How Gaining New Experiences Can Be a Path to Happiness
"You can't buy happiness with money," says the author. This is a sentence that we've all heard a number of times before. However, despite the fact that this is somewhat true, various studies have shown that money can only buy happiness to a certain extent. According to the findings of the study, people who are happy at home are more open, more adaptable, and have more moderate personalities in their social environments.
Be calm; even if you don't feel at ease in your own home right now, there are things you can do to make it more comfortable for you.
Dr. Thomas Gilovich, a psychologist at Cornell University, has spent more than two decades studying and researching the relationship between money and happiness.
According to Gilovich, spending money on experiences rather than material items is beneficial to our long-term health and happiness. To be clear, simply because we don't have money does not rule out the possibility of being content. It implies that purchasing concert or vacation tickets is a more joyful experience than purchasing a new television or pair of shoes, respectively. Let's have a look at some of the factors that contributed to this:
Like our past experiences have become a permanent part of who we are. Dr. According to Gilovich, we are the sum of our collective experiences. Perhaps you perceive your stuff to be a part of your identity, although this is not the case at all. Our memories and experiences remain with us for the rest of our lives, while our material goods are lost after a set period of time.
Having had a variety of different experiences, we are better able to communicate with other people. The fact that you're wearing the same expensive apparel as someone is a humorous coincidence, but it's not a really good communication channel. Comparing and contrasting similar experiences, on the other hand, encourages increased interaction with others. We'll have a lot more in common with someone who has hiked the Grand Canyon than we will with someone who is dressed in the same clothes as us, for example.
Because of this, we are less likely to draw negative comparisons between your experiences and ours.
It is significantly more straightforward to compare real products than it is to compare experiences, according to researchers Ryan Howell and Graham Hill. For example, we may readily compare our car to that of others, but we are less likely to do so when we are pleased with the performance of our car.
Happiness gained via experience becomes more permanent. Unlike happiness gained from a tangible product, happiness generated from an experience lasts for far longer periods of time. This is owing to the fact that we get emotionally attached to material possessions while they are in our possession, but they cease to be a part of us once they are no longer in our possession.
Even the most terrible circumstances can provide you with valuable lessons. Even if we later decide that we don't like anything we bought, it has already happened. Having a negative experience, on the other hand, can teach us a lot about life and help us to progress in our personal development.