ESP-4225

Published

2025-10-30

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 10 (2025): Published

Section

Research Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Min Du, Yanbing Zhang, Zhen Zhao

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The journal adopts the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0), which means that anyone can reuse and redistribute the materials for non-commercial purposes as long as you follow the license terms and the original source is properly cited.

Author(s) shall retain the copyright of their work and grant the Journal/Publisher rights for the first publication with the work concurrently licensed since 2023 Vol.8 No.2.

Under this license, author(s) will allow third parties to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute and/or copy the content under the condition that the authors are given credit. No permission is required from the authors or the publisher.

This broad license intends to facilitate free access, as well as the unrestricted use of original works of all types. This ensures that the published work is freely and openly available in perpetuity.

By providing open access, the following benefits are brought about:

  • Higher Visibility, Availability and Citations-free and unlimited accessibility of the publication over the internet without any restrictions increases citation of the article.
  • Ease of search-publications are easily searchable in search engines and indexing databases.
  • Rapid Publication – accepted papers are immediately published online.
  • Available for free download immediately after publication at https://esp.as-pub.com/index.php/ESP

 

Copyright Statement

1.The authors certify that the submitted manuscripts are original works, do not infringe the rights of others, are free from academic misconduct and confidentiality issues, and that there are no disputes over the authorship scheme of the collaborative articles. In case of infringement, academic misconduct and confidentiality issues, as well as disputes over the authorship scheme, all responsibilities will be borne by the authors.

2. The author agrees to grant the Editorial Office of Environment and Social Psychology a licence to use the reproduction right, distribution right, information network dissemination right, performance right, translation right, and compilation right of the submitted manuscript, including the work as a whole, as well as the diagrams, tables, abstracts, and any other parts that can be extracted from the work and used in accordance with the characteristics of the journal. The Editorial Board of Environment and Social Psychology has the right to use and sub-licence the above mentioned works for wide dissemination in print, electronic and online versions, and, in accordance with the characteristics of the periodical, for the period of legal protection of the property right of the copyright in the work, and for the territorial scope of the work throughout the world.

3. The authors are entitled to the copyright of their works under the relevant laws of Singapore, provided that they do not exercise their rights in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the Journal.

About Licence

Environment and Social Psychology is an open access journal and all published work is available under the Creative Commons Licence, Authors shall retain copyright of their work and grant the journal/publisher the right of first publication, and their work shall be licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Under this licence, the author grants permission to third parties to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute and/or copy the content with attribution to the author. No permission from the author or publisher is required.

This broad licence is intended to facilitate free access to and unrestricted use of original works of all kinds. This ensures that published works remain free and accessible in perpetuity. Submitted manuscripts, once accepted, are immediately available to the public and permanently accessible free of charge on the journal’s official website (https://esp.as-pub.com/index.php/ESP). Allowing users to read, download, copy, print, search for or link to the full text of the article, or use it for other legal purposes. However, the use of the work must retain the author's signature, be limited to non-commercial purposes, and not be interpretative.

Click to download <Agreement on the Licence for the Use of Copyright on Environmental and Social Psychology>.

How to Cite

Min Du, Yanbing Zhang, & Zhen Zhao. (2025). Capital logic, consumption, and anxiety: Rereading fromm in contemporary psychology. Environment and Social Psychology, 10(10), ESP-4225. https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v10i10.4225

Capital logic, consumption, and anxiety: Rereading fromm in contemporary psychology

Min Du

The Mental Health Education Center, Xidian University, 266 Xinglong Section of Xifeng Road, Xi’an, 710126, Shaanxi Province, China

Yanbing Zhang

School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Jalan Universiti, George, Town, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

Zhen Zhao

School of Marxism, Xidian University, 266 Xinglong Section of Xifeng Road, Xi’an, 710126, Shaanxi Province, China


DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v10i10.4225


Keywords: social psychoanalysis; capital logic; productive character; mental health; alienation

Abstract

This paper revisits Erich Fromm’s theory of social psychoanalysis to exam- ine the persistence of psychological distress in contemporary societies shaped by capital logic and consumer culture. There is a fundamental difference between Fromm’s theory of "social embedding" and Freud’s paradigm of fo- cusing on individuals, which shows that a full understanding of spiritual life must be placed in a broader historical and cultural context. Freud’s psy- choanalysis highlights the individual’s inner conflicts, yet Fromm reminds us that such struggles are never merely privatethey are conditioned by broader social structures. This study traces three interconnected concerns: the ex- perience of alienation, the formation of social character, and the pursuit of a productive orientation. It argues that contemporary anxieties, burnout, and forms of emotional detachment cannot be reduced to individual weakness but must be understood as outcomes of alienated social arrangements. Drawing on cultural resources such as Confucian benevolence, Daoist naturalness, and Buddhist mindfulness, the paper suggests these traditions remain rele- vant counterforces, offering ethical foundations for a more human-centered psychology. Building on Fromm’s legacy, we propose a threefold path that integrates structural reform, cultural renewal, and individual responsibility, aiming to reorient critical psychology toward the collective well-being.

