Issue #5 – Happiness

One Worldly issue at a time

Issue 5 – Happiness

Happiness is far more than a simple chase for pleasure, it involves many other aspects of our lives. People are beginning to realise the need for social connections to maintain our happiness. This piece takes the view of happiness being the means to have a good life, and argues that materialism and a consumerist lifestyle is impacting on our ability to find real happiness.

Comparing the American Dream and a version of ‘the good life’ in China, I unpack the differences between individualistic happiness based around consumption, and collective happiness focused on community. Although I have a negative perspective towards consumerism, this essay speaks about consuming only what’s required in life (sufficiency), rather than moving away from consumption entirely. A world of no consumption is impossible as we will always need to consume to survive – but how do we survive well?

Key takeaways:

• The mainstream capitalist view of consumerism and materialism as a way to be happy has not resulted in increased level of happiness.
• Happiness is an ongoing social process, and has to be attained by incorporating meaning and value in our lives such as personal relations with others, gratitude of current possessions, and a simple lifestyle based on social interactions not materialism.
• Voluntary simplicity has been touted as a possible alternative lifestyle that is based on the primary attributes of frugality, self-sufficiency, and a commitment to conscientious over conspicuous consumption. Happiness is attained through a simplification of lifestyle, reduction of work and material consumption which increases the available leisure time to pursue the key drivers of genuine happiness, social interactions.

 

Rethinking the Good Life: Achieving happiness through a reduction in materialistic consumption

1. Introduction

 

“I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one’s self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely.”

– Henry David Thoreau (1854)

 

This essay will seek to redefine the good life as the path to happiness through social interactions, community connections and a simple lifestyle. As Lao Tzu (1989) once said, “to know when you have enough is to be rich”. Shifting consumption towards necessity and sufficiency will benefit society in the long term and generate genuine happiness. This essay will explore the history of the notion of a good life and its emphasis on materialism. Subsequently, it will analyse the impacts of materialism on society and on happiness. Following that, this essay will develop happiness theory to achieve happiness without materialism. Lastly, this essay will analyse voluntary simplicity in its ability to embed happiness through social interactions, connections and simplicity as its core values.

A Review of Consumerism, Materialism and Happiness

 

Development and globalization coupled with thousands of daily advertisements have fuelled aspirations to live the good life as the way to attain happiness (Ger 1997; Dittmar et al. 2014). Living a good life has been based upon the western ideology of material consumption, driving people to accumulate wealth and possession, which results in a continuous cycle of consumption (Caldas 2010:17). The most basic purpose of consumption is out of necessity, to achieve basic needs such as clean water and sanitation, food, education, health and security (Gardner and Assadourian 2004). However in affluent countries, rising incomes has allowed the fulfilment of basic needs with excess income that has been used to pursue consumption of material goods as a means to establish and express individual or social identity, altering the meaning of consumption (Ger 1997).

Modern forms of consumption has perpetuated a cycle of continual consumption as the dominant path to happiness attainment in the form of increasing status, identity and freedom (Goldsmith and Clark 2012:45; Busch 2008: 75; Swinyard et al. 2001). Research has shown that despite rising incomes and the ability to consume more material goods, individuals in affluent societies are not experiencing higher levels of happiness and satisfaction (Gardner and Assadourian 2004:166; Van Boven 2005). This stagnation can be attributed to individuals having to work more to attain higher purchasing power to purchase products and gain happiness that consumption supposedly brings (Byrne 2013). Individuals as a result experience greater stress and pressures, with reduced opportunities to satisfy social relationships which are critical to well-being (Helliwell and Putnam 2004). Under the increasing stress and reduction of time in a fast-paced society, people are using consumption as a replacement for genuine happiness and well-being, social interactions (Gardner and Assadourian 2004). Therefore, decoupling happiness from material consumption is key to creating a society less reliant on consumerism, and more reliant on achieving genuine happiness through a simple lifestyle built upon the foundations of social interactions (Barker and Martin 2012; Robbins 2008: 100).

