Mindfulness And Consumerism
Introduction
Mindfulness is a meditative practice which aims to brings one’s attention and awareness to the experience occurring from moment to moment. Though it originates from Buddhist philosophy, it has recently gained in secular popularity due to its therapeutic potential in a number of mental-health problems, and conditions of rumination and worry. At first glance, mindfulness and consumerism might seem incongruent. Mindfulness is mostly concerned with psychological states, whereas consumerism manifests itself through goods and services. However, this essay will rely on the premise that our minds are intimately tied to the physical world, a world of matter. And this is particularly true when we talk about consumerism. This is not meant to deny the importance of the material world. Clearly, our relationship to objects is essential for the most basic needs in life, such as survival, and it must therefore be inevitable. However, nowadays the materiality of these primitive needs often go unnoticed, we are unaware of their significance, as they are concealed by what we deem ‘normal’.
However, life itself does not just consists of our relationship to objects. As Aristotle quotes: “man is by nature a social animal”. Perhaps our social nature is even more important to us than our material basis. Not to forget that our psychological and social nature (inner experience) is often underpinned and expressed by something that is ‘material’. For Instance, we use presents to extend our gratitude and love. Our identities are completed with possessions. Even religious institutions make use of sacraments bridging spirituality with the material world. Objects are both material as well as that they are of psychological importance to us. And this junction, between inner and outer experiences, forms the fundament of our daily life. We define ourselves and others on the basis of these goods. Desire, longing, greed and affiliation are all examples of human emotions linked to material goods. The study of anthropology testifies for the universality of these instinctive traits of (self) expression amongst most human societies.
However, we have excessively materialized our social realm in modern times. Our social lives are now largely influenced by material constructions of identity and social roles, and this process is enforced by marketing, advertising and the interest of profit maximization. Posters, billboards and tv commercials try to convince us daily that possessing certain items is crucial for expressing ourselves, showing our personalities and what is important, for satisfying our aspirations or completing a sense of belonging. This essay is inspired by the quote ‘A privilege of a lifetime is being who you are’ by Joseph Campbell. I will argue that consumerism poses challenges to 'being yourself' and why mindfulness might be a potential antidote. So can mindfulness help us in attaining healthy and personalized identities and meaning?
Consumerism
What is it?
In 1930, Keynes published the article ‘Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren’. In this essay he estimated that developed countries would grow to be four times as rich in 100 years of time. He assumed that inhabitants of those countries would still have to work a quarter of the original 50 to 60 hours working week. Though Keynes closely approximated the economic growth, he clearly overestimated the downfall in hours of work, expecting that work would largely be replaced by machines leaving us with plentiful of leisure. In the book ‘How much is Enough’ the authors attempt to answer this discrepancy: why do we still work nearly as much as in the 1930s though most of our absolute needs are met? According to the Skidelskys (2012), this insatiability hints at the “relative and comparative nature of human wants”. We do not only want more, we want more than others. And because this is reciprocal, it fuels an endless armsrace for material possesions. Combined with the ongoing and accelerated technological advancement, an insatiable desire for novelty is set in motion (Crompton & Kasser, 2009). Because of this “competitive consumption drive” (source), we are always on the lookout for the ‘right’ or ‘newest’ item. Keynes saw work and money as a means to the ‘good life’ and not expected it to be desired for their own sake. Perhaps, he was preconditioned by his time, in which luxury items holded only a small fraction of the average household expenditure. However, today, the opposite seems to be true. Instead, an array of our domestic expenditure is dedicated to items which are not strictly necessary, but used to support our social status. Bauman (2004) speaks about a new definition of the poor. Poor people are no longer defined in that they are unable to satisfy their basic needs. Rather poverty “draws its meaning primarily from the plight of a flawed consumer” (Bauman, 2004).
