Shopping is a pastime that many people turn to when they feel stressed or overwhelmed, which can lead to regrettable purchases. Thankfully, there are ways you can engage in retail therapy and feel great about what you buy–here are three ways that you can spend money to boost your happiness, with evidence from psychology research from all over!


Tip #1: Invest in experiences

One of the ways that you can spend money to increase your happiness is to invest in experiences, like going to a concert or going on vacation, rather than on material goods like jewelry or clothes. One reason is that we may identify more with our experiences than with our material possessions. In a series of studies where participants considered the purchases they have made in relation to their sense of self, Carter and Gilovich found that, overall, participants felt  that their experiences, rather than material goods, were more connected to their sense of self [1]. We may also feel more grateful for these experiences. Looking at undergraduate students and online reviews, Walker, Kumar, and Gilovich found that participants were more grateful for their experiences than for their material possessions [2]. Finally, it might be worth bringing along a friend–Caprariello and Reis looked at undergraduate and online participants’ attitudes towards their purchases and found that participants preferred experiences that they shared with others over material purchases or experiences that they had alone [3].


Tip #2: Spend on others

Spending on others comes with several benefits. For instance, spending money on others feels good–Aknin et al. found that, looking at people across 136 countries and a wide range of income levels, spending money on others was associated with greater happiness [4]. Spending on others may also be good for your health. Whillans et al. found that older adults with high blood pressure who spent money on others for three weeks had lower blood pressure than those who spent money on themselves [5]. Finally, spending money on others can benefit the person receiving the gift. Zhang et al. asked participants recruited on a survey platform to recall an instance when someone bought something for them and found a relationship between participants’ willingness to accept (WTA) the gift and their reported subjective well-being (SWB), with the gift’s attractiveness and positive perceived intention of giving being related to SWB via WTA [6].


Tip #3: All sales final

Many stores offer warranties and return policies to protect consumers and their goods. These are appealing because they make the decision reversible–people tend to prefer reversible decisions because they bring about feelings of freedom and act as a safety net [7]. However, people may actually end up unhappier as a result of making reversible decisions. In a study where students performed a series of decision-making tasks, Bullens et al. found that reversible decision-making led to lower levels of satisfaction afterwards and also that making reversible decisions may lead to focusing on negative aspects of the choice while making irreversible decisions may result in focusing instead on positive aspects that make the choice appealing [8]. The next time you go shopping, consider skipping out on the warranties and return policies, especially if they cost you extra. You might end up spending more money to make a decision that you will ultimately be less happy with.


References:

  1. Carter, T. J.; Gilovich, T. I Am What I Do, Not What I Have: The Differential Centrality of Experiential and Material Purchases to the Self. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2012, 102 (6), 1304–1317. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027407.

  2. Walker, J.; Kumar, A.; Gilovich, T. Cultivating Gratitude and Giving through Experiential Consumption. Emotion 2016, 16 (8), 1126–1136. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000242.

  3. Caprariello, P. A.; Reis, H. T. To Do, to Have, or to Share? Valuing Experiences Over Material Possessions Depends on the Involvement of Others. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2013, 104 (2), 199–215. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030953.

  4. Aknin, L. B.; Barrington-Leigh, C. P.; Dunn, E. W.; Helliwell, J. F.; Burns, J.; Biswas-Diener, R.; Kemeza, I.; Nyende, P.; Ashton-James, C. E.; Norton, M. I. Prosocial Spending and Well-Being: Cross-Cultural Evidence for a Psychological Universal. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2013, 104 (4), 635–652. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031578.

  5. Whillans, A. V.; Dunn, E. W.; Sandstrom, G. M.; Dickerson, S. S.; Madden, K. M. Is Spending Money on Others Good for Your Heart? Health Psychol. 2016, 35 (6), 574–583. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000332.

  6. Zhang, W.; Chen, M.; Xie, Y.; Zhao, Z. Prosocial Spending and Subjective Well-Being: The Recipient Perspective. J. Happiness Stud. 2018, 19 (8), 2267–2281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9918-2.

  7. Bullens, L.; Harreveld, F. Second Thoughts about Decision Reversibility: An Empirical Overview. Soc. Personal. Psychol. Compass 2016, 10 (10), 550–560. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12268.

  8. Bullens, L.; van Harreveld, F.; Förster, J.; van der Pligt, J. Reversible Decisions: The Grass Isn’t Merely Greener on the Other Side; It’s Also Very Brown over Here. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 2013, 49 (6), 1093–1099. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.07.011.

  9. Unsplash. Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/nfoRa6NHTbU (accessed Nov 3, 2020).


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