2. The Good Life

The notion of the good life was originally coined in the United States (US) as the American dream. This was driven by the values of choice and freedom to consume without restriction, with consumption generated through want-creation, status and identity consumption (Busch 2008: 69). Aided by globalization, the good life soon spread across the world and material wealth became the sole means of achieving happiness and a symbol of success (Belk 1988; Mattelart 1989). In order to attain a good life, it became a necessity to achieve financial success (Derber 1979).

Materialism can be defined as the preoccupation with possessions and wealth accumulation for a consumer to project social images of status, identity, personal happiness and social progress (Bauer et al. 2012; Goldsmith and Clark 2012:43; Moschis and Churchill 1978; Richins and Dawson 1992). Materialism or material consumption (used interchangeably) occurs in three forms. It can act as a goal to drive day-to-day actions (Daun 1983), be essential to well-being and increased satisfaction in life through acquisition, or confer a symbol of success (Busch 2008:67). A consumer that is driven by materialism is highly concerned about their relative standing in society and rather than satisfaction with their current possessions, they are driven to consume by the lure of what they do not have (Tsang et al. 2014; Bauer et al. 2012:6). However, materialism causes psychological consequences of social disconnect and reduced community engagement, which is critical to a developing a sense of belonging and experiencing well-being as seen in the case of China (Helliwell and Putnam 2004).

• Case of China

China’s culture and vision of a good life had traditionally been family-focused, based on values of frugality by being thrifty, and a strong sense of community in which status is gained through recognition from other members of the society (Podoshen et al. 2011). This status is crucial to an individual’s representation in society, and is called Mian Zi or face (Swinyard et al. 2001:16). Contrary to the American Dream that drove material consumption, China’s version of the good life was derived from a simple lifestyle with social connections as the fundamental symbol of success in a traditional Chinese society (Chan et al. 2006).

All these changed after the 1979 economic reforms in China, opening the country up to a globalised market and the influx of western ideology. China’s consumer culture that valued social interactions and simplicity was viewed as backwards in comparison to western culture, with citizens taking up material consumption as a means to catch up to the developed west instead (Croll 2006). This drastic shift from frugality to rapid consumerism led to the adoption of the American Dream as part of China’s culture, with possession of material goods replacing social connections as being identifier for status and success. It was due to globalisation and marketization of western ideologies that led the evolution of China into a society that attained its happiness through material and conspicuous consumption (Podoshen et al. 2011).

3. Impacts of Materialism

The notion of attaining a good life through material consumption spread globally, and was perpetuated by advertisements that increased consumer desire to continually purchase new products to increase satisfaction and happiness. The basic reason for consumption became to satisfy desires rather than out of necessity (Busch 2008: 65). Consumerism at its very core enticed consumers with the belief that the ability to purchase will bring happiness and satisfaction. This obstructed an individual’s perception of a genuine source of happiness (Soper 2004:112). Consumers as a result, were embedded into a capitalist system that perpetuated a never-ending cycle of acquisitions (Makant 2010:293). However, material consumption allowed consumers to use goods to express their freedom, identity and status (Goldsmith and Clark 2012:44).

3.1. Freedom

Consumption, especially in the case of China, provided individuals with the feeling of freedom due to the removal of cultural barriers based on frugality and were now able to decide and attain individual forms of happiness (Ger 1997). Materialism marketed freedom as an issue of choice in which consumers were free to pursue their own material desires (Makant 2010). If individuals were not happy with their choices, they had the freedom to make new choices until happiness was attained.

3.2. Identity

Materialism allowed people with low self-esteem or self-worth to make up for these deficiencies through the consumption of materialistic goods (Kasser 2002). Individuals were able to create an identity for themselves and develop a sense of belonging with the parts of society they desired to be a part of (Busch 2008).

3.3. Status

Despite the ability to convey freedom and identity, the primary driver for material consumption was for its effectiveness at showing status (Busch 2008). In deeply cultural societies like China, achieving a high status within society was extremely difficult. Materialism gave consumers the ability to attain a higher social status and be seen more favourably within society as long as they were financially successful (Derber 1979; Podoshen et al. 2011:18).

