In the article “Are you what you have?” psychologist Helga Dittmar explores the effects of consumer society on individual identity. Throughout the article, she explains and supports her core proposal; “that material goods and identity construction are closely interrelated.” (Dittmar, 2004). She substantiates her thesis through the development of three key areas: the psychological functions of goods, materialistic values and their effects, and the effects of consumerism on youth. Dittmar provides a convincing argument that this field of psychology must be further explored to increase awareness of the positive and negative repercussions of materialism.
Dittmar proposes that goods perform an array of psychological functions. She suggests that although many goods are valued for practicality, they also serve as the manifestation of one’s social identity, and can hold significant emotional value. She highlights fundamental gender differences between the way men and women typically value possessions, approach shopping, and construct their identities. Dittmar explains that men generally value practicality, have negative attitudes towards shopping, and construct identities of independence;
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Materialistic values are a “set of centrally held beliefs about the importance of [material] possessions in one’s life” (Richins & Dawson, 1992, p.308). Dittmar suggests that when individuals consider these values as important, individuals experience impaired social functioning and a reduced quality of life, and can lead to problems such as compulsive or excessive buying. She develops excessive buying in terms of identity construction – those who seek identity through goods and those who use goods to reflect their ‘ideal self’. Se then goes on to investigate gender differences in typical buying