Skin Deep: Unraveling the Relationship between Narcissism, Empathy, and Luxury Fashion Consumption

• In Event: Green Criminology #4 - Animal rights and animal welfare

Abstract

The UK luxury fashion industry is forecasted to grow by 4% over the next four years. With products that include handbags, shoes, wallets, belts, and other accessories made from skins of exotic animals such as alligators, crocodiles, snakes, and lizards. Despite claims of ethical sourcing through captive breeding, there is concern over procurement, as many ostensibly "legal" imports may, in fact, originate from illicit hunting and poaching. It can be asserted that the purchase and consumption of luxury fashion products made from exotic skins is an ethically dubious activity. A survey was conducted to investigate consumer attitudes towards these products, alongside measures of narcissism (both grandiose and vulnerable) and empathy (towards both humans and non-human animals) to explore the relationship between these scales. It was found that there is a significant positive correlation between grandiose narcissism and favourable perceptions of luxury fashion items made from exotic skins when perceived as symbols of affluence and social status. Individuals exhibiting grandiose narcissistic tendencies can demonstrate a predisposition towards materialism and are likely to purchase these products or hold positive opinions of them. There was no statistically significant relationship between any of the other scales, however, there was a significant and positive correlation between grandiose narcissism and empathy to animals. This suggests a nuanced interplay where some individuals with narcissistic traits may covet luxury products but also maintain positive sentiments towards non-human animals. This is an example of how humans experience cognitive dissonance and resolve it by justifying their behaviours using techniques of neutralisation. This paper argues that understanding luxury fashion consumption behaviour and underscoring the ethical, moral, and cognitive quandaries of consumption of products made from exotic animal skins can offer insights for policymakers interested in demand reduction intervention strategies to help with the conservation of wild animal species populations.

Author

• Arjun Awasthi, University of Southampton