Materialism is probably one of if not the biggest catalyst that affects one’s personality. Especially in today’s society where the principal weight that society imposes on somebody’s life is the idea that life is measured by how much money one has. Society has conditioned people to move their personal values away from whatever they originally were to wanting to hoard as much as they can while they are alive. This is a direct example of the affect of materialism on personal values.

In today’s society, people have been conditioned to think of the world in a material light. This means that people look for what is going to make their material wealth go up rather than chasing whatever it is that they would have pursued if they would have existed in a society where there is less emphasis on material wealth. In our society, it may not be seen as changing people, but it is an effect on personal values nonetheless. So, personal values conform to what society values, which is material. One simply has to look around him or herself. It is all around us, the focus on materialism. Every ad on television is asking you to spend money on something. More stuff to add to one’s collection, contributing to one’s material obsession.

Further, it is not only society that imposes this mentality on people; it is parents and other family members. They are constantly telling their children or siblings to focus on school, rationalizing it by telling them you need to do well in school to get a good job. This is also seen in the act or rewarding good grades with money. It is no longer that motivation is in bettering one’s self, but in procuring more money and property over life after school.

Another way that material wealth affects personal values is that whenever celebrities are shown in the media, they are shown as being very happy in their massive homes, and with their expensive cars. Making the connection to the viewer that they are happy because of money and all their nice property, reinforcing the idea that material wealth is what people should value in life.

Materialism affects personal values in every facet of life. If one is not happy, society has ingrained that if one goes out and buys more they will be happier. This materialism forces people to value whatever can be bought over what is intangible. This mentality lends to the idea that every action in life is motivated by profit. This focus will continue to pervade modern society until society as a whole can move away from the idea that material wealth equals moral wealth.