Segundo a pesquisa, pessoas expostas a ambientes consumistas são mais depressivas,
ansiosas e menos interessadas em atividades coletivas/Foto: Oscar Cortes
19/04/2011
Uma pesquisa realizada pela Northwestern University, nos EUA, publicada na segunda-feira, 9 de abril, apontou que as pessoas que dão alto valor para riqueza, status e bens materiais são mais depressivas, ansiosas e menos sociáveis do que as pessoas que não se importam tanto com essas questões.
Segundo o estudo, publicado no jornal científico Psychological Science, o materialismo não é apenas um problema individual, mas também ambiental. "Nós descobrimos que, independentemente da personalidade, em situações que ativam uma mentalidade consumista, as pessoas apresentam os mesmos tipos de padrões problemáticos no bem-estar, incluindo afeto negativo e desengajamento social", destacou a psicóloga Galen V. Bodenhausen, co-autora do estudo.
Nos experimentos, estudantes universitários foram expostos a imagens e palavras que remetiam a bens de luxo e valores consumistas, enquanto outros viam cenas neutras e sem essa conotação.
Ao preencher um questionário após a experiência, aqueles que olharam para fotos de carros, produtos eletrônicos e jóias se avaliaram mais depressivos e ansiosos, menos interessados em atividades coletivas e mais em atividades solitárias.
Essas pessoas ainda demonstraram mais competitividade e menos desejo de investir seu tempo em atividades sociais, como trabalhar para uma boa causa.
Para a psicóloga, os resultados da pesquisa têm implicações sociais e pessoais muito grandes. Segundo Galen, tornou-se comum usar o termo “consumidor” como uma designação genérica para as pessoas, seja nos noticiários, nos governos ou nos mercados. Para ela, utilizar a palavra “cidadão”, no lugar, já pode ativar “diferentes preocupações psicológicas”.
Galen também recomenda iniciativas pessoais para reduzir os efeitos do consumismo, como isolar a mentalidade materialista, evitar os maus estímulos, como a publicidade, e “ver menos TV”.
Psychological Science
April 9, 2012
For Immediate Release
Contact: Lucy Hyde
Association for Psychological Science202.293.9300
lhyde@psychologicalscience.org
Consumerism and its antisocial effects can be turned on—or off
Money doesn’t buy happiness. Neither does materialism: Research shows that people who place a high value on wealth, status, and stuff are more depressed and anxious and less sociable than those who do not. Now new research shows that materialism is not just a personal problem. It’s also environmental. “We found that irrespective of personality, in situations that activate a consumer mindset, people show the same sorts of problematic patterns in wellbeing, including negative affect and social disengagement,” says Northwestern University psychologist Galen V. Bodenhausen. The study, conducted with colleagues Monika A. Bauer, James E. B. Wilkie, and Jung K. Kim, appears in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
In two of four experiments, university students were put in a materialistic frame of mind by tasks that exposed them to images of luxury goods or words mobilizing consumerist values (versus neutral scenes devoid of consumer products or words without such connotations). Completing questionnaires afterwards, those who looked at the pictures of cars, electronics, and jewelry rated themselves higher in depression and anxiety, less interested in social activities like parties, and more in solitary pursuits than the others. Those primed to materialism by exposure to certain words evinced more competitiveness and less desire to invest their time in pro-social activities like working for a good cause.
In two other experiments, participants completed tasks that were framed as surveys—one of consumer responses, another of citizens.’ The first experiment involved moving words toward or away from the participant’s name on a computer screen—positive and negative emotion words and “neutral” ones that actually suggested materialism (wealth, power), self-restraint (humble, discipline), transcendence of self, or self-indulgence. The people who answered the “consumer response survey” more quickly “approached” the words that reflected materialistic values than those in the “citizen” survey. The last experiment presented participants with a hypothetical water shortage in a well shared by four people, including themselves. The water users were identified either as consumers or individuals. Might the collective identity as consumers—as opposed to the individual role—supersede the selfishness ordinarily stimulated by the consumer identity? No: The “consumers” rated themselves as less trusting of others to conserve water, less personally responsible and less in partnership with the others in dealing with the crisis. The consumer status, the authors concluded “did not unite; it divided.”
The findings have both social and personal implications, says Bodenhausen. “It’s become commonplace to useconsumer as a generic term for people,” in the news or discussions of taxes, politics, or health care. If we use term such as Americans or citizens instead, he says, “that subtle difference activates different psychological concerns.” We can also take personal initiative to reduce the depressive, isolating effects of a materialist mindset by avoiding its stimulants—most obviously, advertising. One method: “Watch less TV.”
April 9, 2012
For Immediate Release
Contact: Lucy Hyde
Association for Psychological Science202.293.9300
lhyde@psychologicalscience.org
Consumerism and its antisocial effects can be turned on—or off
Money doesn’t buy happiness. Neither does materialism: Research shows that people who place a high value on wealth, status, and stuff are more depressed and anxious and less sociable than those who do not. Now new research shows that materialism is not just a personal problem. It’s also environmental. “We found that irrespective of personality, in situations that activate a consumer mindset, people show the same sorts of problematic patterns in wellbeing, including negative affect and social disengagement,” says Northwestern University psychologist Galen V. Bodenhausen. The study, conducted with colleagues Monika A. Bauer, James E. B. Wilkie, and Jung K. Kim, appears in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
In two of four experiments, university students were put in a materialistic frame of mind by tasks that exposed them to images of luxury goods or words mobilizing consumerist values (versus neutral scenes devoid of consumer products or words without such connotations). Completing questionnaires afterwards, those who looked at the pictures of cars, electronics, and jewelry rated themselves higher in depression and anxiety, less interested in social activities like parties, and more in solitary pursuits than the others. Those primed to materialism by exposure to certain words evinced more competitiveness and less desire to invest their time in pro-social activities like working for a good cause.
In two other experiments, participants completed tasks that were framed as surveys—one of consumer responses, another of citizens.’ The first experiment involved moving words toward or away from the participant’s name on a computer screen—positive and negative emotion words and “neutral” ones that actually suggested materialism (wealth, power), self-restraint (humble, discipline), transcendence of self, or self-indulgence. The people who answered the “consumer response survey” more quickly “approached” the words that reflected materialistic values than those in the “citizen” survey. The last experiment presented participants with a hypothetical water shortage in a well shared by four people, including themselves. The water users were identified either as consumers or individuals. Might the collective identity as consumers—as opposed to the individual role—supersede the selfishness ordinarily stimulated by the consumer identity? No: The “consumers” rated themselves as less trusting of others to conserve water, less personally responsible and less in partnership with the others in dealing with the crisis. The consumer status, the authors concluded “did not unite; it divided.”
The findings have both social and personal implications, says Bodenhausen. “It’s become commonplace to useconsumer as a generic term for people,” in the news or discussions of taxes, politics, or health care. If we use term such as Americans or citizens instead, he says, “that subtle difference activates different psychological concerns.” We can also take personal initiative to reduce the depressive, isolating effects of a materialist mindset by avoiding its stimulants—most obviously, advertising. One method: “Watch less TV.”
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For more information about this study, please contact: Galen V. Bodenhausen at galen@northwestern.edu.
The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "Cuing Consumerism: Situational Materialism Undermines Personal and Social Well-Being" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Lucy Hyde at 202-293-9300 or lhyde@psychologicalscience.org
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super carrinho. faça as idéias rodarem aqui também.
obrigada pela participação no debate.