from
Peer pressure, targeted marketing campaigns and bad parenting have all been blamed for increasing materialism in children. Until now, there has been little evidence showing when this drive for material goods emerges in kids and what really causes it. In one of the first studies to focus on the development of materialism among children, Deborah Roedder John, a professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, reveals that a young person’s level of materialism is directly connected to their self-esteem.
In her recent paper “Growing up in a Material World: Age Differences in Materialism in Children and Adolescents,” in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, John and co-author Lan Nguyen Chaplin, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Illinois and Carlson alum, report the results of two studies conducted with children in three age groups. In the first study, they found that materialism increases from middle childhood (8 and 9 years old) to early adolescence (12 and 13 years old) but then declines by the end of high school (16 to18 years old). This mirrors patterns in self-esteem, which instead decreases in early adolescence but increases in late adolescence.
“The level of materialism in teens is directly driven by self-esteem,” said John. “When self-esteem drops as children enter adolescence, materialism peaks. Then by late adolescence, when self-esteem rebounds, their materialism drops.”
In a second study, John and Chaplin boosted self-esteem by giving children positive information about peer acceptance. Children were given paper plates with positive descriptors about them, such as smart and fun, which were provided by their peers in a summer camp setting. This seemingly small gesture drastically reduced the high levels of materialism found among 12 to13 year-olds and the moderate levels of materialism found among 16 to 18 year-olds.
“Particularly relevant,” said John, “is the fact that by simply increasing self-esteem in teens, we see a decreased focus on material goods that parallels that of young children. While peers and marketing can certainly influence teens, materialism is directly connected to self-esteem.”
For parents interested in instilling positive values in their children and teens, the message is clear: encouraging a sense of self-worth among young people can reduce the emphasis on material goods. In other words, more self-esteem, fewer $150 athletic shoes and $250 purses.
Source: University of Minnesota
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Taking 5 days to work toward the goal of happiness
from
Tal Ben-Shahar’s "Happier" is hard to ignore. There it is on the new-releases table. There it is on "The Daily Show," NPR, Fox News. It’s a talker.
But is it any good?
The premise is enticing: Ben-Shahar offered a positive psychology course at Harvard in 2002. Eight students enrolled and two dropped out. But word quickly spread through campus that this class was life-changing. Today he regularly lectures to classes of 1,400 students, relying largely on the principles found in "Happier."
If you’ve ever wanted to take a class at Harvard, but found yourself stymied by pesky logistics (money, geography, that whole admissions thing), here’s your chance.
Follow along on my five-day journey toward The Ultimate Currency (that’s Harvard-speak for happiness), as guided by the principles in Ben-Shahar’s book "Happier."
TAKING 5 DAYS TO WORK TOWARD THE GOAL OF HAPPINESS
Day 1: Chapters 1-4
Turns out there’s going to be homework. Ben-Shahar warns us early on that he doesn’t believe in "shortcuts to meaningful change."
"If this book is to have a real impact on your life, you have to treat it as a workbook," he writes in the preface. That means taking time to reflect on the numerous "Time-Ins" peppered throughout the text and completing the exercises at the end of each chapter.
My first reaction, of course, is to wonder how many assignments I actually have to do. (Possible glimpse into why I never made it to Harvard.) Then I remember that I’m not doing this for a grade. I’m doing it for my own psychological enrichment. Fine, I’ll do the homework.
I learn the following:
— Happiness eludes three archetypes: hedonists, who enjoy the present without considering the future; rat racers, who suffer now in the hopes of future happiness; and nihilists, who have lost all joy for the present or future. "Happiness archetypes," of course, find a way to strive for happiness now and in the future. Once you figure out which archetype you are (using the Time-Ins), you can learn to stop acting so much like yourself and embark on your journey to enlightenment.
— To be truly happy, you need to have both pleasure and meaning in your life. "Identifying the right activity, and then the right quantity for each activity, leads to the highest quality of life." In other words, find a job you like, but don’t ignore your family once you land it. Or jump feet-first into stay-at-home-parenting, but don’t ignore your friends and hobbies in the process. And so on.
— Money, duh, can’t buy happiness. Hardly a new theme, and the book devotes a little too much time to it, in my opinion. Then again, maybe it’s a message that Harvard students need to be reminded of, with their jam-packed resumes and lucrative internships and mounting student loans.
Helpful exercises: Write down at least five things for which you’re grateful each day. Come up with six or more endings to some of the following sentence stems: "If I bring 5 percent more awareness to my life ..." "If I take more responsibility for fulfilling my wants ..." "If I were willing to say yes when I want to say yes and no when I want to say no ..."
Day 2: Chapters 5-7
I’m frankly a bit sick of myself and my search for happiness today. I feel ashamed and pointless as I read about psychologist Philip Brickman and his study that found lottery winners return to their original happiness levels within a month of striking it rich.
Still, I forge through the next three chapters and find plenty that I have either never thought about or need to be reminded of frequently. One section talks about the importance of setting and meeting your own goals. A person should choose goals that "stem from a desire to express part of herself rather than from the need to impress others. We pursue these goals not because others think we should or because we feel obligated to but because we really want to - because we find them significant and enjoyable."
Eye opener: In writing about the courage it takes to abandon a comfort zone, especially at work, Ben-Shahar writes the following: "Had we found ourselves in a job that did not afford us our basic material needs, we would do everything in our power to change our predicament. So why do we set lower standards for ourselves when the ultimate currency - when our own happiness - is at stake?"
Day 3: Chapter 8
I’m starting to see why this is such a hit in college. "If, then, there are actual reasons for loving someone, if there are certain conditions under which we fall in love," Ben-Shahar writes, "can there be such a thing as unconditional love? Or is the idea of unconditional love fundamentally unreasonable?"
I loved that stuff in college. Sitting around a smoke-filled room at 3 a.m. with a lot of alcohol - but little life experience - clouding my righteous brain. Now it comes off a tad indulgent but raises some interesting points. And what would a happiness book be if it didn’t address relationships?
How to improve yours: Write a gratitude letter to a loved one - a romantic partner, a close friend, a family member. More sentence completion: "To be a better partner ..." "If I take more responsibility for fulfilling my desires ..." "Being in love means ..."
Day 4: Chapters 9-15
The remaining seven chapters are "Meditations on Happiness." They’re also the strongest in the book. Highlights:
— This quote from Chapter 9: "Contributing to other people’s happiness provides us with meaning and pleasure, which is why helping others is one of the essential components of a happy life."
— This exercise from Chapter 13: Imagine yourself at 110 years old, offering advice to your current self. Would you tell yourself to spend more time with your family? Find a more fulfilling career? Think of this 110-year-old as your inner sage.
— This reminder from Chapter 15: "We must first accept that ’this is it’ - that all there is to life is the day-to-day, the ordinary, the details of the mosaic. We are living a happy life when we derive pleasure and meaning while spending time with our loved ones, or learning something new, or engaging in a project at work. ... This is all there is to it."
