7 Reasons Why People Become Obsessed With Material Possessions

On this website, we define the essence of minimalism as living a simple, high-quality life focused on having great experiences and feeling truly content. That said, the desire to live in this manner isn’t exclusively for minimalists. It’s likely that the majority of people on Earth want the same for themselves. So how does materialism and consumerism play into people’s thoughts or actions? In this article, we’ll explore 7 reasons why people become obsessed with material possessions. Let’s dive in.

What Is An Obsession?

So what do we mean when we use the word ‘obsessed‘ in regards to material things?

Well, here’s what Oxford’s Dictionary (via Lexico) has to say:

To preoccupy or fill the mind of someone or something continually, intrusively, and to a troubling extent.

Interestingly, the word obsessed is linguistically linked to words like possession – yes, the evil-spirit kind! Hence the title of this article.

In short, we believe that being obsessed with material possessions is to have the primary focus of our minds and motivations being on material things. This includes peoples motivations to do this like work hard and achieve certain goals – ultimately doing so for money and having stuff.

Define Material Possessions…

While some examples of material possessions are fairly obvious, we wish to clarify that material possessions encompass more than just an object.

Here are a few examples of what we consider material possessions:

• Clothes, Furniture, Accessories & Cars: These are what everyone thinks of when they hear the term ‘material possessions’. These things certainly are that, but there’s more.
• Living In Certain Neighborhoods: By facsimile, also living in certain types of houses. Living in a particular neighborhood means you’ve ‘made it’ to some people, or that you below to a particular social caste.
• Traveling To Specific Locales: This isn’t a material possession per se, but traveling to certain destinations that are trendy or in ‘wealthy’ hotels is certainly something that costs a lot of money and takes away from what traveling really should be.
• Bring A Part Of Certain Schools, Clubs & Events: This goes for ourselves and for children. Whether we’re talking about a workplace, college, private prep school, country clubs or a host of events like weddings and parties, there are many social pressures that can influence our choices in these areas.
• Overall Lifestyle: This can include anything from eating at restaurants, owning multiple homes, having hired help at home (chefs, cleaners, nannies) and a whole host of other day-to-day things we spend our time doing.

We could go on and on, but there are truly countless anecdotal experiences we all can share.

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7 Reasons Why People Become Obsessed With Material Possessions

With all of that now defined, let’s go over 7 reasons we feel people become obsessed with material possessions:

1. Improving their own self-image.
2. Expecting material possessions to boost their social status.
3. Competition amongst family, friends and peers.
4. Shopping & buying things is a thrill.
5. Thinking that possessions will be what brings them happiness.
6. Influence of family, mentors & environment during early years.
7. Coping with or combating the fear of our own mortality.

Scroll below to read more about each of these categories and some of the reasons behind them in depth!

Reason #1: Improving Our Self-Image

Nearly all of us care about how other people see us to a certain extent.

Many of these concerns are healthy and normal, such as wanting others to see us as trustworthy, caring or being a good person. Of course, what truly matters is that we actually are these things.

Many people care about less healthy aspects of their self-image though. We want to be seen as cool, trendy, wealthy, successful and all of the other nuances that come with them.

In the pursuit of this self-image, it’s expected that some people will become obsessed with material possessions. For example:

• Buying a luxury-brand car when a more ‘normal’ brand is sufficient or what’s truly affordable.
• Buying brand-name clothes for the sole reason of brand reputation. For example, buying a $300 belt when a $40 model works just as well.
• Shopping at ‘trendy’ (but more pricey) stores for supplies like groceries for the self-image it supposedly brings, when normal stores have plenty to offer for less. Not naming names but you probably have ideas of your own!
• Socializing at expensive clubs, bars, restaurants and exotic locales is extremely expensive. The real issue arises when a person spends way more money than they responsibly should to go to these places.
• Scraping money together to live in a more upscale neighborhood is a common way people get trapped by wanting to be seen as a ‘success’, particularly in high rent areas like NYC, Boston, San Francisco and other major cities. Not picking on them – they’re beautiful and awesome in their own ways. If one cannot responsibly afford to live there, though, it’s a huge mistake to try.

