1. This essay starts out with an anthropological mission, to study a subculture: hipsters. But the article was published in Psychology Today, so it also has the goal of studying the hipster mentality. Read through the essay and identify the sections that seem anthropological and the sections that seem psychological.

2. Using your library’s online databases, track down the research paper that Wise summarizes in this article. Compare the full paper with Wise’s short report. What does Wise miss? Did he do a responsible job of representing the larger research study?

3. Wise seems to assume that most of his readers will see hipsters as objects of ridicule. What assumptions are built into Wise’s writing and the research he cites, and how do these assumptions distract us from seeing the positives associated with hipsterism? How could Wise conduct further research to determine if these assumptions are valid? (For more on finding common ground with readers, see.)

4. WRITING: Wise writes that “people are largely motivated to spend money not just on things that they materially need, but that bolster their sense of identity.” Write an analysis of one specific product that you believe has become a specific marker of identity — a product that people buy specifically to build their “identity.” Explore how this identity building does or does not work in practice, and consider interviewing people about their reasons for making this purchase.