Reducing Materialism via Awe
Be part of something big
by
Dianne Hordijk
RESEARCH PAPER FOR PRE-MSC MARKETING University of Groningen
Abstract
Past research in the psychology field found that materialism causes diminished well-being. However, little research has been done to investigate how to reduce materialism to avoid this effect. In this study, we examined if a decrease in materialism can be caused by experiencing awe. We elicited awe by letting participants watch a video of awesome nature. We then compared the effects on emotions and on the level of materialism with participants that saw an amusement or neutral video. Our analyses revealed that the experience of awe significantly causes greater feelings of smallness and self-diminishment compared to the other conditions, though we did not find evidence that this will reduce materialism.
Keywords: materialism, awe, diminishment, natural environment, smallness, self-transcendence, self-enhancement, humbleness
Introduction
Materialism is one of the most challenging issues of modern social life. Most of us can’t resist the feeling that we need more possessions to make ourselves happy (Burroughs et al., 2013). We all know that one person that has a big house, a fancy car and always wears designer clothes, and you can’t help feeling jealous. What you don’t acknowledge is the fact that this person is probably less happy and satisfied with life than you are. Maybe a simple thing could decrease one’s materialism, like the physical environment around a person, and thereby increase one’s happiness and well-being.
Materialism is associated with some crucial negative consequences, like diminished personal happiness, diminished empathy for others and diminished concern about the
environment (Burroughs et al., 2013). In general, materialism leads to diminished well-being. Materialism arises when people fail to meet deeper psychological needs, like creating a better self-image or forming close relationships with others (Burroughs et al., 2013). Materialistic people need possessions to extend the self (Belk, 1988). Although a considerable amount of research is already done about the negative consequences of materialism, there is little research done about the decrease of materialism in order to prevent these negative consequences.
In this research, it will be investigated if a decrease in materialism can be evoked by experiencing awe. Experiencing awe leads to self-diminishment and emphasizes the
perception of greatness outside the self. Awe makes people feel smaller, less significant and they focus less on personal day-to-day concerns (Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). Awe contradicts with materialism because materialism is used to extend the self and awe is an emotion that leads to decreased self-focused attention. Therefore, we assume that awe can (temporarily) erase materialism.
Environmental psychology found that a feeling of awe can be provoked by a person’s environment. Past research has shown that an awesome natural environment, compared to a mundane natural environment provokes feelings of awe and humbleness (Joye & Bolderdijk, 2015). Piff et al (2015, p. 884) stated the following: “Although many stimuli can inspire awe, from beautiful buildings to elegant equations, the prototypical awe experience, at least in Western cultures, involves encounters with natural phenomena that are immense in size, scope, or complexity”. The purpose of this investigation is to use an awesome nature to stimulate awe, which causes self-diminishment and find out whether this could lead to
1. Materialism
Belk (1988) defined materialism as a manifestation of psychological traits, such as envy, non-generosity, and possessiveness. Others look at materialism as a value that guides people’s choices and conduct in a variety of situations (Richins, 2004). In this research, we hold the value concept of materialism. Therefore materialism is defined as “the value that an individual places on the acquisition of material goods” (Richins, 2004, p. 232). For materialistic people, the satisfaction they get from materialistic pursuits is more important than intangible goals such as relationship development or well-being (Kashden & Breen, 2007). In modern life people use their possessions to define who they are, the possessions are used to extend the self (Belk, 1988).
1.1 Consequences of materialism
Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton (1981) proposed two forms of materialism based on the purposes of consumption, instrumental materialism, and terminal materialism.
Instrumental materialism is the harmless form, objects are essential for discovering personal values and goals in life. When the consumption of objects does not serve any goal beyond the possession itself, it is called terminal materialism. Instrumental materialism has positive consequences when the right objects are acquired, and the goals are met. Unfortunately, this dichotomy is difficult to use since it contains contradictions and is lacking in an explanation which life goals are “acceptable” for being materialistic (Richins & Dawson, 1992). Hence, it is difficult to prove that materialism will lead to positive outcomes. Acquisitions do enhance individuals’ satisfaction, but this is only temporarily (Richins, 2004).
towards others. Hence, materialism is associated with less social behaviour and weaker relationships with others (Konrath, O'brien, & Hsing, 2011). Acting pro-environmentally becomes less important for materialistic people. Materialistic values conflict with the values to protect the environment, and are associated with more negative attitudes towards the environment (Kasser, 2002). Burroughs et al (2013) divided the consequences into three categories: 1) diminished personal happiness, 2) diminished empathy for others, and 3) diminished concern about the environment.
