“Those Who Have Less Want More. But Does it Make Them Feel Bad?”: Deprivation, Materialism and Self-Esteem in Childhood

Abstract

Understanding how consumer culture affects children’s wellbeing has recently moved centre stage across the world with concerns growing over the adverse effects of rising levels of materialism. Globally, Unicef (Innocenti, 2007) has painted a bleak picture for the psychological welfare of children living in the world’s most materially rich countries. Best sellers from North America, such as Consuming Kids (Linn, 2004) or Born to Buy (Shor, 2004) and in the UK Toxic Childhood (Palmer, 2006) go further by criticizing how marketing organizations, society in general and contemporary family values encourage children to consume more and be satisfied with less. Academic research has also begun identifying the mechanisms by which consumer culture may interfere with the psychological wellbeing of children (Achenreiner, 1997; Buijzen & Valkenburg, 2003; Goldberg, Gorn, Peracchio & Bamossy, 2003; Flouri, 2004; Luthar, 2003; Kasser, 2002; Chaplin & John, 2007). This chapter explores the relationship between materialism and children’s self-esteem. In particular, it focuses on one area which has so far received relatively little attention, namely the effects of socio-economic status (SES) on this interaction. In other words, are the links between materialism and feeling good or bad affected by whether a child is living in a household which can afford to purchase consumer goods or one where money is tight?