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Emancipation from Affluenza: Leading Social Change in the Classroom Merri Mattison Antioch University - Phd Program in Leadership and Change

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Antioch University AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses Dissertations & Theses 2012 Emancipation from Affluenza: Leading Social Change in the Classroom Merri Mattison Antioch University - PhD Program in Leadership and Change Follow this and additional works at: http://aura.antioch.edu/etds Part of the Community College Leadership Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Higher Education Commons, and the Leadership Studies Commons Recommended Citation Mattison, Merri, "Emancipation from Affluenza: Leading Social Change in the Classroom" (2012). Dissertations & Theses. 116. http://aura.antioch.edu/etds/116 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses at AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Theses by an authorized administrator of AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. EMANCIPATION FROM AFFLUENZA: LEADING SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE CLASSROOM MERRI MATTISON A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August, 2012 This is to certify that the Dissertation entitled: EMANCIPATION FROM AFFLUENZA: LEADING SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE CLASSROOM prepared by Merri Mattison is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change. Approved by: ______________________________________________________________________ Jon Wergin, Ph.D., Chair date ______________________________________________________________________ Carol Baron, Ph.D., Committee Member date ______________________________________________________________________ Richard Appelbaum, Ph.D., Committee Member date ______________________________________________________________________ Andrew Christopher, Ph.D., External Reader date Copyright 2012 Merri Mattison All rights reserved Acknowledgements Many have contributed in numerous ways making this journey possible. They are: My sisters, and their families many of which opened their homes to me, and shared meals with me in Yellow Springs, Seattle, and Los Angeles, when I traveled for residencies. My nieces and nephews who provide me with more comfort and joy than they can possibly know. My classmates for their stories, and their passion, Dr. Jon Wergin, my advisor, and chair, whose scholarship and strength I can only aspire to. Dr. Carol Baron, who never let me stop believing in my ability or myself. Dr. Rebecca Donna for the quiet inspiration. And, my parents, Helen and Leonard Mattison, who were my very first, and very best teachers. My mother read to me every night, and routinely reminded me that books are our friends. My father, whose quiet devotion to his family, neighbors, and country duly influenced my desire to teach the importance of civic responsibility. Mostly, I am grateful that I had parents that gave me roots as well as wings, and encouraged me to soar. i Abstract The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine if one’s level of affluenza could be reduced through education and awareness. In particular, this study measured whether or not exposure to the benefits of community involvement, and the harm of overconsumption could alter the intentions that college students have regarding their behavior, as it pertains to materialism, consumption, and civic responsibility. The data were collected from college students in the form of pre-tests and post-tests utilizing an affluenza scale created for this research. Over the course of a semester, information and activities that elucidated the benefits of community involvement and the harm of overconsumption were integrated into the course curriculum. The post-test served to measure whether or not the curricular intervention altered attitudes and intentions regarding affluenza. Analysis data revealed that while individual statistical tests were not significant, some overall trends were evident, suggesting that the treatment may have influenced students to move further away from the ideals and attitudes associated with affluenza. Moreover, the affluenza scale was validated and refined. The results of this study have curricular applications for faculty and administrators at colleges and universities interested in implementing and carrying out a similar intervention, or implementing a program that focuses on reducing affluenza. Likewise, the findings offer sociological and social implications for faculty, activists, and community organizers interested in reducing consumption, wastefulness, materialistic attitudes, and those interested in encouraging civic responsibility, by offering additional insight into the issue of affluenza as well as means to begin to address it. Additionally, the Mattison Affluenza Scale itself can be utilized as a diagnostic tool, for instance as part of a needs assessment to determine where more programmatic attention ii or changes are needed. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………. i Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………… ii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………… iv Chapter I: Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 1 Defining Affluenza……………………………………………………………………………... 1 What Harm Can It Cause Anyway?............................................................................................. 7 The Personal Costs…………………………………………………………………………... 7 The Global Costs…………………………………………………………………………….. 11 What Is It That Makes Us Happy, Anyway?................................................................................ 16 Leading the Way for Needed Change………………………………………………………….. 16 Positionality…………………………………………………………………………………….. 18 Moving Forward………………………………………………………………………………... 19 Chapter II: Review of the Literature……………………………………………………………... 20 Methodological Landscape……………………………………………………………………... 21 Materialism and Happiness………………………………………………………………….. 24 Why Are We Materialistic Anyway?........................................................................................... 24 Friends and Family…………………………………………………………………………... 24 I’ll Buy Anything You Advertise on TV…………………………………………………….. 25 If Materialism Doesn’t Make Us Happy, What Does It Do?................................................... 26 Experiential or Material? What Kinds of Purchases Make Us Most Happy?.......................... 28 Affluenza and Adolescents—What Might the Future Hold?................................................... 32 The Benefits of Experiential and Service Learning…………………………………………. 37 Directions for the Future……………………………………………………………………….. 38 Preparing for Battle…………………………………………………………………………….. 40 The Reasoned Action Theory……………………………………………………………….. 40 Learning Theory and Motivation Theory……………………………………………………. 41 Packaging the Information and Empowering People to Change…………………………….. 42 The Human Connection……………………………………………………………………… 44 Bringing It Together……………………………………………………………………………. 45 Chapter III: Methodology………………………………………………………………………… 47 Focus Group Process………………………………………………………………………… 48 Focus Group Insights………………………………………………………………………… 52 Understanding Scale Construction…………………………………………………………... 55 Survey/Scale Construction…………………………………………………………………... 56 Survey Implementation……………………………………………………………………… 58 Initial Data Analysis for Scale Construction………………………………………………… 59 Study Design…………………………………………………………………………………… 65 iv The Intervention………………………………………………………………………………... 66 The Sample…………………………………………………………………………………... 68 Positioning within the Intervention………………………………………………………….. 71 The Service Learning Component…………………………………………………………… 74 Introducing New Information………………………………………………………………... 79 Barriers to Change……………………………………………………………………………… 83 Changing Existing Behavior…………………………………………………………………. 84 The Instrument……………………………………………………………………………….. 84 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………… 85 Pre-Test Preparation…………………………………………………………………………. 85 The Intervention Begins……………………………………………………………………... 86 Post-Test Data Collection……………………………………………………………………. 87 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….. 87 Chapter IV: Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………... 88 Preparing the Data……………………………………………………………………………… 88 Scale Validation………………………………………………………………………………… 89 Preliminary Results…………………………………………………………………………….. 92 Descriptive Statistics………………………………………………………………………… 92 Treatment Section Responses………………………………………………………………... 112 Control Group Responses……………………………………………………………………. 115 Reflective Essays…………………………………………………………………………….. 116 The Final Piece………………………………………………………………………………. 118 Data Analysis Summary……………………………………………………………………... 120 Chapter V: Discussion and Future Directions……………………………………………………. 122 Successes and Shortcomings…………………………………………………………………... 123 Recommendations……………………………………………………………………………... 124 Connecting My Research to Past Findings……………………………………………………. 127 Implications and Future Directions……………………………………………………………. 137 The Lessons of Lake Erie……………………………………………………………………… 139 Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………….. 140 Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………………….. 141 Appendix B……………………………………………………………………………………….. 146 Appendix C……………………………………………………………………………………….
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