1.2 Motivation theory
To prevent the arising of these consequences, we first have to know what the main cause of materialism is. “Materialism is often an outward manifestation of deeper unmet psychological needs and insecurities” (Burroughs et al., 2013, p. 18). This statement fits the motivation theory, materialism arises when people fail to meet higher-order psychological needs like developing a good self-concept or forming close relationships with others.
To understand what provokes the deeper needs that cause materialism, you have to be familiar with three theories. As follows, the self-determination theory, acquired need theory and the Maslow’s need hierarchy. All these theories agree on the idea that there is a limited amount of core needs that an individual has and a state of psychological discomfort and insecurity arises when these core needs go unmet. The deeper needs that are associated with materialism are 1. tangible needs (physical and economic security), 2. self-needs (having a meaningful and valuable life) and 3. social needs (form close personal relationships with others).
A feeling of insecurity is provoked when individuals can’t fulfil these needs. They then try to fulfil their needs another way with buying material objects. They think this will make them feel happy but often the opposite turns out to be true (Burroughs et al., 2013). Unfortunately, materialistic objects can’t meet the higher-order needs since they are not capable of providing emotional support, empathy, love and affection, which results in temporary satisfaction but afterwards disappointment (Richins, 2012). Materialism can only be successfully reduced when the deeper causes are known.
1.3 Materialism as a life value
values (e.g. spirituality, selflessness). Hence, it’s likely that people that value
self-transcendence more than self-enhancement are less materialistic since the underlying motives conflict with each other. A person having opposing values will suffer from inner conflicts which cause discomfort. The value conflict theory suggests that, over time, this person will attempt to adjust his/her value priorities (e.g. becoming less materialistic) in order to reduce the discomfort (Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002). One of the ways in which
self-transcendence, self-detachment and self-diminishment can be provoked, is by experiencing feelings of awe and humbleness (Piff et al., 2015).
Figure 1
Schwartz’s value model (Schwartz, 2001, p. 5)
2 Awe
Keltner and Haidt (2003, p. 303) define awe as “the emotion that arises when one encounters something so strikingly vast that it provokes a need to update one’s mental schemas”.
or while hiking in the mountains because you are part of something big (Keltner & Haidt, 2003).
Experiencing awe has different positive effects. It leads to pro-social behaviour since people feel like their own concerns and interests are less significant, they are a part of
something greater than oneself (Piff et al, 2015). People that experience awe are more willing to spend their time on helping others (Rudd, 2012). Furthermore, it makes people less
impatient because they have the feeling that there is more time available. Another effect is that even a small dose of awe gives peoples satisfaction a temporary boost. In general, awe will improve people’s positive attitude towards life (Tian & Lu, 2015).
The main effect of awe, in this research, is the less focused attention (e.g. diminishment) (Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007), since this is the opposite of self-enhancement which translates into materialism.
2.1 Self-diminishment
Awe triggers a sense of smallness of the self, which boost altruism. Experiencing awe is stimulus-focused and self-diminishing, it emphasises the perception of greatness outside the self. Therefore awe should lead to decreased self-focused attention (Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). In one experiment participants were asked to recall an experience of awe, these participants then recounted feeling small relative to the environment (Campos, Shiota, Keltner, Gonzaga & Goetz, 2013). According to Piff and colleagues (2015, p. 884) “awe directs attention to entities vaster than the self and more collective dimensions of personal identity, and reduces the significance the individual attaches to personal concerns and goals”. Placing less significance on the self can increase pro-sociality because their own concerns become less important (Piff et al., 2015).
If we compare the characteristics of awe to the characteristics of materialism, we can see that they are the exact opposite. This finding supports the conflicting value theory of Schwartz.
2.2 Causes of awe
Awe can have different triggers, which all contains the two features ‘vastness’ and
‘accommodation. Awe can be triggered by power, in that case, awe is the feeling a low status individual feels towards a powerful other (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Furthermore, adoration causes awe, then awe is elicited by social size and the importance of the “famous person” (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Also, an epiphanic experience can elicit awe when people realise the breadth and scope of a grand theory. It involves the revelation of something profound in something ordinary (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Human art and artefact, such as songs, movies, plays, cathedrals, stadiums, skyscrapers, can all move people and elicit awe. The size (e.g. bigger size) of these human creation matters to provoke feelings of awe (Keltner & Haidt, 2003).
