You are what you Consume:You are what you Consume:

Chocolate ConsumptionChocolate Consumption

and the Theory of Responsible Materialismand the Theory of Responsible Materialism

Amanda L MahaffeyAmanda L MahaffeyCentre for Social Research & InterventionCentre for Social Research & Intervention

Lisbon University InstituteLisbon University Institute

Materialism

• Generally negative

– Unhealthy relationship to material goods– Negatively correlated with happiness and

wellbeing, self-esteem, wealth management– Unsustainable

Anti-Materialism

Responsible Materialism

• Generally positive

– Healthy relationship to high quality, ethically and sustainably produced goods

– Responsibility for means of production, consumption, maintenance, and disposal

– More sustainable- economically and environmentally– Similar to eco-consumerism

• About the connection to the goods• About quality AND quantity

– Positively correlated with happiness and wellbeing, self-esteem, health consciousness, wealth management?

Chocolate StudySpring 2012

Benefits of Chocolate Consumption

Benefits of Chocolate Consumption• Most craved food in the U.S. (Rozin, 1991)

• Mood– Elevated mood, for three minutes

• Tryptaphan – Serotonin, Phenylethamine• Most likely psychological (Macht & Mueller, 2007)

– Too quick to reach neurotransmitters• Health

– Lower risk of stroke, cholesterol, heart disease, inflammation, diabetes, etc.,…

– Antioxidants reduce risk of sun damage

• Psychological benefits of ethically-produced chocolate consumption?

A Test of the Theory ofResponsible Materialism

• Study of Ethical Chocolate Consumption– n = 106 (67% female)– U.S. Mturkers/Qualtrics– Mean age = 28

– 2 Quality X 2 Quantity = 4 Experimental Conditions

• Hypotheses– Happiness/Wellbeing = Chocolate Quality X Quantity– Traditional Materialism = Chocolate Quality X Quantity

Dependent Variables

• Wellbeing– Ryff (1999) Wellbeing Scale– ( = .951 , k = 54– “For me, life has been a continuous process of learning,

changing, and growth.”

• Traditional Materialism– Richins & Dawson (1992) Materialism Scale– ( = .91 , k = 18– “The things I own say a lot about how I am doing in life.”

Imagine you are opening this new bar of chocolate. It’s a large bar of chocolate you picked up at the gourmet foods store. This chocolate was cultivated by a small cocoa farm where the workers received a fair wage for their work. The beans were organically grown in a sustainable shade forest.

Now imagine you break off one square and savor the flavor with small bites, letting each one melt in your mouth before taking another. You fold the wrapping back over and put the rest of the bar away for later because you know something this special should be savored over many days.

Imagine you are opening this new bar of chocolate. It’s a large bar of chocolate you picked up at the convenience store. This chocolate was cultivated by a large cocoa farm where the workers earned low wages for their work. The beans were grown with the use of pesticides in an endangered rain forest.

Now imagine you eat the whole bar in one sitting. It’s so delicious, it’s hard to resist. You wad the packaging up and throw it in the trash, thinking about which bar you’ll get tomorrow.

Qualitative Responses

• Whole Bar of Low Quality, Unethically-produced Chocolate– “I feel like I really could eat one more right now.”

• One Square of Low Quality, Unethically-produced Chocolate– “Fine. I’d hope that no pesticides got into the chocolate.”

• Whole Bar of High Quality, Ethically-produced Chocolate– “I feel like I didn’t properly savor such a nice bar of

chocolate that hard working individuals took so much time to produce.”

• One Square of High Quality, Ethically-produced Chocolate– “Happy, Amazing, Pleased, Joy, Relaxed, Warm, Content”

Wellbeing

=

Chocolate

Quality

X

Quantity

Wellbeing = Quality X Quantity

Wellbeing (Environmental Mastery) = Quality X Quantity

“In general, I feel I am in charge of the situation in which I live”

Wellbeing (Positive Relations with Others) = Quality X Quantity

“People would describe me as a giving person, willing to share my time with others”

Marginally significant

Wellbeing (Autonomy) = Quality X Quantity

“My decisions are not usually influenced by what everyone else is doing”

Marginally significant

Wellbeing (Purpose in Life) = Quality X Quantity

“I live one day at a time and don’t really think about the future” (reverse scored)

Marginally significant

Wellbeing (Self Acceptance) = Quality X Quantity

“The past had its ups and downs, but in general, I wouldn’t want to change it”

Materialism

=

Chocolate

Quality

X

Quantity

Materialism = Quantity

Marginally significant

Materialism (Acquisition Centrality) = Quantity

“Buying things gives me a lot of pleasure”

Results

• Wellbeing– Wellbeing (specifically being in control of one’s situation in life

and future orientation) is associated with savoring small quantities of ethically-produced chocolate

– Being happy with oneself no matter what is associated with consuming large quantities of unethically-produced chocolate

• Materialism– Desire to acquire goods is associated with consuming large

quantities at once

Conclusions

• Happiness is a bar of organic, fair-trade, rainforest-safe chocolate– savored one square at a time

• Or, happiness is gorging on a big bar of poorly produced chocolate– Cognitive dissonance?

• Give people large quantities of chocolate and they’ll seek out more stuff

Thank You!Merci!Danke!

Dank je wel!

amanda.l.mahaffey@gmail.com