Investing in Memories - How Experiences Boost Our Happiness Over Material Possessions
- vikstevens
- Dec 25, 2025
- 4 min read
People spend a great amount of their annual income to acquire awesome “stuff” for family, friends, and for themselves, in hopes to increase overall happiness. However, does acquiring awesome “stuff” really increase our mood?
As a matter of fact, the thought of buying something new temporarily boosts our mood but as we acquire the new “Thing”, our mood quickly drops back to baseline. Research continues to demonstrate that aspiring to the American Dream of financial success has negative consequences for various aspects of psychological well-being. Once basic needs are satisfied, the relation between income and subjective well-being is small, and materialism leads to diminished well-being (Pchelin and Howell, 2014; Nickerson et al. 2003).
Why is that?
Because we simply get used to stuff. The latest new phone we got quickly just becomes something else we carry. Yes, it might be exciting for an initial period of time, but quickly we don’t think about it anymore. This is called “hedonic adaptation”, which is the process of getting used to new possessions which eventually lose their novelty.
Image from: The Story of Stuff Project. https://www.storyofstuff.org/about/
What to do instead to increase mood?
Let’s re-think “stuff” and shift our energy and money towards what will actually increase our mood - experiences. Experiences have a longer-lasting effect on happiness and fulfilment than material “things” as they create lasting memories, strengthen social connections, and help shape one’s identity.
An experience can be defined as a personal, often emotional, and lasting impact of an activity. It can be going to a cabin for a weekend or simply cooking a meal, going for a walk or playing cards. While the latter examples are activities, these activities can lend to experiences as you make it personal and create a deeper connection with the activity.
Now that we have a clear understanding of what is an “experience”, let’s dive into the benefits of investing in experiences rather than “stuff”.
4 reasons to invest in experiences:
Greater happiness from anticipation and memory. The anticipation of an experience can be just as enjoyable as the event itself. A study from Kumar et al. (2014), has demonstrated that consumers derive value from anticipation, and that value tends to be greater for experiential than for material purchases. For example, when you’re sitting at your work desk, you tend to anticipate pleasure from a coming weekend adventure much more than buying the latest high fashion winter jacket. Furthermore, the long-lasting effect for the experience is greater as the memory of the event can be revisited and cherished over time.
Decreased social comparison. Social comparison can negatively affect our mental health by causing a decline in self-esteem, increased feelings of envy and dissatisfaction. We can easily compare a new phone, car or coat by looking at the physical features. but we cannot as easily compare our experiences. Each person has a unique, subjective reality shaped by their personal thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of events. Our experiences therefore help shape and strengthen our identity and improve our self-esteem as we can more easily stay away from social comparisons.
Enhances social connections: Healthy relationships are essential to our well-being. As we connect with people and create relationships, studies have concluded that people tend to like less and enjoy interacting less with their conversation partners when discussing materialistic rather than experiential purchases (Pchelin & Howell, 2014; Boven et al., 2010).
Makes you more likable. Boven et al, (2010), examined the stigmatization of materialism and has concluded negative stereotypes of materialistic people.
1 - Materialistic people are considered more selfish and self-centered than experiential people.
2 - Materialistic pursuits are viewed as more extrinsically motivated than experiential pursuits.
In Occupational Therapy, we constantly promote engagement in significant activities to help improve mood, sense of purpose and life quality.
Things to keep in mind:
Finding a significant activity: First, you need to find that significant activity that you will be able to create a deeper connection with in order to help improve your mood over time. That activity needs to be intentional in order to create the best effects. Try new things to discover what you enjoy and reflect on your passions. An interest checklist can help identify past, present, and future involvement in activities like sports, arts, and social engagement.
Abilities: consider your current physical and cognitive capabilities to ensure the activity is appropriate and not overly difficult or easy.
Affordability: think about if you can afford the activity. Remember that an activity does not have to cost you anything. You can simply go for a run or play a board game with your neighbour and the feeling of mastering the run or the shared memories from playing with your neighbour outweighs the benefits of purchasing a new “thing”.
An Occupational Therapist can assist you in finding that significant activity that can help increase your mood and long-lasting happiness. What will be your next experience?
References:
Boven, L.V., Campbell, M.C. & Gilovich, T. (2010). Stigmatizing Materialism: On Stereotypes and Impressions of Materialistic and Experiential Pursuits.
Kumar, A., Killingsworth, M.A., & Gilovich, T. (2014, August). Waiting for Merlot: Anticipatory Consumption of Experiential and Material Purchases. Psychological Science, Volume 25, Issue 10.
Nickerson, C., Schwarz, N., Diener, E., & Kahneman, D. (2003, November). Zeroing in on the Dark Side of the american dream. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.0956-7976.2003.psci_1461.x
Pchelin, P. & Howell, R. T. (2014). The hidden cost of value-seeking: People do not accurately forecast the economic benefits of experiential purchases.
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