Day 5: Reflecting
I don’t know how long I’ll keep up the exercises. I doubt I’ll make time to meditate daily, as Chapter 2 recommends. But I think I’ll carry with me a lot of what I read in the book, and I get the feeling that’s all Ben-Shahar is hoping for.
"There is very little that any philosophy, psychology or self-help book can teach us that is new about attaining the ultimate currency," he writes. "The most a book or teacher can do is to help raise our awareness, to help us become more fully in touch with what we already know."
Tal Ben-Shahar’s "Happier" is hard to ignore. There it is on the new-releases table. There it is on "The Daily Show," NPR, Fox News. It’s a talker.
But is it any good?
The premise is enticing: Ben-Shahar offered a positive psychology course at Harvard in 2002. Eight students enrolled and two dropped out. But word quickly spread through campus that this class was life-changing. Today he regularly lectures to classes of 1,400 students, relying largely on the principles found in "Happier."
If you’ve ever wanted to take a class at Harvard, but found yourself stymied by pesky logistics (money, geography, that whole admissions thing), here’s your chance.
Follow along on my five-day journey toward The Ultimate Currency (that’s Harvard-speak for happiness), as guided by the principles in Ben-Shahar’s book "Happier."
TAKING 5 DAYS TO WORK TOWARD THE GOAL OF HAPPINESS
Day 1: Chapters 1-4
Turns out there’s going to be homework. Ben-Shahar warns us early on that he doesn’t believe in "shortcuts to meaningful change."
"If this book is to have a real impact on your life, you have to treat it as a workbook," he writes in the preface. That means taking time to reflect on the numerous "Time-Ins" peppered throughout the text and completing the exercises at the end of each chapter.
My first reaction, of course, is to wonder how many assignments I actually have to do. (Possible glimpse into why I never made it to Harvard.) Then I remember that I’m not doing this for a grade. I’m doing it for my own psychological enrichment. Fine, I’ll do the homework.
I learn the following:
— Happiness eludes three archetypes: hedonists, who enjoy the present without considering the future; rat racers, who suffer now in the hopes of future happiness; and nihilists, who have lost all joy for the present or future. "Happiness archetypes," of course, find a way to strive for happiness now and in the future. Once you figure out which archetype you are (using the Time-Ins), you can learn to stop acting so much like yourself and embark on your journey to enlightenment.
— To be truly happy, you need to have both pleasure and meaning in your life. "Identifying the right activity, and then the right quantity for each activity, leads to the highest quality of life." In other words, find a job you like, but don’t ignore your family once you land it. Or jump feet-first into stay-at-home-parenting, but don’t ignore your friends and hobbies in the process. And so on.
— Money, duh, can’t buy happiness. Hardly a new theme, and the book devotes a little too much time to it, in my opinion. Then again, maybe it’s a message that Harvard students need to be reminded of, with their jam-packed resumes and lucrative internships and mounting student loans.
Helpful exercises: Write down at least five things for which you’re grateful each day. Come up with six or more endings to some of the following sentence stems: "If I bring 5 percent more awareness to my life ..." "If I take more responsibility for fulfilling my wants ..." "If I were willing to say yes when I want to say yes and no when I want to say no ..."
Day 2: Chapters 5-7
I’m frankly a bit sick of myself and my search for happiness today. I feel ashamed and pointless as I read about psychologist Philip Brickman and his study that found lottery winners return to their original happiness levels within a month of striking it rich.
Still, I forge through the next three chapters and find plenty that I have either never thought about or need to be reminded of frequently. One section talks about the importance of setting and meeting your own goals. A person should choose goals that "stem from a desire to express part of herself rather than from the need to impress others. We pursue these goals not because others think we should or because we feel obligated to but because we really want to - because we find them significant and enjoyable."
Eye opener: In writing about the courage it takes to abandon a comfort zone, especially at work, Ben-Shahar writes the following: "Had we found ourselves in a job that did not afford us our basic material needs, we would do everything in our power to change our predicament. So why do we set lower standards for ourselves when the ultimate currency - when our own happiness - is at stake?"
Day 3: Chapter 8
I’m starting to see why this is such a hit in college. "If, then, there are actual reasons for loving someone, if there are certain conditions under which we fall in love," Ben-Shahar writes, "can there be such a thing as unconditional love? Or is the idea of unconditional love fundamentally unreasonable?"
I loved that stuff in college. Sitting around a smoke-filled room at 3 a.m. with a lot of alcohol - but little life experience - clouding my righteous brain. Now it comes off a tad indulgent but raises some interesting points. And what would a happiness book be if it didn’t address relationships?
How to improve yours: Write a gratitude letter to a loved one - a romantic partner, a close friend, a family member. More sentence completion: "To be a better partner ..." "If I take more responsibility for fulfilling my desires ..." "Being in love means ..."
Day 4: Chapters 9-15
The remaining seven chapters are "Meditations on Happiness." They’re also the strongest in the book. Highlights:
— This quote from Chapter 9: "Contributing to other people’s happiness provides us with meaning and pleasure, which is why helping others is one of the essential components of a happy life."
— This exercise from Chapter 13: Imagine yourself at 110 years old, offering advice to your current self. Would you tell yourself to spend more time with your family? Find a more fulfilling career? Think of this 110-year-old as your inner sage.
— This reminder from Chapter 15: "We must first accept that ’this is it’ - that all there is to life is the day-to-day, the ordinary, the details of the mosaic. We are living a happy life when we derive pleasure and meaning while spending time with our loved ones, or learning something new, or engaging in a project at work. ... This is all there is to it."
Day 5: Reflecting
I don’t know how long I’ll keep up the exercises. I doubt I’ll make time to meditate daily, as Chapter 2 recommends. But I think I’ll carry with me a lot of what I read in the book, and I get the feeling that’s all Ben-Shahar is hoping for.
"There is very little that any philosophy, psychology or self-help book can teach us that is new about attaining the ultimate currency," he writes. "The most a book or teacher can do is to help raise our awareness, to help us become more fully in touch with what we already know."
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Six Child Zen Tips
from http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/how-to-be-naked-like-a-baby/
Each of us will always have that child-like innocence somewhere within us, the part of us who is present, happy, positive, playful, joyous and compassionate. The following are six simple practices to help us free and get in touch with the inner child within us:
1. Being with the moment. Practice being present in the moment, by giving your full attention to each task you perform. I’ve come to realize that it really doesn’t matter what I’m doing, as long as I bring present in the act, I will find joy in it. Regardless of what you are doing, do it fully! Be aware of little details, relax your mind, and bring awareness into everything you are doing.
2. Explore. Practice seeing things from new perspectives. Imagine you are seeing and doing everything for the first time - everything will seem so much more amazing when you view life in that light. What do you notice in this moment doing this task that you haven’t noticed before? Look for small details to appreciate.
3. Laugh & Smile. Nothing can bring out the child in you faster than a good belly laugh. Rent a comedy, tell a joke, act silly with a friend, do a ‘happy dance’. Find something that’ll make you laugh.
