Philosophy

Psychoanalysis

Materialism

Social psychology

Economics

Computer science

Neoclassical economics

Conspicuous consumption

Psychology

Institutional economics

Individuation

Value (mathematics)

Psychotherapist

Epistemology

Sociology

Optimal distinctiveness theory

Consumption (sociology)

Positive economics

Meaning (existential)

Machine learning

Narcissism

Social science

Current Opinion in Psychology

Narcissists are prone to conspicuous consumption, that is, preference for luxury over mundane products. We analyze four reasons for their conspicuous consumption: positive distinctiveness (individuation and status), meaning in life, materialism, and sexual signaling. Empirical support for these reasons ranges from good to preliminary. We then discuss directions that this nascent literature could take. These include a consideration of different forms of narcissism (grandiose vs. vulnerable, agentic vs. communal, admirative vs. rivalrous), the value of experimentation in clarifying the causal flow from narcisissm to conspicuous consumption and also from conspicuous consumption to state narcissism, as well as the (mostly negative) consequences of conspicuous consumptions for narcisissm and society.

Narcissism and conspicuous consumption