Do you treat your children a toy or money when they perform well at school? According to a study, such actions could be harmful to their development, and cause them to be more materialistic(贪图享乐的) as adults.
The study suggests that those who were rewarded and spoiled as children were more likely to think possessions define who we are. The study was published in the Journal of Consumer Research and conducted by researchers Dr Marsha Richins (University of Missouri) and Dr Lan Nguyen Chaplin (University of Illinois at Chicago).
“Using material possessions to express love or reward children for their achievements can backfire,” wrote the authors in the paper called Material Parenting. “Loving and supportive parents can develop materialism in their children despite their best efforts to guide them away from relying on material possessions to find happiness or to judge others.”
The authors surveyed 701 adults to measure the long-term impact of material parenting. They were asked to describe their current life situation and values, and also reported on a variety of childhood circumstances, their relationship with their parents, and the rewards and punishments they received during three critical ages of childhood. Results showed adults who had received more material rewards and punishments as children were more likely than others to use possessions to define and express who they are. And adults who received many material rewards as children were likely to continue rewarding themselves with material goods and defining themselves through their possessions.
Parents should therefore be cautious about using material goods to express their love and reward their children for good behavior, warn the researchers. They say an overemphasis on material possessions during childhood can have long-lasting effects. It can pave “the way for their children to grow up to be more likely than others to admire people with expensive possessions and judge success by the kinds of things people own,” the authors conclude.
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