14 DAY TRIAL // A new investigation, featuring the results of eight independent scientific studies, has recently revealed that purchasing life experiences does more for happiness than the latest gadgets and fashion. The researchers demonstrated that the type of happiness involving visiting new places, going to the movies, and being on vacation is the one that starts up at the highest level, and is most likely to grow over time. Conversely, people may find that the joy associated with buying a new piece of advanced technology wanes over time. This is also true for when individuals buy the latest type of computer, or photo camera. After the initial joy associated with the purchase, their level of happiness fades in time.
While this type of correlation has been hinted at before, the new survey also provides a number of reasons as to why this may be the case. One of them, the researchers say, is the fact that people generally tend to second-guess themselves when it comes to material things. They tend to ask themselves whether they indeed made the right selection for their money and so on. When the next generation of their product hits the market, they generally feel straight-out disappointment. In the case of experiences, we do not compare them to other things too much, and tend to view them on their own.
Additionally, the paper found, people generally tend to find it easier to decide on an experiential purchase. They are more likely not to get upset when they learn someone got a better deal than they did, which is not the case when it comes to purchasing material things. If, for example, someone buys a cell phone for a price, and their friends buy it a few days later at a special offer, and pay much less, the first person is very likely to get upset over this, feel frustration, and thus experience less happiness.
The paper found that, when comparing their own acquisitions with those of others, most people tended to become more jealous of their peers if the analyzed factor was a material possession. When it came to experiential purchases, all test participants were a lot less likely to fell jealousy, LiveScience reports. The study, which was conducted by a team of experts at the Cornell University, looked at 164 participants, who were asked to play various purchasing games, and then report their level of happiness. Full details of the investigation appear in the January issue of the respected Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.