Consumer Culture, Identity and Well-Being
The Search for the 'Good Life' and the 'Body Perfect'
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:17th Sep '10
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£135.00(9781841696089)
This book examines the psychological impact of consumer culture on self-identity and emotional health, particularly focusing on materialism and societal beauty standards.
This insightful volume explores the detrimental psychological effects that consumer culture has on individual self-perception and emotional well-being. It delves into the social psychological aspects of ownership, purchasing, and the desire for material goods, revealing how these elements shape our identities in contemporary society. The relentless exposure to idealized images of beauty and affluence through advertising and media creates a landscape where self-worth is often tied to material possessions and societal expectations.
Consumer Culture, Identity, and Well-Being highlights the negative consequences of equating identity with consumption. It investigates how individuals may use the acquisition of goods as a means of self-expression, often leading to feelings of inadequacy and discontent. The book also addresses the psychological motivations behind consumer behavior, both in traditional shopping settings and online, shedding light on how these motivations can perpetuate cycles of desire and dissatisfaction.
Furthermore, the work integrates various social psychological theories, such as self-completion and value theory, to construct a comprehensive framework for understanding the internalization of consumer culture ideals. This framework helps to elucidate the implications for both psychological and physical health. Consumer Culture, Identity, and Well-Being is an essential read for anyone interested in the psychological ramifications of living in a consumer-driven society, including students, researchers, and health professionals focused on identity and body image issues.
'Helga Dittmar produces irrefutable research evidence of the pernicious effects of the culturally reinforced belief; to be more, one has to have more, whether it’s shoes, bags, cameras, cars, thinness, or muscles.' – April Lane Benson, Ph.D. Founder, Stopping Overshopping, LLC and Co-founder of the Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia
'Helga Dittmar is an internationally recognised expert on the social psychology of consumption and its relationship to identity and well being. Her accessible prose style and her convincing use of experimental evidence, much of which has been collected by Helga and her research colleagues, culminates in a message that needs to be heard.' – Alan Lewis, Professor of Economic Psychology, University of Bath
"Dr. Dittmar has done us a great service by writing a book on the importance of 'consuming' to society and to individual identity and well-being that is both scholarly and accessible. The book tackles some tough questions regarding who and what people want to be, how they go about constructing their 'selves', and just what is it that people want from life and why. I wish more research psychologists were writing books like this." - James E. Maddux, George Mason University, Washington, USA
"Dittmar's book provides a valuable review of her ground-breaking psychological studies of consumer culture. In my mind, the book's strongest contribution is its explication of how identity-related processes help explain the damage that occurs when individuals take on the materialistic values and unhealthy body images encouraged in our contemporary world." - Tim Kasser, Knox College, USA
"[This book] discusses an important and timely issue - the psychological impact of mass consumption that visibly pervades our consumer culture. ... The author makes a contribution by focusing on identity." - Candice R. Hollenbeck & George M. Zinkhan, PsycCRITIQUES
ISBN: 9781848720626
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 550g
296 pages