Victor Lebow articulated the underlying sociological mechanism of consumer culture: “Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life,” and, “that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego satisfactions, in consumption. . . “ (Lebow, 1955). So social status and values are determined by consumption. Thus, consumption in consumer culture does no longer only focus on functional satisfaction (Veblen, 1899). Consumption becomes increasingly meaningful: brands become tools to construct our identities. Thus, consumerism is a value structure which emphasizes the accumulation and consumption of goods and services in ever-expanding pace to stabilize our economy (Fournier & Richins, 1991). However, studies have been conducted to show that the insatiability of ‘consumers’ appetites’ has various consequences for the environment and our quality of life (Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The World Boundaries Framework from Steffen et al. (2015) has calculated that it would require over three planets for the entire world population to sustain a Western lifestyle. Meanwhile, according to the Worldwatch Institute, the annual expenses on luxury items largely exceed the amount needed to sustain the poorest world’s population in basic needs (Worldwatch, 2013). Besides the environmental price, in ‘the High Price of Materialism’ Kasser (2003) offers a scientific explanation how consumer and materialist values have affected our wellbeing and psychological health. He argues that “people pursuing of materialist values are at greater risk to be unhappy, as well as to suffer from anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Similarly, Dittmar et al (…) have investigated that materialistic values might have a consequence for both the individual and the society at a large (5). But why then do individuals, who play an instrumental role in consumer culture, cling on to materialist values if these are linked to psychological and environmental wellbeing? The following paragraphs will explore the consequences of materialism on our identity, values and meaning.
Psychology behind Consumption: Identity, Meaning and Value
In a paper ‘Goods are not goods’ from 1966, Kelvin Lancaster claimes that ‘stuff has properties that exceed the functional “utility value”. We cling on to them because they ‘carry symbolic meaning’ through which we expresses a message about ourselves to others. This form of social communication, is used to unintentionally negotiate our identities to others without using language or emotions. This symbolic value of ‘stuff’ is socially and culturally determined and established over time. Anthropological evidence attests for the universality of instinctive traits to use possessions as an extension of ourselves (“extended self”) (Belk, 1988). Thus, ‘ownership’ culminates into attachment and psychological investment amongst most human societies. For this particular reason, it is that people respond emotionally (grief) when they are separated from their belongings (McCracken, 1987). This example shows the tight link between consumerism and our identities. Consumption becomes increasingly meaningful: object are used to “construct, reconstruct or deconstruct and maintain” our idealised selves (Belk et al. , 2003). Barbara Kruger’s anticipatory ‘I shop therefore I am’ has lost its ironic connotation.
The creation and maintenance of identity is one of the fundamental processes in human development. Over time, children gradually establish a notion of self by their relation to their environment. Moreover, family and cultural values, our role in the community and expectations from our peers are important in the formation of identity (11). The ‘social identity theory’ of Tajfel (1979) argues that groups facilitate a sense of ‘self’ and create an identity. Through our relation to others, we are able to describe ourselves and create a sense of belonging (role / importance?). According to evolutionary psychology, being accepted by our peers is a matter of life and death. Though this evolutionary mechanism is no longer functional, we are still being haunted by the idea of losing our social identity. Our affiliation with our social roles and the evaluative nature of the ‘self’ (13) is of importance for identity-motivated consumption. Our idealised selves are led by impressions from our direct environment. However, when there is a discrepancy between our perceived and desired self, it can cause a ‘psychological imbalance’(14). Consumer items can be used to fill this gap by symbolic power (Armstrong & Jackson, 2015). So by obtaining and demonstrating the items belong to a social identity, we realign our realised and desired self. Furthermore, psychologist argue that we alternate between an experience of belonging and distinction (15). This restlessness of individual and social identity “fuels the endless inventive nature of material good” (22). So, consumption can be a method for personal distinction through customized choices to form a sense of unique identity (16). Differently, Cushman (1990) argues in the ‘Why the Self is empty?’ that consumer items and services are sought to fill our perceived emptiness (24).
