Research Sources: 

 

1. Clark, Terry Nichols. "Is Materialism Rising In America?." Society37.6 (2000): 47-48. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 27 July 2014.

 

This source discusses whether materialism has increased or decreased among America’s younger generation since the 1960s. Interestingly, a study has found that private materialism has increased. Also, there is a debate of materialistic vs postmaterialistic America.

 

2. Mayer, Clara W. "America's Self-Defeating Materialism." American Journal Of Economics & Sociology 10.2 (1951): 143-144. Business Source Complete. Web. 27 July 2014.

 

Clara Mayer’s brief article about materialism centers on the fact that Americans have tricked themselves to think that we aren’t materialists. For example, “our advertising boasts of the largest companies in the world while our anti-trust laws are supposed to be trying to break them up.”

 

3. The Institutional Foundations of Materialism in Western Societies: A Conceptualization and Empirical Test Journal of Macromarketing September 2009 29: 259-278, first published on April 10, 2009 doi:10.1177/0276146709334298

 

             This article discusses the history of materialism and how materialism evolved as society industrialized and became centered on individual success and private wealth.

 

4. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cant-buy-happiness/201403/what-causes-materialism-in-america

 

5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shanzeh-khurram/is-the-american-dream-bec_b_2702164.html

 

The observations of a Pakistani woman who moved to America seeking the ‘American Dream.’ She talks about how Americans are obsessed with shopping and that the American Dream mostly revolves around luxury goods such as the newest iPhones, expensive cars and designer bags.

 

6. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/is-america-the-most-materialistic-society-in-the-history-of-the-world

 

This blog asks if America is the most materialistic society in history. For example, if you ask most average Americans what their idea of the American Dream is, they will start talking about cars, houses, vacations, sending kids to college. The American dream has become all about money and stuff.

 

7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

 

  Video of George Carlin's standup about "stuff" first got me interested in materialism in America. His humor has a lot of truth to it and he shows it with simple examples.

 

8. http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2008448574_shop290.html

 

9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

 

10. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/business/29walmart.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0