Consumer Culture, Identity and Well-Being : The Search for the 'Good Life' and the 'Body Perfect'

ISBN-13: 9781841696089 / Angielski / Twarda / 2007 / 271 str.

Helga Dittmar

Opis

Advertising, materialism and consumption are central aspects of contemporary Western culture. This work documents the negative psychological impact consumer culture can have on how individuals view themselves and on their emotional welfare. It looks at the social psychological dimensions of having, buying and wanting material goods.

Spis treści

1. Understanding the Impact of Consumer Culture.  2. To Have is to Be? Psychological Functions of Material Possessions.  3. Consuming Passions? Psychological Motives for Buying Consumer Goods.  4. Is this as Good as it Gets? Materialistic Values and Well-Being.  5. I Shop Therefore I Am? Compulsive Buying and Identity-Seeking.  6. Does Size Matter? The Impact of Ultra-Thin Media Models on Women's Body Image and on Advertising Effectiveness.  7. Think 'Ideal' and Feel Bad? Using Self-Discrepancies to Understand Negative Media Effects.  8. What is Beautiful and Who is 'Cool'? Consumer Culture and Socialisation.  9. What is the Price of Consumer Culture? Consequences, Implications, and the Cage Within.

O autorze

Helga Dittmar, D.Phil, is Reader in Psychology at the University of Sussex in England, where she completed her undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, after beginning her studies in psychology at the University of Frankfurt in Germany. Her research focuses on mass consumer society and how this has an impact on people’s sense of who they are and their well-being. Her work has received strong media interest (TV, radio) and includes: psychological functions of material possessions, buying motivations, compulsive buying, materialism, as well as the influence of the mass media on the body image of girls, women and men.