The experience of our one’s identity and emotions includes an implicit understanding of our values. Schwartsz & Bilksy (1987) defined values as “concepts or beliefs, about desirable end states or behaviors, that transcend specific situations, guide selection or evaluation of behavior and events, and are ordered by relative importance”. Moore has characterized an important distinction between “intrinsic and instrumental value”, the things we value in itself and the things that could lead to value. [4] William Frankena suggests that “money, cars and other material possessions” serve an instrumental purpose or are components of and contribute to happiness [67]. Similarly, David Hume distinguished between subjects of pride and self-esteem that are derived from qualities of the mind and body and external advantages including: “country, family, children, relations, riches, houses, gardens, horses, dogs and clothes” [68]. These extrinsic values which is carried out for the approval of others and external reward to create fulfil a desired self-image (29). These values can play a significant driver to consumption choices which one thinks to “present an image of financial and social success” (Armstrong & Jackson, 2015). People with high levels of material value tend to be focussed on the accumulation of goods to construct a sense of self (Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002). Furthermore, people with these values express lower levels of empathy, and lack of gratitude and subjective well-being (Belk, 1985; Kasser, Ryan, Couchman, & Sheldon, 2004)
Though meaning has not been connected to values and identity by psychological evidence, Armstrong & Jackson (2015) argue that these might influence the way we see ourselves and others. So when talking about meaning, they refer to a “feeling of importance, purpose and direction”. Through ages of human existence, religions have offered a system of meaning, direction, and comfort. This is why religion can be used as an example to the function and components of these mental qualities. This is not to argue that consumerism is a religion, but that it implicitly resemble one (Bailey, 1997) and can be used to understand the nature of phenomena such as consumerism (Kurenlahti & Salonen, 2018). Consumer items can, just like religion, be a source of meaning. Meanwhile most religions rewards its faithful believers in a post-mortem existence (afterlife), consumerism promises a life of comfort by material and social success provided he or she works hard (Skidelsky & Skidelsky, 2012). Furthermore, our anxiety for death is complemented by momentary experience and the continuity of goods (Hankiss, 2009). We try to fill this existential anxiety, with our possessions, by something that is substantial. We say ‘it matters’. Besides religion, we derive meaning from our social identity, such as being a part of family or a group. However, meaning can also be derived from consumption (41). For instance, objects can embody a deep personal message or the process of consuming could be considered a meaning-based activity.
Bridging Mindfulness and Consumerism
Though mindfulness has found its origins in an eastern tradition, meditative practices of a similar sort have shared amongst many religious and spiritual teachings. However, the current practice of mindfulness has become a secularized tradition, detached from spiritual and cultural contexts, by which it has conformed to a greater audience (Ludwig & Kabat-Zinn, 2008) (45). Jon Kabatt-Zinn, one of the pioneers, who contributed immensely to the popularity of the practice of ‘mindfulness’ in the West, describes it as: ‘the awareness that arises by paying attention, on purpose in the present moment, and non-judgementally” (2013). The following sections will be used to address the potential of mindfulness to discourage our consumption drive, related to the foregoing theories about ‘identity, values and meaning’.
Mindfulness is a meditative practice which intends, without intentions, to be conscious of the internal and external stimuli occurring in the present. Though our thoughts might be absorbed by event from the past or future, the general objective is to return once attention back to the present once the mind has wandered off (46). This consciousness implies that we are aware of what is happening in the here and now (Brown and Ryan). Therefore, training mindfulness offers us possibility to reduce automaticity and reactivity - to be behave less compulsively and automatically. So through enhanced awareness and understanding of mental drivers which fuel consumption, either psychological or social in nature, so that we are able to formulate an appropriate response. Moreover, mindfulness can become a tool to create a sense of ‘self’ “without requiring material goods to facilitate this experience” (Armstrong & Jackson, 2015). By using mindfulness, we learn to derive meaning from the nature of our sensory experiences in an non-judgemental way. Sometimes it can stabilize our sense of who were are. Though at other times, non-judgemental acceptance encourages us to let go of any fixed and idealised sense of self. Furthermore, mindfulness may shed light on values that support consumerism and puts it in the right perspective. Thus, mindfulness allows us to connect to our intrinsic values.
Mindful Identity
The mental process of being aware of one’s experience might of be of importance to the maintenance of identity. These experiences include the way we view, think and feel about ourselves (49). However, it also influences the way we think about others. Mindfulness, and other meditation practices, have demonstrated an increase in compassion or pro-social behaviour (Fisher et al. , 2017). Perhaps, it is through these mechanisms that we more-willingly occupy our social roles. Furthermore, mindfulness can alter the way we value our senses (51). Though identity formation is mostly occupied with creating a sense of self in relation toward the ‘others’, mindfulness does this not on the basis of comparison but by understanding our experiences (Amstrong & Jackson, 2015). Observing one’s own thought and behaviour without judgement bestows us with freedom to construct and discover our own identities. In doing so, mindfulness offers us the tools to put socially constructed expectations into perspective.
Mindful Values
Habits, moments of automaticity and little awareness, are an important constituent of our daily lives. Mindfulness can bring awareness to the underlying motivations which steer our decision-making. Values are understood as the basis that create direction, in the form of our ‘idealised self’, and consequently influence our behaviour. However, these values may not be apparent to the individual. Mindfulness can help through bringing intrinsic values to the surface, and integrating them into our decision-making (52). Thus, mindfulness allows us to be aware and act in agreement with these values. ht effectively regulating their behaviour and emotionsIndividuals experience this as a sense of ‘self-efficacy’ when they are (53).
