Jezebel: Materialism

Materialistic People Have Shitty Marriages

Anna North — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EDT

The results of a new study may not surprise you much: turns out, being obsessed with money and material things could be bad for your marriage. More »

Women Are From Venus: How Ladies Are Like Cats, And Other Tall Tales

Katy Kelleher — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:20:00 EST

Why aren't women happy? We have shoes, fancy meals, lots of clothes, and even girlfriends to share it all with, SATC-style. But we're just not content, or so says the Times of London. More »

Real Housewives Of Orange County: Season Ends, Materialism Continues

Tracie Egan Morrissey — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST

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On last night's finale, the wives had a wrap party, which served as a way for them to one-up one another over new luxury possessions. Former cast members also attended; more after the jump. More »

"Luxury Shame" Will Be Big For Winter

Sadie Stein — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST

"I could walk downstairs now and buy a Ferrari, but all of my friends are hurting. I don't feel like buying random toys." This wealthy coxcomb, one Michael Hirtenstein, has fallen prey to what Newsweek terms the new phenomenon of "luxury shame," in which rich people feel uncomfortable throwing money around. So now luxury goods makers will have to trick them into shopping! More »

Toy Story

Maria — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:40:00 EST

In a new book, Christopher Jamison, a prominent Catholic cleric in England, has become a vocal critic of Disney and what he sees as the company's encouragement of materialism in children. While Jamison says that the Disney movies often have a moral message of good triumphing over evil, the products that go along with the movies encourage children to think that material objects will give them happiness and a place in the Disney world. Jamison says: "Where once morality and meaning were available as part of our free cultural inheritance, now corporations sell them to us as products." [Telegraph] More »

Confessions Of A Shopaholic

Maria — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:40:00 EDT

Researchers have developed a new scale for determining if someone is a serious shopaholic — a condition that can lead to family conflicts, financial problems, and depression. Previous methods of measuring compulsive shopping tended to focus on financial distress, something that compulsive shoppers with higher incomes may not experience. The newest scale shows that compulsive consumption is linked with materialism, positive feeling about buying things, and a tendency to hide or return purchases. Researchers who developed the new scale hope that it will show others that there is a need to reduce compulsive buying and materialism and educate people about the side-effects of overspending. Maybe they can have a word with the Bush Administration? [Science Daily] More »

'Psychology Today' Thinks You Should Stop Feeling Guilty And Learn To Love Superficiality, Shopping, Junk Science

Moe — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:53:22 EDT

Regular magazines are getting more like women's magazines every day. Here's where we post our egregious examples!