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Van Boven & Gilovich (2003) finds that people are happier when they spend money on experiences than material goods. They mention that experiences are more central to an individual's identity and that being materialistic has a negative stereotype. Why does society still place such value on materialistic goods if this is so? Why are people not encouraged to spend their money on others or experiences that will actually contribute to their happiness? (Velinda)

Van Boven and Gilovich (2003) mentioned one of the reasons why people are more satisfied with experiential events than with materialistic experiences is that the experiences tie to people's identities, but how about wealthy people whose identities connect to how much they make or how much money they have? Do you think there are individual differences with various baselines on how people analyze experiential vs materialistic experiences? (Anh)

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After reading the Deiner (2018) article, are you convinced that most of the world is happy? They mention that it is possible that actual values of SWB/happiness are lower than reported values. Using some of the previous themes that we have discussed in this class, what can we attribute to this difference? (Simon)

The article by Diener et al. (2018) mentioned how people in countries with lower life conditions may be comparing themselves to wealthier nations, and this can decrease their subjective well-being. In what ways do you compare yourself to others, and how does this influence your SWB? Who are the people you tend to compare yourself to? How does social media play a role in these comparisons? (Carissa)

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Often times, investing in an experience involves going to a new location and a new environment. How might the novelty of an experience and its ability to produce awe lead to the greater values of happiness found by Van Boven & Gilovich (2003)? (Guy)

With the development of technology, people are more materialized than before since these high-tech products are bringing us conveniency and improvement of life quality. Do you agree that these products are the same meaningful as experiences? Are you more willing to purchase these products which can help you life a better life or to purchase experiences that can make you happier? (Jenny)

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Material possessions and hedonic adaptation

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Material possessions and hedonic adaptation

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Due to hedonic adaptation, some material possessions we accumulate over time seem to lose a lot of their meaning. This eventually creates a lot of trash, as people so quickly get rid of items they no longer need. How can we preserve our planet, our happiness, and our desire to acquire material possessions all at the same time? (Makenzie)

Van Boven & Gilovich (2003) explain how paying for life experiences instead of material items leads to higher levels of happiness. The Kahneman (2006) reading from earlier in the quarter explains how material purchases lead to hedonic adaptation and the hedonic treadmill. If this is the case, then why do so many people still choose to spend money on unnecessary material goods? Do you think it has something to do with the instant gratification that comes with buying material goods? (Lauren)

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As discussed in the Van Broven article, material goods do not increase happiness as much as experiences do. As a society, it seems that we place so much value on showing off our wealth and success with material goods. Why do you think we focus on material goods more than experiences to prove wealth,  when there is data that suggests that material goods don’t actually make us happier? (Kinsey)

In Van Boven 2003, the research concludes that experiential purchases are the cause of greater happiness compared to materialistic purchases. In reference to past readings, how might experiential purchases contribute to one’s psychological richness and flow in life? (Zarya)

Boven and Gilovich (2003) suggest that spending time on life experience makes people happier than material purchase. However, people also have the tendency to cling on to physical objects as a possession and often have a special memory associated with the object. For this reason, is the life experience actually always better than physical objects? Also, think about times when a material purchase is the means to life experience (e.g., spending money on a ticket for an escape room vs. spending money on a computer so that you can play such a game?) (Linh)

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In Diener (2018) they backtrack on their previous study's claim and argue not everyone might be as happy as they thought. With rising rate of depression, obviously COVID is a contributing factor, but I was curious: What is the biggest aspect or characteristic of the pandemic that has altered your own [or fiends' and family's] happiness? Ex. Isolation, health anxiety, increased use of technology, decreased outdoor time, lack of security, decrease in rewarding activities etc. (Sam)

Van Boven & Gilovich (2003) states that people get more hedonic satisfaction from experiences than from goods. Due to the pandemic, however, people are less likely to have the opportunity to spend money on experiences. Reflecting back, do you prefer to spend money on possessions or save money for future experiences during the pandemic, and how would you change the behaviors later?(Lulu)

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In the Dunn article, it mentions how despite knowing the benefits of prosocial spending, participants spend more money on personal spending. Is this because of innate human behavior or a result of our culture? Would there be a difference in prosocial versus personal spending if someone is from a collectivist culture versus someone from an individualist one? Or is it natural for humans, who center the world around themselves, to spend more money on personal items? (Hannah)

Diener et al. (2018) discuss how societies and their policies can have a substantial influence on human well-being and found that people are more likely to score in the negative zone on measures of life satisfaction as opposed to measures of affect balance. How do societal norms and policies impact the coherence (i.e., how much things make sense) and meaningfulness that people within the society experience (Heintzelman, Trent, and King, 2013)? Do more coherent societal norms and policies promote increased wellbeing?(Alex)

In Dunn's (2008) article suggested that spending money on others promote happiness, but not a lot of people is likely to do so in real life. What do you think we can do to promote this type of action? (Sammi)

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In the Dunn article the findings report that spending as little as $5 towards prosocial means can increase happiness on a given day. For many this type of daily spending isn't something that can be maintained long term due to restrictions on disposable income. What are other non-monetary investments individual can make towards prosocial behavior that might also impact daily happiness?(Luke)

Dunn et al. (2008) found that spending money on others rather than oneself promotes greater happiness, how often do you find yourself spending money on others? Are these gifts often experiences or material items? We've found other prosocial behaviors promotes happiness as well, like complimenting; which do you think promotes greater happiness: gift giving or compliments? Which would you prefer to receive? (Sarah)

Dunn et al. (2008) suggest that spending money on others promotes greater happiness. Does this spending translate to other more symbolic currencies such as time, effort, or other constructs that are less quantifiable? (Henry)