MADRID, 16 (EUROPA PRESS)
In an age where billionaires and conspicuous consumption are becoming more prevalent, new research led by experts at the University of Otago (New Zealand) shows what a happy life is all about.
The study, led by researchers from the University of Otago's Otakou Whakaihu Waka Department of Marketing and recently published in the Journal of Macromarketing, found that people are happier and more satisfied when they adopt sustainable lifestyles and resist the temptations of consumerism.
To understand the relationship between consumption and well-being, researchers analyzed data from a representative sample of more than 1,000 New Zealanders, consisting of 51 percent men and 49 percent women, with a mean age of 45 and a median annual household income of $50,000.
They found that a commitment to simple living, or "voluntary simplicity" as it is formally known, leads to well-being by providing more opportunities for personal interaction and social connection than conventional sharing contexts such as community gardens, resource sharing, and peer-to-peer lending platforms.
Women are more likely to adopt a simple lifestyle than men, although more research is needed to understand why.
Associate Professor and co-author Leah Watkins says consumer culture promotes happiness as something typically associated with high income levels and the ability it brings to acquire and accumulate material possessions. However, research clearly demonstrates that materialistic attitudes and experiences toward life do not lead to increased happiness or well-being. Nor do they lead to the sustainable consumption necessary for the health of the planet.
Between 2000 and 2019, global domestic consumption of materials increased by 66 percent, tripling since the 1970s, to 95.1 billion metric tons. Rising consumer affluence and higher living standards have led to warnings about alarming trends in environmental degradation caused by human consumption.
This, coupled with global warming and post-pandemic financial and health anxieties, has led researchers and policymakers to call for a better understanding of the links between simple consumer lifestyles and well-being.
But co-author Professor Rob Aitken points out that it's not simply about getting rid of all your worldly possessions. "It's not directly a commitment to material simplicity that leads to well-being, but rather the fulfillment of psychological and emotional needs that derive from relationships, social connection, community participation, and a sense of living a life of purpose and meaning," he notes.
In a world where billionaire weddings are considered state events and private yachts are the new status symbols, voluntary simplicity offers a quietly powerful counter-narrative: one that values enough over excess, connection over consumption, and meaning over materialism.
