Happiness is wanting what you already have, study suggests
Last Updated: Monday, April 28, 2008 | 2:10 PM ET
CBC News
Simply having more stuff won't necessarily make a consumer happy, suggests a new U.S. study, which links satisfaction with wanting the things a person already owns.
Researchers at Texas Tech University were inspired by a commonly held maxim attributed to Rabbi H. Schachtel that happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have. Lead author Jeff Larsen conducted a series of student tests to gauge the veracity of the adage.
'Simply having a bunch of things is not the key to happiness.'—Jeff Larsen, Texas researcher
"Some years ago, a popular bumper sticker in the United States declared, 'He who dies with the most toys wins.' Whatever rewards await those who die with the most toys, our results indicate that the American undergraduates who are happiest in this life are not necessarily those who amass great numbers of things," said the study published in the April issue of Psychological Science.
"Rather, they are those who both have the things they want and want the things they have."
The researchers surveyed 50 students to draft a list of desirable material possessions, including cars, apartment, shoes and furniture. Another 126 students were asked if they had the listed items and were asked if their desire for the item on a nine-point scale.
Participants were also asked to measure their life satisfaction and complete a questionnaire assessing their sense of gratitude. In a second study, 119 students completed the same surveys as well as purpose of life and personal growth surveys.
"The number of things people had did not predict happiness after we controlled for the extent to which they wanted what they had, had what they wanted, or both," Larsen said in the study.
"In contrast, people who wanted what they had more than others … tended to be happier even after we controlled for the number of things they had and the extent to which they had what they wanted."
The study found that people who identified themselves as being happy with only the best products tended to be less content than others.
"Simply having a bunch of things is not the key to happiness," Larsen said in a release. "Our data show that you also need to appreciate those things you have. It's also important to keep your desire for things you don't own in check."
