Are You Buying Happiness?

By Patrick Driessen

"The basic thing is that everyone wants happiness, no one wants suffering. And happiness mainly comes from our own attitude, rather than from external factors. If your own mental attitude is correct, even if you remain in a hostile atmosphere, you feel happy!" - H.H. the Dalai Lama

Are you feeling sad, depressed or lonely? Just leave your home and buy some active happiness! This is how to do it.

Psychologists have just found out that buying life experiences makes people happier than buying possessions, but who spends more of their spare cash on experiences? New findings published this week (January 30th, 2012) in the Journal of Positive Psychology reveal extraverts and people who are open to new experiences tend to spend more of their disposable income on experiences, such as concert tickets or a weekend away, rather than hitting the shopping mall for material items.

These habitual "experiential shoppers" reaped long-term benefits from their spending: They reported greater life satisfaction, according to the study led by San Francisco State University Assistant Professor of Psychology Ryan Howell.

To further investigate how purchasing decisions impact well-being, Howell and his colleagues have launched a website where members of the public can take free surveys to find out what kind of shopper they are and how their spending choices affect them. Data collected through the "Beyond the Purchase" website will be used by Howell and other social psychologists. 

For his latest study, Howell and colleagues surveyed nearly 10,000 participants, who completed online questionnaires about their shopping habits, personality traits, values and life satisfaction. "We know that being an 'experience shopper' is linked to greater well-being," said Howell, whose 2009 paper on purchasing experiences, published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, challenged the adage that money can't buy happiness. "But we wanted to find out why some people gravitate toward buying experiences."

Participants' personality was measured using the "Big Five" personality traits model, a scale psychologists use to describe how extraverted, neurotic, open, conscientious and agreeable a person is. People who spent most of their disposable income on experiences scored highly on the "extravert" and "openness to new experience" scales. 

"This personality profile makes sense since life experiences are inherently more social, and they also contain an element of risk," Howell said. "If you try a new experience that you don't like, you can't return it to the store for a refund."

The authors suggest that it could be easier to change your spending habits than your personality traits. "Even for people who naturally find themselves drawn to material purchases, our results suggest that getting more of a balance between traditional purchases and those that provide you with an experience could lead to greater life satisfaction and well-being."

Next Steps & Actions to Increase Your Happiness

For more info about the above and to find out what kind of shopper you are, please visit the Beyond the Purchase website at beyondthepurchase.org.

Create a life experiences wish list: write down your goals and dreams for the next weekend, the next couple of months or the next decade. Life lists are already very popular, as evidenced by the many books and websites such as '1,000 Places to See Before You Die' and 43Things.com. The movie 'The Bucket List' - a movie in which terminal cancer patients (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) have a few last adventures - also inspired many people to create a wish list with adventures, life experiences and must sees.

Now it's time to create your own list and take action to tick off the wishes on your list to boost your happiness!

Have fun and enjoy your increased level of happiness!

Warm regards,

Patrick