4. Play. What did you enjoy doing as a child? Did you jump rope? Ride your bike? Climb a tree? Watch a trail of ants? What’s stopping you from enjoying those simple things now? Give your childhood pastimes a try. You might really enjoy them and brings back fond memories. If not, do something you consider playful as an adult. Pull a prank on a close friend, build a spaceship with Lego, draw with colored crayons, dance like no one’s watching, go to an amusement park, turn up the music real loud and start singing, slide around the house in your underwear. :)
5. Run. If there’s one thing that children are good at, it’s running around (or skipping). They seem to have a never-ending supply of energy. Find a park and try for yourself. (And I’m not talking about exercising. I’m talking about running around for no purpose at all except to have fun.) It’s energizing, right? Combine running with laughing and hilarity will ensue! I periodically do this with my dog. We do this in the apartment too. It’s fun!
6. Practice acceptance and forgiveness. Children have the right idea with this. Not only will practicing forgiveness benefit those around you, it will greatly increase your own peace and inner harmony. Feel your feelings, but then let them go. Let yourself forgive others.
Each of us will always have that child-like innocence somewhere within us, the part of us who is present, happy, positive, playful, joyous and compassionate. The following are six simple practices to help us free and get in touch with the inner child within us:
1. Being with the moment. Practice being present in the moment, by giving your full attention to each task you perform. I’ve come to realize that it really doesn’t matter what I’m doing, as long as I bring present in the act, I will find joy in it. Regardless of what you are doing, do it fully! Be aware of little details, relax your mind, and bring awareness into everything you are doing.
2. Explore. Practice seeing things from new perspectives. Imagine you are seeing and doing everything for the first time - everything will seem so much more amazing when you view life in that light. What do you notice in this moment doing this task that you haven’t noticed before? Look for small details to appreciate.
3. Laugh & Smile. Nothing can bring out the child in you faster than a good belly laugh. Rent a comedy, tell a joke, act silly with a friend, do a ‘happy dance’. Find something that’ll make you laugh.
4. Play. What did you enjoy doing as a child? Did you jump rope? Ride your bike? Climb a tree? Watch a trail of ants? What’s stopping you from enjoying those simple things now? Give your childhood pastimes a try. You might really enjoy them and brings back fond memories. If not, do something you consider playful as an adult. Pull a prank on a close friend, build a spaceship with Lego, draw with colored crayons, dance like no one’s watching, go to an amusement park, turn up the music real loud and start singing, slide around the house in your underwear. :)
5. Run. If there’s one thing that children are good at, it’s running around (or skipping). They seem to have a never-ending supply of energy. Find a park and try for yourself. (And I’m not talking about exercising. I’m talking about running around for no purpose at all except to have fun.) It’s energizing, right? Combine running with laughing and hilarity will ensue! I periodically do this with my dog. We do this in the apartment too. It’s fun!
6. Practice acceptance and forgiveness. Children have the right idea with this. Not only will practicing forgiveness benefit those around you, it will greatly increase your own peace and inner harmony. Feel your feelings, but then let them go. Let yourself forgive others.
Stuff is not happiness
Vayishlah
Genesis 32:4-36:43
by Rabbi Joyce Newmark
a resident of Teaneck, is a former religious leader of congregations in Leonia and Lancaster, Pa.
11.22.07
from http://www.njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/112207/porStuffIsNot.html
This Shabbat begins on the day known as Black Friday — the day the holiday shopping frenzy begins. People gather in the dark and cold to be the first through the doors of stores that open at 5 or 6 a.m., determined to get their hands on the hottest gifts at the lowest prices.
I don't get it. I do understand buying presents for kids — that's actually a lot of fun. What I don't get is the frantic gift exchanging among adults. It's true that you don't see it much in Jewish families (perhaps people really do understand that Hanukka is a minor holiday), but when I worked in the business world, I watched coworkers making themselves crazy trying to find something — anything — to give to aunts, cousins, brothers-in-law, and others to whom they were not particularly close but to whom they felt obligated to give a holiday present.
This has to be the explanation for Chia Pets, electric hot dog cookers, inedible fruitcakes, and all sorts of hideous, dust-collecting holiday tchotchkes. Does anybody really need these things? Does anybody even really want them? But gift-giving is the tradition, so all this stuff is purchased, wrapped, exchanged, and exclaimed over (not to mention re-gifted).
And, as it happens, our Torah portion this week opens with a story about gift-giving. As Jacob enters the land of Canaan after 20 years at the home of his uncle and father-in-law Laban in Padan Aram, he sends gifts of goats, sheep, camels, cattle, and asses to his brother Esau. And when Esau and his men arrive at Jacob's camp, they enact the ritual required by etiquette. Esau at first refuses his brother's gift: "I have a lot (rav), my brother, let what you have remain yours." But Jacob insists: "Please accept my gift which has been brought to you, for God has favored me and I have everything (kol)."
Jacob and Esau are both wealthy men, but one says he has a lot (rav) and the other says he has everything (kol). This is what the Hafetz Hayim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir haCohen, 1835-1933, Poland) had to say about the difference: Through these statements we see the difference in worldview between Jacob and Esau. Esau said he had a lot — even though he had a large amount, he would still want more, for whoever has a hundred wants two hundred. Jacob, however, said "I have everything" — I am not missing anything at all. Esau constantly wanted more, while Jacob felt great satisfaction with what he had.
The point isn't that wealth is bad or that you shouldn't work to acquire the good things in life. We all have possessions that we treasure. Rather, it's a matter of attitude. As long as you think, If I only had one more thing — a Mercedes, a vacation home in the mountains, a swimming pool, fabulous jewelry, whatever your fantasy may be — I'd be happy, you'll never be happy. As soon as you acquire that one thing you wish for, there will be something else you will think of that you absolutely must have.
Happiness isn't a matter of stuff. Happiness comes from looking at what you do have — not just the things, of course, but family, friends, community, your accomplishments, and your dreams — and realizing that God truly has blessed you with everything.
In Pirkei Avot Ben Zoma taught, "Who is rich? The one who is happy with his portion." So why not skip the mall — at least for a day — and drop in at shul to thank God for all the gifts you have been given.
Genesis 32:4-36:43
by Rabbi Joyce Newmark
a resident of Teaneck, is a former religious leader of congregations in Leonia and Lancaster, Pa.
11.22.07
from http://www.njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/112207/porStuffIsNot.html
This Shabbat begins on the day known as Black Friday — the day the holiday shopping frenzy begins. People gather in the dark and cold to be the first through the doors of stores that open at 5 or 6 a.m., determined to get their hands on the hottest gifts at the lowest prices.
I don't get it. I do understand buying presents for kids — that's actually a lot of fun. What I don't get is the frantic gift exchanging among adults. It's true that you don't see it much in Jewish families (perhaps people really do understand that Hanukka is a minor holiday), but when I worked in the business world, I watched coworkers making themselves crazy trying to find something — anything — to give to aunts, cousins, brothers-in-law, and others to whom they were not particularly close but to whom they felt obligated to give a holiday present.