These examples go hand-in-hand with our next point….

Read Next: How Can I Be Minimalist With Clothes? Top 10 Minimalist Wardrobe Tips

Reason #2: Expecting That Material Possessions Will Boost Social Status

Humans are social creatures by nature (via NCBI). We can’t help it – it’s how we’re wired and has been the way we’ve lived since tribal eras of the past. When socializing in groups, a social hierarchy typically emerges, regardless of geographic location, demographic or time period.

In many cases, a social hierarchy serves a purpose. According to this publication by Science Direct, a social hierarchy emerges naturally in people and animals alike to provide some kind of order, ranking, conflict resolution and organization. In short, social hierarchies, psychologically-speaking, are meant to avoid chaos at their core.

Of course, there are many nuances and factors that come into play due to our consciences and higher cognitive abilities. Humans in modern times understand that teamwork, social balancing, good intentions, merit, helping others and intelligence are also deciding factors on where someone ‘falls’ in a hierarchy.

Here’s one quote from ‘Neuroimaging Investigations of Social Status and Social Hierarchies‘ that’s worth noting:

…in some instances, status-based hierarchies can incentivize those lower in relative rank to progress and achieve higher standing among their peers, thus providing motivation to perform a variety of behaviors.

We believe that this is a major explanation behind why some people become obsessed with material possessions – they’re actually obsessed with where they fall on a perceived social hierarchy.

Recapping from earlier, material possessions can cover lifestyle choices, neighborhoods we live in, where we go, what we do and becoming part of a club or group in addition to typical possessions. Perhaps you think of people you know who embody this mindset in terms of these items…

Read Next: How Do I Start A Minimalist Lifestyle? 6 Simple Steps & Questions To Ask

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Reason #3: Competition Amongst Family, Friends & Peers

You’ve probably heard the expression of “Keeping up with the Joneses” before. Courtesy of Wikipedia, we’ve learned that the expression comes from a comic strip of the same name which was published in 1913 by Arthur R. Momand.

In short, the premise of the comic is centered around a family who struggles to keep up with their neighbors (‘The Joneses’) in a variety of social and economic ways.

The vast majority of us have fallen victim to the ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ mentality at some point. This effect can happen in relation to our neighbors, but also friends, coworkers, in-laws and many others in our community. The effect even takes place on social media apps like Instagram, where we try to be more like influencers and celebrities.

This competition between us and people we know can drive many of the decisions we make.

Our brother or sister went on three exotic vacations with their family last year? We want to have the same experiences for ourselves.

The next door neighbors renovate the outside of their house. Guess who’s now thinking about how much it’ll cost to upgrade theirs?

Our close friend buys a German sports car. Our 10-year old reliable sedan that we normally love feels like driving a Playskool car in comparison.

We could go on and on, but you get the idea – the competition among our peers can make us become even more obsessed with material possessions in order to feel good enough, worthy of or even better than our peers.

Read Next: Is Minimalism For The Rich? 5 Common Opinions & Our Honest Thoughts

Reason #4: Shopping & Buying Things Is A Thrill

To some of us, shopping is a thrill. For others, buying new things is an addiction.

There’s something fun about buying new stuff for many people. A desire arises for something new – perhaps a sibling gets a new car, or we see a social media influencer repping a new brand. We decide – we must have one, too.

The excitement overcomes us as we browse the internet or head to the store. We finally buy ‘the thing’ and it’s great. There’s a rush over the newness of our newest purchase. We ride the high of taking that car out for a spin or wearing our new jewelry to a party.

Then, the inevitable happens. That car loses its’ luster. Our new shirt stays in the closet for weeks. No one ever uses that hot tub anymore!

As quickly as it came, the rush we got from buying something new is gone. We return to our original state…that is, until we get the urge to buy another new thing.

This process is called Hedonic Adaptation – also known as the ‘Hedonic Treadmill’ – and no one is exempt. There are two reasons why Hedonic Adaptation is so tricky to deal with:

1. It’s random. We can’t control when the urge to shop will hit us, nor where the influence comes from.
2. Feelings are tough to ignore. It takes serious discipline – both in terms of fighting our feelings and in terms of budgeting – to not give in when the urge to shop hits us.