References

[1]. 1.J. M. Twenge, W. K. Campbell, The age of anxiety? birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 19521993, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 117 (3) (2019) 636–651.

[2]. 2.S. Rosenfield, D. Mouzon, Gender and mental health, Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health (2016) 277–296.

[3]. 3.A. Ehrenberg, The Weariness of the Self: Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2010.

[4]. 4.M. Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, Zero Books, 2009.

[5]. 5.World Health Organization, World mental health report: Transforming mental health for all, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/ 9789240063599 (2022).

[6]. 6.C. Maslach, M. P. Leiter, Burnout: A Multidimensional Perspective, Routledge, 2016.

[7]. 7.E. Fromm, The escape from freedom, in: An introduction to theories of personality, Psychology Press, 2014, pp. 121–135.

[8]. 8.E. Fromm, The Sane Society, Rinehart, 1955.

[9]. 9.S. Freud, The Ego and the Id, International Psycho-Analytical Press, 1923.

[10]. 10.M. Jay, The dialectical imagination: A history of the Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research, 1923-1950, no. 10, Univ of Califor- nia Press, 1996.

[11]. 11.E. Fromm, Beyond the Chains of Illusion: My Encounter with Marx and Freud, Simon & Schuster, 1962.

[12]. 12.C. Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism, W. W. Norton, 1979.

[13]. 13.E. Illouz, Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism, Polity Press, 2007.

[14]. 14.K. Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Progress Pub- lishers, 1844.

[15]. 15.J. Baudrillard, The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures, SAGE, 1998.

[16]. 16.E. Fromm, To Have or To Be?, Harper & Row, 1976.

[17]. 17.M. Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Rout- ledge, 1930.

[18]. 18.J. M. Twenge, G. N. Martin, W. K. Campbell, Decreases in psychological well-being among american adolescents after 2012 and links to screen time during the rise of smartphone technology, Emotion 18 (6) (2018) 765–780. doi:10.1037/emo0000403.

[19]. 19.S. Rosenfield, D. Mouzon, Gender and mental health, Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health (2013) 277–296.

[20]. 20.R. M. Ryan, E. L. Deci, Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being, American Psychologist 55 (1) (2000) 68–78.

[21]. 21.V. E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, Beacon Press, 1959.

[22]. 22.W. Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution, Zone Books, 2015.

[23]. 23.T. Weiming, Confucian Traditions in East Asian Modernity, Harvard University Press, 2001.

[24]. 24.D. Y. F. Ho, S. Lau, Confucian relationalism and resilience, Asian Jour- nal of Social Psychology 22 (2) (2019) 123–135.

[25]. 25.Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Hackett Publishing, 2003.

[26]. 26.K.-s. Yang, D. Ho, Daoist practices and their psychological benefits, Journal of Humanistic Psychology 56 (2) (2016) 193–215.

[27]. 27.E. Fromm, D. T. Suzuki, R. D. Martino, Zen Buddhism and Psycho- analysis, Harper & Row, 1960.

[28]. 28.J. Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 10 (2) (2003) 144–156.

[29]. 29.R. A. Baer, Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 10 (2) (2003) 125–143.

[30]. 30.J. Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness-based interventions in context: past, present, and future, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 10 (2) (2003) 144–156. doi:10.1093/clipsy.bpg016.

[31]. 31.R. H. Sharf, Is mindfulness buddhist? (and why it matters), Transcultural Psychiatry 52 (4) (2015) 470–484. doi:10.1177/ 1363461514557561.

[32]. 32.I. D. Yalom, Existential Psychotherapy, Basic Books, 1980.

[33]. 33.E. Fromm, Man for himself: An inquiry into the psychology of ethics, Routledge, 2013.

[34]. 34.M. Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Harper & Row, 1990.

[35]. 35.H. E. Longino, Science as Social Knowledge: Values and Objectivity in Scientific Inquiry, Princeton University Press, 1990.

[36]. 36.T. Teo, Critical Psychology: A Geography of Intellectual Engagement, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

[37]. 37.K.-K. Hwang, Foundations of Chinese Psychology: Confucian Social Relations, Springer, 2016.



21 Woodlands Close #02-10, Primz Bizhub,Postal 737854, Singapore

Email:editorial_office@as-pub.com