This has to be the explanation for Chia Pets, electric hot dog cookers, inedible fruitcakes, and all sorts of hideous, dust-collecting holiday tchotchkes. Does anybody really need these things? Does anybody even really want them? But gift-giving is the tradition, so all this stuff is purchased, wrapped, exchanged, and exclaimed over (not to mention re-gifted).
And, as it happens, our Torah portion this week opens with a story about gift-giving. As Jacob enters the land of Canaan after 20 years at the home of his uncle and father-in-law Laban in Padan Aram, he sends gifts of goats, sheep, camels, cattle, and asses to his brother Esau. And when Esau and his men arrive at Jacob's camp, they enact the ritual required by etiquette. Esau at first refuses his brother's gift: "I have a lot (rav), my brother, let what you have remain yours." But Jacob insists: "Please accept my gift which has been brought to you, for God has favored me and I have everything (kol)."
Jacob and Esau are both wealthy men, but one says he has a lot (rav) and the other says he has everything (kol). This is what the Hafetz Hayim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir haCohen, 1835-1933, Poland) had to say about the difference: Through these statements we see the difference in worldview between Jacob and Esau. Esau said he had a lot — even though he had a large amount, he would still want more, for whoever has a hundred wants two hundred. Jacob, however, said "I have everything" — I am not missing anything at all. Esau constantly wanted more, while Jacob felt great satisfaction with what he had.
The point isn't that wealth is bad or that you shouldn't work to acquire the good things in life. We all have possessions that we treasure. Rather, it's a matter of attitude. As long as you think, If I only had one more thing — a Mercedes, a vacation home in the mountains, a swimming pool, fabulous jewelry, whatever your fantasy may be — I'd be happy, you'll never be happy. As soon as you acquire that one thing you wish for, there will be something else you will think of that you absolutely must have.
Happiness isn't a matter of stuff. Happiness comes from looking at what you do have — not just the things, of course, but family, friends, community, your accomplishments, and your dreams — and realizing that God truly has blessed you with everything.
In Pirkei Avot Ben Zoma taught, "Who is rich? The one who is happy with his portion." So why not skip the mall — at least for a day — and drop in at shul to thank God for all the gifts you have been given.
Googling happiness keys to longevity
By Toni Walthall \ Editor
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 11:07 AM CST
from http://www.jacksonvillepatriot.com/articles/2007/11/21/jacksonville_patriot/news/news01.txt
Renowned geriatrics specialist Dr. David A. Lipschitz chats with Terri Roy at the Jacksonville Senior Center Nov. 12. Lipschitz entertained the crowd with his insight on how to live long, fulfilling lives.
Called the Dr. Spock of aging, Dr. David A. Lipschitz taught local seniors how to break the rules of aging.
Lipschitz, one of the most renowned geriatricians in the world, shared his approach to longevity, which he says is steeped in health and happiness.
The best-selling author, columnist and TV personality empowers people with the tools to live longer, happier and healthier lives by giving this advice: Eat right, exercise, Google and never trust a doctor.
“To take advantage of the American health-care system, you must be an educated consumer,” Lipschitz told Jacksonville seniors last week. “Don’t believe everything your doctor tells you.”
Encouraging people to take advantage of all educational resources available, Lipschitz urged seniors to learn how to Google — a brand name for a popular Internet search engine.
Don’t trust a doctor, he’s just making a living,” he said. “Seek a second opinion. If you develop a serious illness, make sure you study it. Learn to ask questions and talk intelligently to your doctor.”
“Dysfuntional” is the word used by Lipschitz in referring to the American health-care system.
“It is broken, “ he said. “We spend two to ten times more per capita on health care than any developed nation in the world. Look at the United States of America. We are not the healthiest nation in the world.”
Comparing the government-funded British health-care system to the privatized American system, Lipschitz said, “Britain has an inconvenient health-care system, but it’s a right available to every citizen, if you like to wait. [America] has all kinds of problem, but even in the best healthcare system in the nation — the VA— you wait. If you can pay, you don’t wait in the American system, but if you can’t pay, then you wait. Forty-seven million Americans can’t pay. So over a quarter of our society has no healthcare at all — and they wait.”
Lipschitz said that people with adequate income and insurance are fortunate enough to avoid long delays in healthcare, but too often, that has its own pitfalls.
“They get unnecessary, inappropriate and senseless healthcare - Too many procedures that do more harm than good and prescribed medicines that cause more problems than they solve,” he said. “We can slice and dice better than the British, but we don’t do prevention.
We don’t use evidence-based medicine. It’s an industry with one goal in mind, to make money. As a consequence, you may not do as well as you should.”
According to Lipschitz, good health is only part of the equation for longevity.
“Love and laughter is the other part,” he said. “Laughter is a healing source.
“Laugh at yourself. Don’t take yourself too seriously. If you know how to cope with stress, you will be happier. Happiness brings longevity.”
Lipschitz named factors that contribute to happiness and better health, saying love is the key. The average, monogamous male will live 10 years longer if he’s married than if he is single. And it’s not because the days seem twice as long, he added.
“Happiness means having love in your life,” he said. “Date. Take advantage of friendship. Embrace the love that exists between a mother and a child, father and daughter, all of the ways that love exists in this world.”
People who live long, like 99-year-old Esther Cox, who Lipschitz referred as the 99-year-old bombshell, have traits in common —-faith, giving, a purpose in life, forgiveness and self esteem, according to Lipschitz.
“People who believe in a higher power live a healthier life, practice what your faith tells you and be spiritual. Live your definition of ‘good,’” he said.
Giving and volunteerism is “like an insurance policy for a longer life.”
Statistics indicate that people who volunteer at least 14 hours a week live five years longer than individuals who don’t volunteer.
“The more you give in relationship to what you have, the longer you live,” Lipschitz told the seniors.
He encouraged people to forgive.
“People with the capacity to forgive are healthier. Angry people are in trouble. Learn the value of forgiveness,” said Lipschitz. “And find a purpose in life. If you sit around all day watching TV, that won’t do it.”
Changing definitions of beauty is a building block in building high self esteem.
“You have to have self love,” said Lipschitz. “You have to realize that beauty has nothing to do with your face. Beauty is the contributions you make to your community, your commitments, your children. Those are the things that make us beautiful. Not physical attributes.”
People must be responsible for each other.
“We can’t rely on the federal, state and city government to help us. We need to help ourselves. That means we live and work together as one, as a family — families who are related by blood, by communities, by churches, by cities, states and countries,” he said.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 11:07 AM CST
from http://www.jacksonvillepatriot.com/articles/2007/11/21/jacksonville_patriot/news/news01.txt
Renowned geriatrics specialist Dr. David A. Lipschitz chats with Terri Roy at the Jacksonville Senior Center Nov. 12. Lipschitz entertained the crowd with his insight on how to live long, fulfilling lives.
Called the Dr. Spock of aging, Dr. David A. Lipschitz taught local seniors how to break the rules of aging.
