Why do Material Goals Persist II?
Regula Pfister reported research results from a study using the Experience Sampling method (ESM) with Swiss workers. She offered an explanation of why materialism persists even though non-material goals may be favored by people. While people were in flow while working, they reported being in a paradoxical state: stressed, anxious and angry, yet powerful and alert as well. However, when they experienced flow in leisure, they felt powerful as well as relaxed (but they experienced flow in leisure much more rarely than at work). While working, Challenges were found to be positively correlated to both positive and negative activation. Flow at work was unrelated to momentary happiness and satisfaction, but it correlated positively with long-term happiness and satisfaction. The implication of these findings is that when engaged in materialistic consumption challenges are low, which leads to positive but short-lived reward. These findings corroborate Ken Sheldon’s notions from the first meetin
