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Affluenza, a portmanteau of ''affluence'' and ''influenza'', is a term used by critics of consumerism. The 2001 book ''Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic'' defines it as "a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more."〔''Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic'', John de Graaf, David Wann & Thomas H. Naylor, 2001 ISBN 1-57675-199-6〕 The term "affluenza" has also been used to refer to an inability to understand the consequences of one's actions because of financial privilege, notably in the case of Ethan Couch. ==Theory== In 2007, British psychologist Oliver James asserted that there was a correlation between the increasing nature of affluenza and the resulting increase in material inequality: the more unequal a society, the greater the unhappiness of its citizens.〔 〕 Referring to Vance Packard's thesis ''The Hidden Persuaders'' on the manipulative methods used by the advertising industry, James related the stimulation of artificial needs to the rise in affluenza. To highlight the spread of affluenza in societies with varied levels of inequality, James interviewed people in several cities including Sydney, Singapore, Auckland, Moscow, Shanghai, Copenhagen and New York. In 2008 James wrote that higher rates of mental disorders were the consequence of excessive wealth-seeking in consumerist nations.〔 〕 In a graph created from multiple data sources, James plotted "Prevalence of any emotional distress" and "Income inequality," attempting to show that English-speaking nations have nearly twice as much emotional distress as mainland Europe and Japan: 21.6 percent vs 11.5 percent. James defined affluenza as "placing a high value on money, possessions, appearances (physical and social) and fame", which was the rationale behind the increasing mental illness in English-speaking societies. He explained the greater incidence of affluenza as the result of 'selfish capitalism', the market liberal political governance found in English-speaking nations as compared to the less selfish capitalism pursued in mainland Europe. James asserted that societies can remove the negative consumerist effects by pursuing real needs over perceived wants, and by defining themselves as having value independent of their material possessions. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「affluenza」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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