Lipschitz, one of the most renowned geriatricians in the world, shared his approach to longevity, which he says is steeped in health and happiness.
The best-selling author, columnist and TV personality empowers people with the tools to live longer, happier and healthier lives by giving this advice: Eat right, exercise, Google and never trust a doctor.
“To take advantage of the American health-care system, you must be an educated consumer,” Lipschitz told Jacksonville seniors last week. “Don’t believe everything your doctor tells you.”
Encouraging people to take advantage of all educational resources available, Lipschitz urged seniors to learn how to Google — a brand name for a popular Internet search engine.
Don’t trust a doctor, he’s just making a living,” he said. “Seek a second opinion. If you develop a serious illness, make sure you study it. Learn to ask questions and talk intelligently to your doctor.”
“Dysfuntional” is the word used by Lipschitz in referring to the American health-care system.
“It is broken, “ he said. “We spend two to ten times more per capita on health care than any developed nation in the world. Look at the United States of America. We are not the healthiest nation in the world.”
Comparing the government-funded British health-care system to the privatized American system, Lipschitz said, “Britain has an inconvenient health-care system, but it’s a right available to every citizen, if you like to wait. [America] has all kinds of problem, but even in the best healthcare system in the nation — the VA— you wait. If you can pay, you don’t wait in the American system, but if you can’t pay, then you wait. Forty-seven million Americans can’t pay. So over a quarter of our society has no healthcare at all — and they wait.”
Lipschitz said that people with adequate income and insurance are fortunate enough to avoid long delays in healthcare, but too often, that has its own pitfalls.
“They get unnecessary, inappropriate and senseless healthcare - Too many procedures that do more harm than good and prescribed medicines that cause more problems than they solve,” he said. “We can slice and dice better than the British, but we don’t do prevention.
We don’t use evidence-based medicine. It’s an industry with one goal in mind, to make money. As a consequence, you may not do as well as you should.”
According to Lipschitz, good health is only part of the equation for longevity.
“Love and laughter is the other part,” he said. “Laughter is a healing source.
“Laugh at yourself. Don’t take yourself too seriously. If you know how to cope with stress, you will be happier. Happiness brings longevity.”
Lipschitz named factors that contribute to happiness and better health, saying love is the key. The average, monogamous male will live 10 years longer if he’s married than if he is single. And it’s not because the days seem twice as long, he added.
“Happiness means having love in your life,” he said. “Date. Take advantage of friendship. Embrace the love that exists between a mother and a child, father and daughter, all of the ways that love exists in this world.”
People who live long, like 99-year-old Esther Cox, who Lipschitz referred as the 99-year-old bombshell, have traits in common —-faith, giving, a purpose in life, forgiveness and self esteem, according to Lipschitz.
“People who believe in a higher power live a healthier life, practice what your faith tells you and be spiritual. Live your definition of ‘good,’” he said.
Giving and volunteerism is “like an insurance policy for a longer life.”
Statistics indicate that people who volunteer at least 14 hours a week live five years longer than individuals who don’t volunteer.
“The more you give in relationship to what you have, the longer you live,” Lipschitz told the seniors.
He encouraged people to forgive.
“People with the capacity to forgive are healthier. Angry people are in trouble. Learn the value of forgiveness,” said Lipschitz. “And find a purpose in life. If you sit around all day watching TV, that won’t do it.”
Changing definitions of beauty is a building block in building high self esteem.
“You have to have self love,” said Lipschitz. “You have to realize that beauty has nothing to do with your face. Beauty is the contributions you make to your community, your commitments, your children. Those are the things that make us beautiful. Not physical attributes.”
People must be responsible for each other.
“We can’t rely on the federal, state and city government to help us. We need to help ourselves. That means we live and work together as one, as a family — families who are related by blood, by communities, by churches, by cities, states and countries,” he said.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Nothing to fear but modern life
from TheStar.com
It will surprise almost no one to learn that a public opinion survey released yesterday suggests depression and stress are rising in the Canadian workforce.
But, tempting as it is to think otherwise, it's not necessarily our jobs and bosses grinding us down and fraying our nerves, the study says. It's modern life itself.
As put by Bill Wilkerson, founder of the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, the source of our mounting distress is "a complex of social pressures gathering like storm clouds across the work and family lives of Canadians."
Probably nothing – outside of war and George W. Bush, which can only add to our stress and depression – has been studied in recent years quite so much as our own (rising) anxiety and (increasingly manic) search for happiness.
Volumes say our cerebral circuits and capacity for contentment have been all but blown by the "techno-creep" of a 24/7, fast-forward, multi-tasking world.
There are books saying we've been rendered despairing by an unprecedented range of distant or abstract things to fret about.
A syndrome called "anticipation-induced anxiety" says many of us are so obsessed with what the future might bring we often overlook how good we have it now.
We suffer "status anxiety," "choice anxiety," "collapse anxiety." And that's not the only way we are our own worst enemies.
Research suggests we're happier around other people, that the married are happier than the single, people happier in big families than in small – yet our relationships are increasingly virtual, marriage is an endangered species and the birth rate dwindles apace.
As much as anything, analysts say, we're made disconsolate by our outlandish expectations, comparisons no longer made with the Joneses next door, but elites of Hollywood, Wall Street, Silicon Valley.
In Hello, I'm Special, Hal Niedviecki notes pop-cult narratives tell us "that, despite ordinariness, you too can be special, super, noticed, discovered, successful."
What a downer it is to find it ain't necessarily so.
Gregg Easterbrook's book, The Progress Paradox, is an account of how, by most tangible measures, Western life has never been better, yet people keep feeling worse.
There's more of everything except happiness, he says. "We live in a favoured age but do not feel favoured."
In his book Faster, James Gleick argues we could say no to the stress-inducing mantra of newer, quicker, bigger, more. Much we complain of, he says, are choices freely and enthusiastically made.
"We humans have chosen speed and we thrive on it – more than we generally admit. Our ability to work fast and play fast gives us power. It thrills us."
Maybe so. But as Daniel Gilbert says in Stumbling on Happiness, most of us spend much of our lives turning rudders and hoisting sails "only to find that Shangri-La isn't what and where we thought it would be."
Luckily, Easterbrook cites research that might plot the course to stress reduction.
Studies have shown, he reports, the old are happier than the young; millionaires are no happier than those of average income; the disabled and chronically ill report a higher sense of well-being than the population at large (perhaps because of a heightened appreciation of life); the psychological norm is not endless euphoria, but being "slightly satisfied" with one's lot.
Cheer you up?
Didn't think so.
And you still have to go to work today.
It will surprise almost no one to learn that a public opinion survey released yesterday suggests depression and stress are rising in the Canadian workforce.
But, tempting as it is to think otherwise, it's not necessarily our jobs and bosses grinding us down and fraying our nerves, the study says. It's modern life itself.
As put by Bill Wilkerson, founder of the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, the source of our mounting distress is "a complex of social pressures gathering like storm clouds across the work and family lives of Canadians."
