Low esteem and materialism go hand in hand
updated from 2007.
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.
This is no surprise to astrologers, who place self-esteem and material needs in the second house of the birthchart. The second house, associated with Taurus, deals with our material needs and our desire for wealth and financial security, but also with our values and our sense of self-esteem, our talents and skills and how we feel about them. Clients with a challenged second house often find that their ability to achieve financial security is tied closely with their self-esteem.
The article goes on to say:
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 […]
Last week I heard a show on NPR that highlighted a woman who had always been unattractive because of her big nose until she had an accident and the doctor suggested that while she was having surgery that she have her nose fixed. After the surgery, according to her own account she was “a babe.” As a result, she had a unique perspective on what it’s like to be pretty vs. “ugly.”
and learn what belongs to us and where we fit into the world. The strength of this sense of belonging to the world and having a secure place is what helps to determine our financial success and our ability to accumulate wealth and prosperity.
stars who go into