He received his Ph.D. (1995) and M.A. in psychology from the University of Rochester and his B.A. in psychology from Vanderbilt University. His passion is to use the academic profession to understand, explore and make changes around issues of materialism, consumerism and simplicity. Since the early 1990s, Kasser has been researching people’s values and goals and how they relate to quality of life. He is particularly interested in people’s orientation toward materialistic, consumeristic goals (such as money, image and status) as opposed to more “intrinsically satisfying” goals (such as personal growth, connection to others and contribution to the community). Kasser has numerous publications and book chapters, including his 2002 book, The High Price of Materialism, published by The MIT Press. His teaching interests are in personality, clinical and abnormal psychology and alternatives to consumerism.