Materialism is a way of life characterized by the pursuit of wealth and possessions. Several studies have documented that a materialistic lifestyle is associated with diminished subjective well-being. In spite of this, many people continue to pursue materialistic goals rather than pursue goals that are more beneficial for their well-being. The current paper investigates one mechanism that may c...

William James is well known for his rejection of materialism and his lifelong defense of what he referred to as, among other things, the “religious hypothesis.”1 Part of this defense can be understood in terms of James’s frequent identification with the “sick souls” who are highly sensitive to the evils in our world, rather than the “healthy minded” who are more disposed to either ignore or dow...

The metaphysician, though never so good a theorist, the physician, however sound a practitioner, must both give place to one who, sitting by the well of knowledge, dispenses with grace and justice to his thirsting brethren. He who, by opportunity and industry, can draw the deepest, to him we may look for the best and clearest supply. The pathology of insanity is still in its infancy; nothing is...

What is common to dualists is the view that some mental properties are properties no entirely physical thing could have. According to a substance dualist, certain mental properties that people have are properties that nothing that had any physical properties could have. Thus there are two different sorts of thing that do not overlap: things that have mental properties, and physical things. A pr...

Materialistic values may be detrimental for people's well-being. However, we know little about why (i.e., explaining mechanisms) and when (i.e., boundary conditions) this is the case. Although low satisfaction of the psychological needs is said to play a key role in this process, a recent meta-analysis indicates that the explaining power of need satisfaction is limited and suggests that need fr...

The role of self-relevant values (as operationalized via materialism) was studied as a moderator of affective forecasting. Materialists predicted high negative affect in response to a material loss (Study 1), but low negative affect in response to an interpersonal setback (Study 2). For both event types, less negativity was predicted with longer durations from event occurrence, regardless of ma...