The good news? The first steps are to simply be aware of our urges and to observe our feelings. When we’re aware of it, we begin to separate ourselves from it. We must control ourselves.

Next, we recommend setting up a budget and sticking to it firmly!

Read Next: Things A Minimalist Must Own: Our List Of 111 Items

Reason #5: Expecting Material Possessions To Bring Us Happiness

Ah, chasing happiness. We all want to be happy, but how? Here are some thoughts that most of us has had at some point…

“Once I get the big promotion, THEN I’ll be happy.” Until then, we believe we can’t be as happy.

“Once we buy a house, THEN we can really enjoy.” As of now, any happiness we feel is simply not as good as it could be.

“Once I find a partner, THEN I’ll feel complete.” For now, we’re just going to anxiously wait for them to come along.

See a pattern emerging here? We oftentimes place our happiness on some external circumstances.

Being obsessed with material things is no different. If we aren’t feeling satisfied in life, it can be easy to pin it on something we think is missing: a better car, making more money, new clothes, a bigger house, taking expensive trips, having a certain type of social group, you name it.

Don’t believe us? Check out this article from Time Magazine about the depression and heavy negativity many people experience when they win a massive amount of money in the lottery.

If you’re holding off on feeling happy until the ‘big ticket’ comes, we’ve got some bad news – it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

There’s even an expression that comes with it: “The curse of the lottery“.

Of course, a healthy, balanced person can do great things and enjoy life with their winnings. The irony is this – these people don’t need to win the lottery to be happy in the first place!

If you’re interested in learning about how to be happy without a dependence on outside forces, I recommend you check out this TED Talk given by Dan Gilbert titled “The Surprising Science of Happiness“.

Read Next: What Can You Do For Free Outside? 10 Free Or Cheap Outdoor Activities

Reason #6: Influence Of Elders & Mentors At An Early Age

Many of us become obsessed with material possessions, as we’ve defined them, in our early formative years. It doesn’t always look like how we expect, either.

Typical examples can come in the form of our parents expecting us to attend a certain school, have a specific type of friends and get a particular job. Elders around us may expect us to maintain a certain socio-economic standing and to impress others through material means.

The opposite can also happen.

For those of us who grow up poor, we might rather die than live the way we did when we were kids. Some people experience shame, guilt and embarrassment by their lack of means as children and want nothing more than to overcome the plights of their parents, of which come in many forms. No matter what, we’ll never live like ‘that‘.

Many famous musicians and athletes can be placed in this category – their drive to overcome their circumstances or family image in early years is what drives them to reach success – and show that success through material means too.

Whether our parents intentionally lead us down the path of materialism or indirectly through their own actions, our early years absolutely play a role in our materialism and consumerism.

Read Next: Most Popular Second Hand Items: Our Top 10 List Of Things To Buy Used

Reason #7: Coping With Fear Of Our Own Mortality

Time to get a little dark. All of our time in this world is limited. It’s the great equalizer – no one is exempt and there’s no way to avoid it.

That said, some of us try our hardest to fight this fact. One of the ways we do this is by becoming extremely attached to what we have in this lifetime. This includes an attachment to material things.

If we make enough money, reach a certain status or possess all sorts of material things, perhaps we can forget about the finite-ness of life. Perhaps we can bring these things with us in the afterlife!

Humans have been thinking like this for millennia. Pharaohs were frequently buried with their riches in ancient Egypt. A similar practice was common at Norse funerals.

In either case, many people sacrifice quite a bit to obtain these material possessions, thinking that it’s necessary for life to have meaning or worthiness. Given that life is temporary, though, one begins to wonder what’s REALLY being sacrificed when we make material things our top priority in life…

Read Next: 6 Philosophies Of Minimalism Realized During COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

Notice The Common Themes…

Many of these categories involve a lack of self-esteem.

We often rely heavily on and try to control what others think of us.

We feel a strong urge to be accepted – to avoid failure (real or perceived).

Our drive to buy material possession is largely driven by emotions.

What does all this really mean? Overcoming our obsession with material possessions begins and ends inside of ourselves!

Thanks for reading.