William James is well known for his rejection of materialism and his lifelong defense of what he referred to as, among other things, the “religious hypothesis.”1 Part of this defense can be understood in terms of James’s frequent identification with the “sick souls” who are highly sensitive to the evils in our world, rather than the “healthy minded” who are more disposed to either ignore or dow...

Urban political ecology now finds itself at a crossroads between gradual marginalization or renewed intellectual impetus. Despite some recent critical re-evaluations of the field, there remain series conceptual tensions that have only been partially explored. I consider six issues in particular: uncertain relations urban and biophysical sciences; emergence extended conceptions agency subjectivi...

The present studies examined if materialists have an elevated concern about food availability, presumably stemming from a general survival security motivation. Study 1 found that materialists set a greater life goal of food security, and reported more food insecurity during their childhood. Materialists reported less present-day food insecurity. Study 2 revealed that materialists stored/hoarded...

Materialistic values may be detrimental for people's well-being. However, we know little about why (i.e., explaining mechanisms) and when (i.e., boundary conditions) this is the case. Although low satisfaction of the psychological needs is said to play a key role in this process, a recent meta-analysis indicates that the explaining power of need satisfaction is limited and suggests that need fr...