Probably nothing – outside of war and George W. Bush, which can only add to our stress and depression – has been studied in recent years quite so much as our own (rising) anxiety and (increasingly manic) search for happiness.
Volumes say our cerebral circuits and capacity for contentment have been all but blown by the "techno-creep" of a 24/7, fast-forward, multi-tasking world.
There are books saying we've been rendered despairing by an unprecedented range of distant or abstract things to fret about.
A syndrome called "anticipation-induced anxiety" says many of us are so obsessed with what the future might bring we often overlook how good we have it now.
We suffer "status anxiety," "choice anxiety," "collapse anxiety." And that's not the only way we are our own worst enemies.
Research suggests we're happier around other people, that the married are happier than the single, people happier in big families than in small – yet our relationships are increasingly virtual, marriage is an endangered species and the birth rate dwindles apace.
As much as anything, analysts say, we're made disconsolate by our outlandish expectations, comparisons no longer made with the Joneses next door, but elites of Hollywood, Wall Street, Silicon Valley.
In Hello, I'm Special, Hal Niedviecki notes pop-cult narratives tell us "that, despite ordinariness, you too can be special, super, noticed, discovered, successful."
What a downer it is to find it ain't necessarily so.
Gregg Easterbrook's book, The Progress Paradox, is an account of how, by most tangible measures, Western life has never been better, yet people keep feeling worse.
There's more of everything except happiness, he says. "We live in a favoured age but do not feel favoured."
In his book Faster, James Gleick argues we could say no to the stress-inducing mantra of newer, quicker, bigger, more. Much we complain of, he says, are choices freely and enthusiastically made.
"We humans have chosen speed and we thrive on it – more than we generally admit. Our ability to work fast and play fast gives us power. It thrills us."
Maybe so. But as Daniel Gilbert says in Stumbling on Happiness, most of us spend much of our lives turning rudders and hoisting sails "only to find that Shangri-La isn't what and where we thought it would be."
Luckily, Easterbrook cites research that might plot the course to stress reduction.
Studies have shown, he reports, the old are happier than the young; millionaires are no happier than those of average income; the disabled and chronically ill report a higher sense of well-being than the population at large (perhaps because of a heightened appreciation of life); the psychological norm is not endless euphoria, but being "slightly satisfied" with one's lot.
Cheer you up?
Didn't think so.
And you still have to go to work today.
Monday, November 19, 2007
The Three Types of Fun
from Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project
and the secret of why people watch so much TV.
TvphotoI’ve been thinking a lot about TV and happiness. Research published in Science magazine using the Day Reconstruction Method showed that participants ranked TV-watching very high among their daily activities.
At the same time, studies suggest that for most people, watching too much TV makes them less happy.
Whatever the studies might show, the fact is, people spend a HUGE amount of time in front of a TV set. Watching TV is probably the world’s most popular pastime and is the greatest use of time, after sleeping and work. In the U.S., people spend about five hours a day watching TV.
But -- how does TV fit into happiness?
I decided that to answer that question, I had to break “fun” into three types:
1. challenging fun
2. accommodating fun
3. relaxing fun
Challenging fun is the most rewarding, but also the most demanding.
Learning to play golf is challenging fun. First you have to learn the equipment, the rules, the vocabulary, the motions. You’re frustrated. You have to do some errands. It takes a lot of time to get any kind of mastery. But slowly it becomes more fun. You’re outside, you’re with friends, you’re gaining mastery, you’re visiting new places—that’s fun! Challenging fun takes patience, time, energy, perseverance, and a long time horizon.
Usually less challenging, but still requiring a fair bit of effort, is accommodating fun.
Going on a family trip to the zoo is accommodating fun. Sure, it’s fun, but you’re really there because you know your kid wills love it. Was it Jerry Seinfeld who said, “There’s no such thing as ‘Fun for the whole family’”? Of course, you don’t just accommodate your kids. Going to a family Thanksgiving dinner, going to a firm outing, going to dinner and a movie with friends, all require accommodation. You’re strengthening relationships, you’re building memories, you’re having fun – but perhaps not as MUCH fun as you’d have if you dictated the terms. Accommodating fun takes a lot of energy, organization, coordination with other people, and, well, accommodation.
Relaxing fun is practically effortless.
Relaxing fun is relaxing. It takes little energy. You don’t have to hone skills or take much action. There’s very little coordination with other people or preparation involved. Sitting by the pool, flipping through magazines, and watching TV are examples of relaxing fun.
Challenging fun and accommodating fun, over the long term, bring more happiness, because they're sources of those elements that make people happiest: strong personal bonds, mastery, an atmosphere of growth. Relaxing fun tends to be passive—by design.
So if relaxing fun is the least fun kind of fun, why is watching TV so popular?
Because, while we get more out of challenging fun and accommodating fun, we also must put more into it.
That’s why I started my Happiness Project by focusing on ENERGY. Many of the activities that bring the most happiness also require a lot of energy.
If you’re not disciplining yourself to get enough sleep and to exercise, for example, you’re likely going to feel exhausted by the time you get to your leisure time. You’re not going to challenge yourself to learn to grow roses, or use Photoshop, or bake bread. You’re not going to organize a bunch of friends to go bowling on the weekend or plan a party for your anniversary. You’re going to plunk down in front of the TV.
It takes energy to juggle your schedule, or attend a class, or talk to strangers, or practice several times a week, or admit your ignorance, or to run errands, or do research.
You may well have identified activities that you think would make you happier in the long run, but you’re too tired to tackle them.
So to boost happiness, if most of your leisure time is dedicated to relaxing fun, try to incorporate some challenging or accommodating fun into your day. In particular, look for activities that involve:
learning to do something new
visiting new places (even if it’s just a new store)
getting together with other people, whether with friends or strangers
If you’re too tired for anything but relaxing fun, work on your energy level:
go to sleep earlier
get some daily exercise – just a ten- or twenty-minute walk outside will give you a real boost
think of something that you’d actually look forward to doing – don’t try to be self-improving or self-sacrificing
clean out your office, your closet, or your garage – unbelievably energizing!
and the secret of why people watch so much TV.
TvphotoI’ve been thinking a lot about TV and happiness. Research published in Science magazine using the Day Reconstruction Method showed that participants ranked TV-watching very high among their daily activities.
At the same time, studies suggest that for most people, watching too much TV makes them less happy.
Whatever the studies might show, the fact is, people spend a HUGE amount of time in front of a TV set. Watching TV is probably the world’s most popular pastime and is the greatest use of time, after sleeping and work. In the U.S., people spend about five hours a day watching TV.
But -- how does TV fit into happiness?
I decided that to answer that question, I had to break “fun” into three types:
1. challenging fun
2. accommodating fun
3. relaxing fun
Challenging fun is the most rewarding, but also the most demanding.
