"In her recent paper 'Growing Up in a Material World...' in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, [Deborah Roedder] John and co-author Lan Nguyen Chaplin... 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 to 18 years old). This mirrors patterns in self-esteem, which instead decreases in early adolescence but increases in late adolescence."The results from this and a second study conducted by John and Chaplin both indicate that materialism in young people is directly tied to their self esteem. The more confident they are, the less materialistic. The results give a clear indication for parents that more emphasis should be placed on helping kids developing a healthy self-esteem and less on helping them develop their wardrobe.
Labels: influences, money, peer_pressure
Posted By: Aspen Education Group