Often, a woman's coming of age is associated with her reaching puberty and becoming able to bear children (Turner 1966). Many societies have rituals to signal youths' transition to adulthood. The primary goal is to gain insight into the phenomenological experiences of a few young women relating to their personal involvement in the debutante events.īoth the history of the debutante ball and its modern form provide insight into the significance of this event. ![]() This study was undertaken with the principle research objective of understanding the motivation to engage in and benefits received from participation in a debutante ball. The increased materialism and return to conservative values in the '80's, contrasted with the rejection of social conformity popular in the '60's, have been posited as reasons for the increased participation in these traditional events. A variety of reasons for this cyclical participation pattern have been proposed. Another example, and the one that will be examined in this study, is the revival of debutante balls. A primary example of this was the sharp rise in Sorority and Fraternity membership on college campuses. Thus, the modern celebration of this ritual creates dissonance for the debutantes, which they reduce by emphasizing positive motivations for participation.ĭuring the decade of the 1980's, participation in traditional activities that had been on the decline throughout the late 1960's and 1970's experienced a strong resurgence. However, the lack of lasting behavioral change and rejection of social implications cause the debutante ball to lose significance for the participants. This ritual is high in vitality, due to the strong presence of tangible components of ritual behavior. The debutante ball is a rite of passage with marked social status symbolism. This project examines the vitality and significance of a traditional American ritual, the debutante ball, using qualitative data gathered through participant observation and in-depth interviews. THE CONSUMPTION OF INSIGNIFICANT RITUALS: A LOOK AT DEBUTANTE BALLS Rothschild, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 709-716.Īdvances in Consumer Research VolPages 709-716 Jennifer Edson Escalas (1993) ,"The Consumption of Insignificant Rituals: a Look At Debutante Balls", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 20, eds. ![]() Thus, the modern celebration of this ritual creates dissonance for the debutantes, which they reduce by emphasizing positive motivations for participation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).ABSTRACT - This project examines the vitality and significance of a traditional American ritual, the debutante ball, using qualitative data gathered through participant observation and in-depth interviews. Thus, this research suggests that some moral values can, somewhat paradoxically, increase conspicuous consumption. Finally, the studies demonstrate that the effect is moderated by the extent of social visibility during consumption. Further, analyses show that the effect of the binding values (individualizing values) is mediated by heightened sensitivity to the social identity signaling (self-enhancing) aspects of conspicuous consumption. Then, 6 studies (N = 2903) show that the trait endorsement and the momentary salience of the different moral foundations can influence the moral judgment of conspicuous consumption as well as the propensity to engage in conspicuous consumption. First, an archival dataset shows that the prevalence of the different moral values predicts per-capita spending on luxury goods across different countries. However, the binding values (i.e., deference to authority, in-group loyalty, and purity) make people focus on the social identity signaling characteristic of conspicuous consumption, making it seem morally permissible. Utilizing the Moral Foundations Theory, we demonstrate that the individualizing values (i.e., equality and welfare) make people focus on the self-enhancing characteristics of conspicuous consumption, making it seem morally objectionable. This research sheds light on the apparent paradox by proposing that the perceived morality of conspicuous consumption is malleable, contingent upon how different moral lenses highlight the different characteristics embedded in the behavior. ![]() ![]() Conspicuous consumption has often been decried as immoral by many philosophers and scholars, yet it is ubiquitous and widely embraced.
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