Learning to play golf is challenging fun. First you have to learn the equipment, the rules, the vocabulary, the motions. You’re frustrated. You have to do some errands. It takes a lot of time to get any kind of mastery. But slowly it becomes more fun. You’re outside, you’re with friends, you’re gaining mastery, you’re visiting new places—that’s fun! Challenging fun takes patience, time, energy, perseverance, and a long time horizon.
Usually less challenging, but still requiring a fair bit of effort, is accommodating fun.
Going on a family trip to the zoo is accommodating fun. Sure, it’s fun, but you’re really there because you know your kid wills love it. Was it Jerry Seinfeld who said, “There’s no such thing as ‘Fun for the whole family’”? Of course, you don’t just accommodate your kids. Going to a family Thanksgiving dinner, going to a firm outing, going to dinner and a movie with friends, all require accommodation. You’re strengthening relationships, you’re building memories, you’re having fun – but perhaps not as MUCH fun as you’d have if you dictated the terms. Accommodating fun takes a lot of energy, organization, coordination with other people, and, well, accommodation.
Relaxing fun is practically effortless.
Relaxing fun is relaxing. It takes little energy. You don’t have to hone skills or take much action. There’s very little coordination with other people or preparation involved. Sitting by the pool, flipping through magazines, and watching TV are examples of relaxing fun.
Challenging fun and accommodating fun, over the long term, bring more happiness, because they're sources of those elements that make people happiest: strong personal bonds, mastery, an atmosphere of growth. Relaxing fun tends to be passive—by design.
So if relaxing fun is the least fun kind of fun, why is watching TV so popular?
Because, while we get more out of challenging fun and accommodating fun, we also must put more into it.
That’s why I started my Happiness Project by focusing on ENERGY. Many of the activities that bring the most happiness also require a lot of energy.
If you’re not disciplining yourself to get enough sleep and to exercise, for example, you’re likely going to feel exhausted by the time you get to your leisure time. You’re not going to challenge yourself to learn to grow roses, or use Photoshop, or bake bread. You’re not going to organize a bunch of friends to go bowling on the weekend or plan a party for your anniversary. You’re going to plunk down in front of the TV.
It takes energy to juggle your schedule, or attend a class, or talk to strangers, or practice several times a week, or admit your ignorance, or to run errands, or do research.
You may well have identified activities that you think would make you happier in the long run, but you’re too tired to tackle them.
So to boost happiness, if most of your leisure time is dedicated to relaxing fun, try to incorporate some challenging or accommodating fun into your day. In particular, look for activities that involve:
learning to do something new
visiting new places (even if it’s just a new store)
getting together with other people, whether with friends or strangers
If you’re too tired for anything but relaxing fun, work on your energy level:
go to sleep earlier
get some daily exercise – just a ten- or twenty-minute walk outside will give you a real boost
think of something that you’d actually look forward to doing – don’t try to be self-improving or self-sacrificing
clean out your office, your closet, or your garage – unbelievably energizing!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
The Way To Achieve Lasting Happiness
(lost ref)
Happiness is of three kinds: Sattvika, rajasika and tamasika. The Gita says sattvika happiness is that which initially appears to be akin to poison but ultimately it is like nectar. If we are used to late nights, then getting up early morning to study or exercise is very difficult, But if we do wake up early and do such activities regularly, it results in long-lasting happiness.
Sattvika happiness is born out of grace, blessings and Self-knowledge. Generally our mind is extrovert. We know well the joy of sense pleasure, but we do not know the joy which is possible in a mind that is pure, contemplative, and in meditation. If we get a taste of such happiness we will leave rajasika and tamasika joys. The glamour and charm of sense pleasures no longer hold any attraction. When the source of happiness is discovered in our hearts, we will no more depend on the world to derive happiness.
Such happiness is seen in the life of men like Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Ramana Maharshi, Swami Chinmayananda and others. Despite their physical ailments they remained ever-blissful. But for this one has to live a life of discipline with regular spiritual practice and study of the scriptures, and meditation. These seem difficult but result in happiness.
The Gita says rajasika happiness is that which arises out of contact between the sense organs and sense objects. It initially is like nectar but results in sorrow like poison. Such happiness depends on external factors like availability of the object, and mood for enjoyment. Rajasika joy leads to greed, a glimpse of it to dissatisfaction, more of it to indulgence, repetition, repetition to addiction, loss of it to pain and so on.
No pain arises from realising the source of happiness within. None complains of too much happiness or boredom with external bliss. But one does get sick of sense plea-sures and the law of diminishing returns comes into play. Hence even if there may be initial joy, rajasika happiness is momentary, enslaving and problematic.
The Gita says tamasika happiness is that which deludes a person in the beginning and end and arises out of laziness and forgetfulness. The joy of sleep is tamasika but it is vital for us to get refreshed and rejuvenated. But the joy referred to here is the joy of a person who sleeps all the time.
One is physical sleep, and the other is sleep of ignorance from which people do not wish to be awakened. They declare that “ignorance is bliss” and wish to remain in it. One experiences the joy of being lazy and postponing work.
One remembers duties but does not do them. Some do not even remember them. Some are quite proud of forgetting them and give it as a seemingly valid excuse for not doing the task. Some revel in the joy of drinking, smoking, getting stoned, gambling and so on.
These habits completely delude one’s mind and such a person cannot achieve anything high or noble. In fact, the person suffers all the time, but deludes himself into thinking that he is enjoying life. There is no peace, no inner satisfaction, and no sense of achievement or success.
Sattvika happiness appears difficult initially, but results in lasting happiness and liberates like nectar. Rajasika happiness is like poison and tamasika happiness deludes one, stops all progress. One with a sattvika vision, under-standing and fortitude surely gets sattvika happiness.
Happiness is of three kinds: Sattvika, rajasika and tamasika. The Gita says sattvika happiness is that which initially appears to be akin to poison but ultimately it is like nectar. If we are used to late nights, then getting up early morning to study or exercise is very difficult, But if we do wake up early and do such activities regularly, it results in long-lasting happiness.
Sattvika happiness is born out of grace, blessings and Self-knowledge. Generally our mind is extrovert. We know well the joy of sense pleasure, but we do not know the joy which is possible in a mind that is pure, contemplative, and in meditation. If we get a taste of such happiness we will leave rajasika and tamasika joys. The glamour and charm of sense pleasures no longer hold any attraction. When the source of happiness is discovered in our hearts, we will no more depend on the world to derive happiness.
Such happiness is seen in the life of men like Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Ramana Maharshi, Swami Chinmayananda and others. Despite their physical ailments they remained ever-blissful. But for this one has to live a life of discipline with regular spiritual practice and study of the scriptures, and meditation. These seem difficult but result in happiness.
The Gita says rajasika happiness is that which arises out of contact between the sense organs and sense objects. It initially is like nectar but results in sorrow like poison. Such happiness depends on external factors like availability of the object, and mood for enjoyment. Rajasika joy leads to greed, a glimpse of it to dissatisfaction, more of it to indulgence, repetition, repetition to addiction, loss of it to pain and so on.