Despite increased freedom, the ability to frame one’s own identity and a higher social status, the more people aspired towards materialistic goals, the less satisfied and happy they were with their lives (Van Boven 2005). Freedom and flexibility to create an identity developed a consumption pattern where consumers were never satisfied with what they have, and continuously focused on the material goods they did not have (Tsang et al. 2014). This created a cycle of never attainable long-term happiness.

Status could also only be gained in relation to others, and if the entire society seeks to attain a higher status, no individual will gain relative to others despite an overall increase in status consumption of the society (Busch 2008: 68). According to Binswanger (2006:368), this is labelled a zero-sum game, where an increase in happiness in an individual will be negated by a decrease in happiness of another as gaining happiness through materialism is relative to others. Such relativity results in a cycle of increased working hours to make more money in the hopes of continuously consuming status goods and seeking happiness, at the expense of time for leisure and social interactions. By putting a monetary value on time, it lead materialistic people to value social interactions as an object with a cost, rather than for the personal relationships they could provide, masking the genuine drivers of happiness (Kasser 2002). As happiness is gained through the process of acquisition, consumers who pursue materialism for status will find their lives unsatisfying without continual acquisition (Swinyard et al. 2001). Individuals have often overestimated the amount of happiness income and consumption can bring (Binswanger 2006). How then can happiness be attained?

4. Happiness

Societies have been influenced by the promises of the good life or materialistic consumption and spend their lives accumulating wealth and possessions with a materialistic mindset in an unsuccessful attempt at happiness (Caldas 2010:17). Happiness has been defined as the identification of the quality of a person’s life, with happiness as the only positive value, and unhappiness as the negative (Brulde 2007). Happiness in a materialistic form often only offers short term pleasure and is ineffective at improving overall happiness (Barker and Martin 2012; Van Boven 2005). Research has shown that despite rising personal incomes and countries getting richer, people are not experiencing an increase in happiness (Layard 2005). Therefore, there is a need to re-evaluate the notion of a good life around values that will increase overall long-term happiness.

Happiness is an ongoing social process and needs to be viewed from a eudemonic perspective rather than a hedonistic perspective (Byrne 2013). A eudaimonic perspective of happiness can be defined as incorporating meaning and value to life by considering what is worth desiring and having through self-realisation (Waterman 1993: 679). A hedonistic perspective on the contrary refers to attaining happiness through pleasure, the more pleasure the better, which leads to momentary, fleeting moments rather than sustainable happiness (Byrne 2013: Waterman 1993: 679).  Research has also shown that sustainable happiness is only achievable through meaningful activities such as having personal relations with others, gratitude of current possessions, and a simple lifestyle based on social interactions not materialism (Barker and Martin 2012; Tsang et al. 2014). In addition, spending on leisure activities such as concerts can often be classed as a material expenditure, but have attributed to higher happiness and satisfaction as it connected individuals to a community (DeLeire and Kalil 2010:165).

Substantial evidence have shown that seeking meaningful experiences and developing strong social ties make for happier individuals who are then more likely to participate in social and leisure activities (Zhong and Mitchell 2012; DeLeire and Kalil 2010:165; Caldas 2010:18). This cycle promotes the development of stronger social ties between individuals of a community which allows for continuous happiness generation. Thus, in order for pursuance of the good life to successfully drive long-term overall increases in happiness, it must be based upon the values of social interaction, gratitude and a simple lifestyle. Consumption will still be prevalent in society due to its associated symbolism, however it should be based on meeting basic and social needs rather than accumulating material goods (Gardner and Assadourian 2004).

The new definition of the good life will face significant resistance in the current capitalist society that is heavily reliant on a continuous cycle of material consumption as there is huge investments in physical infrastructure, technologies and human capital (Barker and Martin 2012). A shift away from materialism has the possibility to be viewed as a crisis of declining consumer spending with governments rushing to provide aid through increased encouragement to spend rather than recognizing it as a pursuit of happiness. An example of such an occurrence can be illustrated by the global reaction to the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 when excessive materialistic consumption caused the crisis but the global response was to develop fiscal stimulus to encourage spending and increase uptake of materialism (Grenville 2015). However, when mainstream institutions resist alternative forms of lifestyle, change can be promoted successfully through social movements (Galtung et al. 1980).