In this research, we focus on awe that is elicited by nature. Awe is more likely to occur in response to viewing an object that is larger than the viewer is used to seeing (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). So people feel awe in response to large (e.g. vastness) natural objects, such as mountains, storms and oceans (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Past research found that people who watched an awesome nature experienced feelings of humbleness and awe, compared to when they watched mundane nature (Joye & Bolderdijk, 2015). A grand physical environment leads to feeling small relative to the environment, which causes awe. Note that the size of an
environment is a relative concept, since each individual will interpret size differently according to their previous experiences and what they find “normal”.
3 The contradicting link between awe and materialism
As discussed earlier, the value model of Schwartz shows that the motives underlying self-enhancement (materialism) are conflicting with the motives underlying self-transcendence (humbleness and awe). Materialistic people value possessions because it’s a way to extend the self. Awe is an emotion that erases the self (e.g. self-diminishment). Hence, when people experience awe they may become less materialistic since extending the self is less important. Awe can be provoked by an awesome natural environment, this obviously is associated with vastness. In this research we will provide the answer to the following question ‘does
natural environment, leads to a decrease in materialism and that this effect is driven by self-diminishment.
Hypothesis 1: Individuals that are confronted with awesome natural environment are less materialistic.
Hypothesis 2: Individuals that are confronted with awesome natural environments are less materialistic and this effect is driven by self-diminishment.
The conceptual model is given in figure 2 to visualise the relationship between awe and a decrease in materialism.
4 Method
4.1 Participants and design
This internet-based study was programmed in Qualtrics (i.e. Research Suite survey software). 177 participants filled out the survey, they were recruited via the online crowdsourcing service Amazon Mechanical Turk for a small fee. The respondents consist of 91 male participants and 86 female participants, in the age range of 21 till 72.
The study was a one-factorial between-subjects design, with the type of video clip as the between-subjects variable and materialism as the dependent variable.
4.2 Materials
The stimuli of this study were three different five-minute videos, which were provided by Paul Piff, who used the same videos in his study “awe increases generosity via the small self” (2015). The videos were fully displayed on the screen of all the participants. The three movie conditions were one neutral video, in which a man describes the construction of a kitchen countertop. One awe-evoking video, consisting of nature clips from BBC’s planet earth. And one amusement video, consisting of nature clips from a BBC’s comedic series in which animals act funny in their natural habitat. Both the amusement and awe conditions depicted images of nature, which enables us to ascertain the specific effects of awe on
self-diminishment. 59 participants saw the neutral video, 64 participants saw the amusement video and the awe video is seen by 54 participants.
Besides a neutral condition, there is also chosen for an amusement condition. Amusement induces general positivity. Therefore it is used in prior research as a positive emotion that contrasts with the effects of awe (Piff et al, 2015).
4.3 Measures
4.3.1 Emotion measurement
An emotion measurement is done to ensure that the three conditions induced the desired emotions. The participants were asked to indicate on a 7 point scale (1 = not at all, 7 = extremely) to what extent they had experienced the following emotions: amusement, anger, awe, disgust, fear, sadness and happiness.
not at all true, 7 = very true (statements were taken from Piff et al, 2015). The Cronbach’s Alpha (0.940) proves that this scale is valid and reliable.
4.3.3 Situational Self-awareness scale
The Situational Self-awareness scale (Govern, 2001) is a measurement that is used to ensure that participants that experienced awe indeed have a small self. This scale contains 9 items about inner feelings, feelings relative to the environment and self-reflection. The participants can indicate their answers on a 7 point Likert scale (1=totally disagree, 7= totally agree). The Cronbach’s Alpha (0.852) proves that this scale is valid and reliable.
4.3.4 Materialism measurement
To ensure that experiencing awe influences the level of materialism, we have measured materialism. This is measured in two different ways, first by using the materialistic value scale of Richins and Dawson (1992) and second by exposing participants to different t-shirts that varied in status.
The material values scale (Richins, 2004) contains questions about three different values in life; success, centrality, and happiness. The outcome provides an indication of the participants’ level of materialism. Sample items: ‘I admire people who own expensive homes, cars, and clothes’, ‘I like to own things that impress people, ‘Buying things gives me a lot of pleasure’. The Cronbach’s Alpha (0.882) proves that this scale is valid and reliable.
We also measured materialism by looking at participants product choices. This is measured by showing the participants different t-shirts. One blank t-shirt and one t-shirt with a Tommy Hilfiger logo. Participants were asked which t-shirt they preferred. We expect the participants that saw the awe condition will choose for the blank t-shirt more than participants from the other conditions.
4.4 Procedure
and the Situational Self-Awareness Scale. An explanation of the study was given at the end with the opportunity to comment on the study.