No pain arises from realising the source of happiness within. None complains of too much happiness or boredom with external bliss. But one does get sick of sense plea-sures and the law of diminishing returns comes into play. Hence even if there may be initial joy, rajasika happiness is momentary, enslaving and problematic.
The Gita says tamasika happiness is that which deludes a person in the beginning and end and arises out of laziness and forgetfulness. The joy of sleep is tamasika but it is vital for us to get refreshed and rejuvenated. But the joy referred to here is the joy of a person who sleeps all the time.
One is physical sleep, and the other is sleep of ignorance from which people do not wish to be awakened. They declare that “ignorance is bliss” and wish to remain in it. One experiences the joy of being lazy and postponing work.
One remembers duties but does not do them. Some do not even remember them. Some are quite proud of forgetting them and give it as a seemingly valid excuse for not doing the task. Some revel in the joy of drinking, smoking, getting stoned, gambling and so on.
These habits completely delude one’s mind and such a person cannot achieve anything high or noble. In fact, the person suffers all the time, but deludes himself into thinking that he is enjoying life. There is no peace, no inner satisfaction, and no sense of achievement or success.
Sattvika happiness appears difficult initially, but results in lasting happiness and liberates like nectar. Rajasika happiness is like poison and tamasika happiness deludes one, stops all progress. One with a sattvika vision, under-standing and fortitude surely gets sattvika happiness.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Consumer Paradox: Scientists Find that Low Self-Esteem and Materialism Goes Hand in Hand
from The Daily Galaxy
The Consumer Paradox: Scientists Find that Low Self-Esteem and Materialism Goes Hand in Hand
Rodeo_drive_2 “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need.”
~From the movie Fight Club, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk
Researchers have found that low self-esteem and materialism are not just a correlation, but also a causal relationship where low self esteem increases materialism, and materialism can also create low self-esteem. The also found that as self esteem increases, materialism decreases. The study primarily focused on how this relationship affects children and adolescents. Lan Nguyen Chaplin (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and Deborah Roedder John (University of Minnesota) found that even a simple gesture to raise self-esteem dramatically decreased materialism, which provides a way to cope with insecurity.
"By the time children reach early adolescence, and experience a decline in self-esteem, the stage is set for the use of material possessions as a coping strategy for feelings of low self-worth," they write in the study, which will appear in the Journal of Consumer Research.
The paradox that findings such as these bring up, is that consumerism is good for the economy but bad for the individual. In the short run, it’s good for the economy when young people believe they need to buy an entirely new wardrobe every year, for example. But the hidden cost is much higher than the dollar amount. There are costs in happiness when people believe that their value is extrinsic. There are also environmental costs associated with widespread materialism.
In the book “Happiness: Lessons From a New Science”, Richard Layard exposes a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most of us want more income so we can consume more. Yet as societies become richer, they do not become happier. In fact, the First World has more depression, more alcoholism and more crime than fifty years ago. This paradox is true of Britain, the United States, continental Europe and Japan.
Statistically people have more things than they did 50 years ago, but they are actually less happy in several key areas. There is also the considerable cost of what materialism does to the environment. We don’t yet know what final toll that could take in terms of quality of life and overall happiness. What many people don’t understand is that if we want to save the environment then at some level we have to buy and consume less. We don’t need to buy so much bottled water, for example. Studies have shown it’s usually not any purer than city tap water, which doesn’t leave mountains of plastic bottles strewn across the nations landfills. It also wastes energy and resources to make those plastic bottles and the many other unnecessary things that both youth and adults alike believe they need to have in order to enjoy life and feel good about themselves.
Mad Magazine summed it up with the statement, “The only reason a great many American families don't own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments.”
That funny statement, is only funny because it’s somewhat true. The reason people want whatever is currently “hot” is because they believe it will contribute towards their satisfaction and happiness in life. The word “believe” is the key here. People believe that buying more and more things will make them happy, when in fact research has shown time and time again that this simply isn’t the case. What we do know for sure is that buying more and more unnecessary things is damaging our planet and contributing to global warming.
Sure, one person being less materialistic isn’t going to make a noticeable impact on the environment, but it will make a positive impact in that one life. Once entire nations start to understand the myths about what really makes individuals happy, the world will stand a fighting chance.
“Be The Difference You Want. To See In The World.”
~Mahatma Gandi.
The Consumer Paradox: Scientists Find that Low Self-Esteem and Materialism Goes Hand in Hand
Rodeo_drive_2 “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need.”
~From the movie Fight Club, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk
Researchers have found that low self-esteem and materialism are not just a correlation, but also a causal relationship where low self esteem increases materialism, and materialism can also create low self-esteem. The also found that as self esteem increases, materialism decreases. The study primarily focused on how this relationship affects children and adolescents. Lan Nguyen Chaplin (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and Deborah Roedder John (University of Minnesota) found that even a simple gesture to raise self-esteem dramatically decreased materialism, which provides a way to cope with insecurity.
"By the time children reach early adolescence, and experience a decline in self-esteem, the stage is set for the use of material possessions as a coping strategy for feelings of low self-worth," they write in the study, which will appear in the Journal of Consumer Research.
The paradox that findings such as these bring up, is that consumerism is good for the economy but bad for the individual. In the short run, it’s good for the economy when young people believe they need to buy an entirely new wardrobe every year, for example. But the hidden cost is much higher than the dollar amount. There are costs in happiness when people believe that their value is extrinsic. There are also environmental costs associated with widespread materialism.
In the book “Happiness: Lessons From a New Science”, Richard Layard exposes a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most of us want more income so we can consume more. Yet as societies become richer, they do not become happier. In fact, the First World has more depression, more alcoholism and more crime than fifty years ago. This paradox is true of Britain, the United States, continental Europe and Japan.
Statistically people have more things than they did 50 years ago, but they are actually less happy in several key areas. There is also the considerable cost of what materialism does to the environment. We don’t yet know what final toll that could take in terms of quality of life and overall happiness. What many people don’t understand is that if we want to save the environment then at some level we have to buy and consume less. We don’t need to buy so much bottled water, for example. Studies have shown it’s usually not any purer than city tap water, which doesn’t leave mountains of plastic bottles strewn across the nations landfills. It also wastes energy and resources to make those plastic bottles and the many other unnecessary things that both youth and adults alike believe they need to have in order to enjoy life and feel good about themselves.
Mad Magazine summed it up with the statement, “The only reason a great many American families don't own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments.”
That funny statement, is only funny because it’s somewhat true. The reason people want whatever is currently “hot” is because they believe it will contribute towards their satisfaction and happiness in life. The word “believe” is the key here. People believe that buying more and more things will make them happy, when in fact research has shown time and time again that this simply isn’t the case. What we do know for sure is that buying more and more unnecessary things is damaging our planet and contributing to global warming.
Sure, one person being less materialistic isn’t going to make a noticeable impact on the environment, but it will make a positive impact in that one life. Once entire nations start to understand the myths about what really makes individuals happy, the world will stand a fighting chance.
“Be The Difference You Want. To See In The World.”
~Mahatma Gandi.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