5. Alternate Lifestyle

Consumption behaviour has been engrained into society as habits, and occur without much second thought. In order to change behavioural norms effectively, they must address specific barriers (Arbuthnott 2012:205). Proposed alternate forms of livelihood will thus be based on the values of the redefined good life, with a focus on social interactions and a simpler lifestyle. A common thought has been to downshift, simplifying lifestyles through less stress, reduced working hours and spending less, in order to have more time for social interactions with family and friends and more leisure time (Markowitz and Bowerman 2012; Gardner and Assadourian 2004:168). Developing a sense of belonging and experiencing well-being is an integral part of achieving happiness through a social movement or a change in lifestyle (Helliwell and Putnam 2004).

 

5.1 Voluntary Simplicity

There are many different social movements globally, however, voluntary simplicity encompasses all the key values of the good life, and is the movement where members of other movements state to share some sense of solidarity with (Sandlin and Walther 2009). Voluntary simplicity is about attaining a good life by consuming only to the point of sufficiency and only the necessary for maximum well-being, rejecting forms of materialistic consumption (Burch 2012; Schor 1998). Voluntary simplicity is based on the primary attributes of frugality, self-sufficiency, and a commitment to conscientious over conspicuous consumption (Shi 2007). As such, the voluntary simplicity movement obtains happiness through a simplification of lifestyle, reduction of work and material consumption which increases the available leisure time to pursue the key drivers of genuine happiness, social interactions (Alexander 2011; Burch 2012). Thus, a reduction in the standard of living can contribute to an increase in quality of life and happiness (Alexander 2011: Gardner and Assadourian 2004: 178). Partaking in voluntary simplicity also allows individuals to feel a sense of belonging and embed themselves within a perpetual cycle of social interactions, gratification and a simple lifestyle, the core values of the good life, and attain happiness.

5.2. Limitations and future research

This essay has simplified the comparison of existing notions of the good life into the American dream and China’s traditional culture, and do not indicate a global transition of developing countries towards materialistic consumption. Loss in national happiness of nations such as Greece in recent times have been attributed by the media to falls in GDP. However, other countries have faced similar economic crisis such as Iceland and Japan with the Fukushima incident, but gained happiness post-crisis instead (eds Helliwell et al. 2015:34). The World Happiness Report (eds Helliwell et al. 2015) has attributed to the rise in happiness to strong social fabrics. Future research can determine the potential of developing resilience in society by achieving the good life based on social interactions, gratitude and simple living.

The redefined good life, with a focus on social interaction to obtain happiness, is extremely similar to China’s “backwards” version of the good life prior to economic reforms. However, research from the World Happiness Report (eds Helliwell et al. 2015:30) showed that there was a medium level increase in happiness in China despite rising materialism and reduced social interactions. Being a developing country, China has a significant population experiencing poverty, and rising income and material wealth may not have reached the income threshold where gains in income do not attribute to gains in happiness (Barker and Martin 2012). Future research can look into establishing if the same income threshold applies to both developed and developing countries and also on the assimilation of the American dream into Chinese tradition and culture, and if the core values of China’s good life still exist in present day society, and drives the increase in happiness.

6. Conclusion

Materialism has grown globally due to the growth of capitalism and the thousands of advertisements consumers experience in their everyday lives that disseminate images of success and happiness in the form of how financially successful they are (Dittmar et al. 2014). However, increased material well-being and material consumption has not translated to increased levels of happiness in the developed world. This is because perception of material success is illustrated by status, which is a zero-sum game and is relative to others in the society. A rise in happiness of an individual will be negated by a reduction in happiness of another. Therefore, the drive for happiness has resulted in increasing working hours, stress and a reduction in time available for leisure activities and social interactions, the source of genuine happiness (Gardner and Assadourian 2004).

Happiness therefore has to be eudemonic, and can only be achieved through meaningful activities such as social interaction, gratitude of current possessions, and a simple lifestyle. Therefore, for notions of the good life to realistically achieve long-term happiness, it must be based on these values.

 

 

 

 

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