Sociologists, psychologists and magazines are always trying to understand people better, sometimes through examining trends or patterns. In line with this, it now seems clear that a new subculture is emerging.
Based on 100,000 responses to questionnaires and hundreds of focus groups, Paul H. Ray, Ph.D. (a macrosociologist) and Sherry Ruth Anderson, Ph.D. (a psychologist) have attached a story to this subculture that was dubbed the "The Cultural Creatives" by Dr. Ray in the early 1990s.
According to Ray and Anderson in their book, The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World (Harmony Books/Random House, 2000), Cultural Creatives can be identified by: a serious attention to "planetary perspectives," commitment to spirituality and psychological development, disaffection with the large institutions of modern life (including traditional politics) and rejection of materialism and ostentation.
Some of the lifestyle markers for Cultural Creatives are:
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Desire for authenticity: they lead the rebellion against things that are "plastic," fake, imitation, poorly made, throwaway or synthetic.
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Foodies: they like to talk about food (before and after), experiment with new kinds of food, cook with friends, eat out a lot, do gourmet/ethnic cooking and try natural/health foods.
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Holistic everything: They "are the prototypical innovators in, and consumers of, personal growth psychotherapy, alternative health care and natural foods [...] what ties these interests together is a belief in holistic health, body, mind and spirit are to be unified."
According to these authors, Cultural Creatives do not want to live in an alienated, disconnected world. "Their guiding images refer again and again to a sense of wholeness," explain Ray and Anderson. "They say that each of us is a living system within a greater living system, a kinship connected to each other in more ways than we can fathom."
By James J. Gormley (copyright 2007)