5 Results
5.1 Effects on emotions
First, we conducted a Pearson correlation test, the results are given in table 1. There is a positive correlation (p = .002) between self-awareness and smallness. Furthermore, people that experienced more awe and happiness, are significantly more aware of themselves (p = .004; p = .000) and they feel significantly smaller (p = .000; p = .000). We also found a positive correlation between the Materialistic Value Scale and self-awareness. So the more people are aware of themselves, the more they value materialistic things in life (p = .049), especially to feel happy (p = .007).
Then we conducted One-Way ANOVA analyses to test whether the awe condition significantly influenced the emotions of the participants. The video condition (awe,
amusement, and neutral) was used as the between-subject variable and the experience of the emotion awe and the smallness index as the dependent variables. These analyses showed a significant difference between the three conditions for both awe and the smallness index.
We found that participants who had watched the video of awesome nature had indeed experienced awe (M = 6, SD = 1.13) significantly (p = 0.00) more, F (2,174) = 58.07, than participants from the other two conditions (amusement: M = 3.31, SD = 1.78; neutral M =3.15, SD =1.77). Also the awesome video made the participants feel significantly (p = 0.00) smaller F (2,174)= 87.76 as measured by the smallness index (M = 5.26, SD = 1.25) than the other two conditions (Amusement M = 2.84, SD = 1.44; Neutral M = 2.23, SD = 1.2).
Pairwise comparisons between all conditions are mentioned in table 2.
Table 1 Correlations
5.2 Effects on materialism
A One-Way ANOVA analysis with the video condition as the between-subjects factor and the MVS as the dependent variable demonstrated that the video condition did not significantly (p = .488) influence the outcome of the Material Value Scale F (2, 174) = 0.73. Also, the type of video did not have a significant effect on any of the subscales of the MVS. Statistics and pairwise comparisons between all three conditions are mentioned in table 2.
Materialism was also measured with a t-shirt preference. The participants were shown a blank t-shirt and a t-shirt with a Tommy Hilfiger logo. A Chi Square showed that the number of participants that saw the awe video and choose for the blank t-shirt (n = 36) is not significantly higher than the other two conditions (amusement n = 34; neutral n =38). There is no significant (p = .597) relation between the t-shirt preference and the video condition.
Table 2 ANOVA analysis
5.3 Mediation
6 Conclusion and discussion
In most research on materialism, it becomes clear that materialism is not good for someone’s well-being, but they give relatively little attention to the manners to reduce materialism. With this study, we wanted to test whether awe, provoked by an awesome nature, could decrease materialism via self-diminishment. We test this particular relationship because materialism is a way to extend the self, this can be reduced by experiencing awe since this emotion leads to self-diminishment. The motives underlying self-centeredness (e.g. materialism) are
conflicting with the motives underlying self-diminishment. Since people try to avoid inner conflicts, it is likely that either the motives underlying self-centeredness or the motives underlying self-diminishment become more important to an individual. In this research, we want to manipulate this by letting participants experience awe so that they value their self-transcendence motives more.
During this study, we used three different videos as the condition, an awesome video, an amusement video and a neutral video. The awesome video shows images of impressive nature scenes. In the neutral video, a man describes how to construct a kitchen. The
amusement video contains images of talking wild animals. We chose for amusement as a third condition since it is a positive emotion that contrasts with the effects of awe.
Our study began with exploring how participants responded to the three videos. Our general finding confirmed our assumption that participants who saw the awesome video indeed experienced more awe than those who watched the amusement or neutral video. We also found that the awesome video made the participants feel the smallest. This supports the assumption that awe elicit smallness. Further analyses revealed that awe is indeed a predictor of self-diminishment.
In the second phase of our study, we looked at whether the three video conditions differentially affected the outcomes of the Material Value Scale. We did not find significant evidence that participants that experienced awe are less materialistic than participants that did not experience awe. Also, we can conclude that the relationship between awe and materialism was not mediated by self-diminishment. Furthermore, we did not find significant evidence to prove that the participants that experienced awe care less about having expensive possessions. In this research, this was tested by measuring the preference for a designer vs. a non-designer shirt. So overall we can conclude that our findings do not support our hypothesis:
This may has something to do with the limitations of our research. A first one is that the exposure to the video was relatively brief and virtual. Future research could investigate if exposure to actual awesome nature leads to stronger effects, and if these effects persist longer. Second, the outcomes of the survey may be biased due to the fact that only people from the US participated in the survey and they got paid for filling out the questions. Future research should include participants from multiple cultures. And thirdly we measured whether participants experienced awe or not with only one question. A validated scale to accurately measure awe is desirable for future research to capture the occurrence of this emotion.
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