Heroes and villains the history of comic books
Although a recent content analytic study Belk has found archetypal heroes and villains of consumption in American comic books since the s, it leaves unanswered the question of what the effect of these treatments may be on readers. The present study sought to investigate such effects among current college students by measuring identification with these comic book characters and relating such preferences to materialism traits. Results show expected negative effects on materialism for identifications with heroes of consumption, but find a somewhat more complex relationship between villain identification and materialism.