with pulp derived from sustainable forests. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dittmar, Helga. Consumer culture, identity and well-being : the search for the ‘good life’ and the ‘body perfect’ / Helga Dittmar ; with contributions from Emma Halliwell ... [et al.]. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-84169-608-9 (hardcover) 1. Consumption (Economics)—Psychological aspects. 2. Acquisitiveness. 3. Identity (Psychology). 4. Well-being. 5. Social values. I. Title. HC79.C6D58 2007 306.3—dc22 2007003275 ISBN 0-203-49630-2 Master e-book ISBN ISBN: 978-1-84169-608-9 (Print Edition) Contents Author and contributors xi List of illustrations xiii List of figures xiv List of tables xvi Acknowledgements xvii 1 Understanding the impact of consumer culture 1 HELGA DITTMAR Overview of the core research chapters 3 Core constructs: Consumer culture, identity, and well-being 5 Mass consumer society: Economic–structural, socio- cultural, and psychological transformations 10 Consumer culture ideals and their indirect effects on individuals 12 The psychological impact of consumer culture on identity and well-being 17 2 To have is to be? Psychological functions of material possessions 25 HELGA DITTMAR Parts of the self 29 Instruments of control 32 Symbols of personal and social identity 34 Identity-related differences in functions of possessions 42 Conclusion 48 viii Contents 3 Consuming passions? Psychological motives for buying consumer goods 49 HELGA DITTMAR From shopper typologies to buying motives 51 Buying motives and gender 53 Impulse buying: When passion takes over deliberation 54 The internet as a contemporary buying environment 56 Buying motive research with young consumers in the UK 59 Conclusion 69 4 Is this as good as it gets? Materialistic values and well-being 71 RAGNA GARðARSDÓTTIR, JUDITA JANKOVIC´ & HELGA DITTMAR Well-being and subjective well-being 73 What is materialism? Definitions and measurements 74 The dark side of materialism 77 Value conflict 79 Money-making motives and income 84 Conclusion and implications 92 5 I shop therefore I am? Compulsive buying and identity seeking 95 HELGA DITTMAR What is “compulsive buying”? Minority pathology or mass problem? 97 Psychiatric disorder or identity seeking? 101 Materialism and compulsive buying 105 The quest for a more ideal self 111 Compulsive buying tendency on the internet 115 Conclusion and future trends 119 6 Does size matter? The impact of ultra-thin media models on women’s body image and on advertising effectiveness 121 EMMA HALLIWELL & HELGA DITTMAR Does thinness sell? 123 The psychological impact of thin media images on women 124 Does size matter? A series of experimental exposure studies 128 Conclusion 143 Contents ix 7 Think “ideal” and feel bad? Using self-discrepancies to understand negative media effects 147 HELGA DITTMAR & EMMA HALLIWELL Self-discrepancies, body image, and media exposure 149 When women think “thin” and feel bad 156 When men think “muscular” and feel bad 162 Conclusion and future research 171 8 What is beautiful and who is “cool”? Consumer culture and socialisation 173 ROBIN BANERJEE & HELGA DITTMAR Socialising body and material ideals 176 The thin beauty ideal, dolls, and young girls’ body image 179 Materialism and peer relations in children 187 Conclusions and future research 195 9 What is the price of consumer culture? Consequences, implications, and the cage within 199 HELGA DITTMAR The evidence: Consequences of consumer culture 200 Implications for interventions 207 Consumer culture as a “cage within” 212 Summing up and looking ahead 220 References 223 Notes 249 Author index 251 Subject index 259
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