We have all felt the lure of that shiny new thing and most of us will have enjoyed a shopping spree in our time. In our western culture of mass consumption, we are constantly surrounded by advertising, in mass and social media; TV, films, billboards and magazines portraying aspirational lifestyles. All these seductively persuade us into thinking we need to buy more stuff. But does this really make us happy? And are we now beginning to confuse our wants over our needs?
As social beings we are heavily influenced by our families, friends and environment often leading us to feel we need to ‘keep up with the Jones’s’ with a fear that if we don’t we are in some way not good enough. This constant push to have more, bigger and better drives consumer debt and means we work ever harder and longer to… “Buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like.”[I] Many people within this economic model are often so time poor due to long working hours that they spoil their kids with stuff out of guilt over not spending time with them. I know I have and I worry about what affect this will have in the long run because we know innately that kids want our love not our money. In these grave times of climate emergency and ecological breakdown we really need to start challenging this idea of consumerism. The capitalist model of endless growth which is fed by our consumption is literally killing the planet and ourselves, yet we seem powerless to stop ourselves like moths to a flame. Our wardrobes get more crammed, our landfill sites get ever fuller and our purses ever more depleted. However, more and more research shows that less is definitely better and proves, what we all know deep down, that material wealth does not make you happier… “The bulk of the evidence seems to contradict the consumption-happiness relationship”[ii] And in fact… “Being dissatisfied with what you have, and making a point of acquiring more, is the quickest way to dissatisfaction in life”[iii] The Happy Planet Index goes some way to prove this. It found that Costa Rica has the highest level of happiness while having just one quarter of the GDP per capita than the richest countries. So what is it that is making them happier than others? Although there is evidence that some level of wealth and material goods do add to our happiness in terms of being able to cover our basic needs we derive most of our happiness from other sources.[iv] “People who live a life of intrinsic motivation are much happier than those who live a life dominated by extrinsic motivation”[v] Intrinsic motivation means finding happiness within yourself, through self-acceptance, affiliation and community, whereas extrinsically motivated people seek happiness through appearance, social popularity and financial gain. The minimalist movement is a good example of people choosing to live their lives with less and have found happiness and satisfaction from it. “Minimalism is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from worry. Freedom from overwhelm. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from depression. Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around. Real freedom.”[vi] I suspect too, that the current interest in decluttering experts such as Marie Kondo shows that actually we do want to be free of our excessive consumptions and actually crave a more frugal existence. So maybe there is hope for us if we can chnage our mindsets in that way? If we start first with our fashion consumption then hopefully the rest will follow. So why not join in #secondhandseptember by buying everything second-hand this month? #lessismore #slowfashion #ownlessdomore Related Posts Slowly Does It The 4 R's of Eco Fashion Donating or Dumping? My Wardrobe Audit
Resources
[i] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/25775-we-buy-things-we-don-t-need-with-money-we-don-t [ii] https://www3.nd.edu/~adutt/activities/documents/DuttConsumptionandhappiness.pdf [iii] https://www.getrichslowly.org/the-psychology-of-consumerism/ [iv]https://www.megforum.uni-freiburg.de/prevfora/Forum%202012/SOE%202012%20papers/Consumption%20and%20Happiness [v] https://www.getrichslowly.org/the-psychology-of-consumerism/ [vi] https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ http://rethinkingprosperity.org/the-psychology-of-consumerism/ https://www.thebalance.com/wants-vs-needs-1388544
What do your clothes say about you?
We all know that what we wear says a lot about us, but most of do not realise just how much it actually reveals. Our attire can convey meaning in very obvious ways such as how wealthy we are to what religion we follow, but there are many other subtle ways that also have a great impact on how were are perceived and consequently treated. We hope that when put on a smart suit we will be taken more seriously, but maybe feel this is just wishful thinking. However this is indeed evidenced by research done by Northwestern University who found that: “women who dress in a masculine fashion during a job interview are more likely to be hired, and a teaching assistant who wears formal clothes is perceived as more intelligent than one who dresses more casually.”[i] These perceptions are made within seconds and are based on highly complex social and cultural cues that we begin to absorb from a very young age such as economic and social indicators. “After just a 3-second exposure people judged the man more favourably in the bespoke suit. And the judgements were not about how well dressed he was”.[ii] Inversely, these assumptions can work in a negative way too especially in relation to the workplace, which just goes to show how important it is to dress to impress. How do clothes make you feel? The deeper meaning in clothes can also affect how you feel about yourself. We know this from a favourite dress that makes us feel great or a jumper that comforts us. These powerful associations are revealed in testing done by Professor Karen Pine in her book ‘Mind What you Wear’ which showed that wearers feeling of superiority and strength increased whilst wearing a superman t-shirt against others wearing plain t-shirts. Amazingly though, clothes can also actually affect your behaviour. This is especially seen when clothes that have strong symbolic meaning are worn. Psychologists term this as ‘enclothed cognition’. “. . . the current research explored the effects of wearing a lab coat. A pretest found that a lab coat is generally associated with attentiveness and carefulness. We therefore predicted that wearing a lab coat would increase performance on attention-related tasks.”[iii] The tests showed that the wearer’s attentiveness and carefulness actually increased upon wearing a white lab coat, against wearing the same coat which was instead described as a painter’s coat. So why do we choose the clothes we do? There are a multitude of reasons why we choose certain clothes, some conscious and others not. Often it could simply be the weather, our upbringing or maybe they are a means of self or political expression, or possibly to attract a mate or identify with our tribe. But emotional reasoning is often not so obvious. Research shows a link between dressing in baggy clothes or jeans and depression or low self-esteem. At such times we are trying to blend into the crowd and not wanting to draw attention to ourselves. However, as Professor Karen Pine also revealed; clothes are not only a reflection of how we feel, but can also influence how we feel then maybe we should rethink those comfort clothes and become what we wear instead. “The strong link between clothing and mood state suggests we should put on clothes that we associate with happiness, even when feeling low,”[iv] What are your thoughts on the hidden meaning behind clothes and how they makes us feel? Ismay x #fashionpsychology #psychologyofclothes #youarewhatyouwear
Further reading
[1] “Mind Games: Sometimes a White Coat Isn’t Just a White Coat” by Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology - https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/what-you-wear-can-influence-how-you-perform/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sm-direct [1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/do-something-different/201304/what-your-clothes-might-be-saying-about-you [1] “Mind Games: Sometimes a White Coat Isn’t Just a White Coat” by Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology - https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/what-you-wear-can-influence-how-you-perform/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sm-direct [1] Flex: Do Something Different by Professor Karen Pine https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/karen-pine/personal-appearance-and-branding_b_5357853.html |
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