Poverty breeds materialistic values
- The poorer a person is the more materialistic his or her thinking becomes, says SUM Postdoctoral Fellow Monica Guillen-Royo. Guillen has recently returned from three months of field work in Peru, where she conducted research into the differences in values and human needs satisfaction across socio-economic groups.
Reyna, member of the town council of Acostambo, combines the sale of coca-leaves with the distribution of electricity bills at the local market. Photo: Monica Guillen-Royo
The field work is part of Guillen’s project ‘Sustainable development in Peru - A study of the factors that determine sustainable consumption and wellbeing across socio-economic groups’, funded by the Latin-America program of the Research Council of Norway.
Guillen is currently processing the results of her research, and has already found clear indications of a tendency towards a significantly smaller prevalence of non-materialistic – or intrinsic – values among members of the less affluent socio-economic group of her study. She argues, drawing on cross-country psychological research, that it is important to study intrinsic values such as feeling close to one’s community or accepting ones limitations and potentials, as these sorts of values are positively related with psychological wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviours.
- Poorer people are more materialistic for the sake of survival”, Guillen says. - They rely on material things for their survival, and are therefore more concerned about them at all times.
Socio-economic inequality is a contributing factor
Peru is a country marked by social fragmentation. There is a lack of communication across the divides of class, ethnicity and age, and social exclusion is widespread. According to Guillen’s research the poorer groups express even less intrinsic motivation when belonging to a society marked by inequality, as they compare their situation with that of people belonging to vastly different socio-economic groups, thereby becoming more dissatisfied with their lot in life. In other words socio-economic inequality negatively affects the capacity for intrinsic value in a society.
Guillen’s methodology consisted of two different approaches. She first distributed a survey consisting of questions about the informants’ value systems, their household and social situation. She then invited the informants to participate in workshops. The goal of these workshops was to discover how the informants felt that their human needs could be better satisfied in their society.
The results of her fieldwork were 500 completed surveys from all together five different districts. Three in Lima, covering the upper-middle, lower middle and lower-marginal socio-economic groups, and two in the Central Andean highlands, one situated in the regional centre Huancayo and another in a rural area in Huancavelica, one of the poorest departamentos in the country. She then completed 15 workshops, three in each of the five districts.
Practical challenges
Guillen met with some practical challenges in the field. The difficulty of getting informants to turn up to the scheduled workshops was one she encountered in all districts, although it was more prominent in the affluent parts. She discovered a definite reluctance to respond in the negative to a request when this response seemed likely to disappoint. As a result her informants would always say they were willing to participate in her workshops – even if they had no intention of showing up at all.
In Acostambo (Huancavelica), she was forced to go looking for a group of students who only hours earlier had promised to attend her workshop. She found them playing volleyball, and inquired whether they were intending to keep their promise. The answer was, as always, yes, they just wanted to finish the game, and since they were in need of another player, perhaps Guillen would join them? Lacking in volleyball experience, but determined to make sure they came with her back to the workshop venue, she agreed. After the game the informants came willingly, as promised, but only after having a bit of a laugh about the researcher’s complete lack of volleyball skills.
The next step
Next on Guillen’s agenda is the start of an action-research project that will commence in March. This project builds on the information obtained in the workshops, and aims to put into action one or more of the initiatives suggested by her informants in Acostambo. The four main ideas thought to have the ability to improve the wellbeing of the inhabitants were bio-gardens, reforestation, monthly community work (faenas), and a school for parents and children where they can participate in joint learning. There is already a school for parents in the community, but the inhabitants believe that they by including the children may succeed in bridging the generational communication gap.
Guillen will design the project and employ one of the assistants she worked with to set it in motion and visit the community twice per month over a six month period in order to supervise the implementation of the initiative chosen by the participants. The implementation of either of the discussed ideas require organization and motivated participants but little financial input. Guillen’s action-research project will help determine whether wellbeing enhancing initiatives devised from the community itself can be put into play and have the desired positive effect on human needs satisfaction.