Science affirms that the new experience creates happiness, not material

The experience is only transient, but it is big enough to create a sense of happiness for you for a long time, because beautiful memories are not easy to forget. While material, no matter how great the value is, you will be bored.

Every day, you work hard and spend a fair amount of money to buy the necessary things, you have to make sure it's a reasonable investment. According to science, spending in such a limited budget will help you be happy.

Ownership paradox

Dr. Thomas Gilovich - a professor of psychology from Cornell University in a 20-year study has made a clear and strong conclusion: don't spend too much of your money on matter. The trouble with tangible assets is the sense of happiness they bring through very quickly. Here are 3 core reasons to explain that conclusion:

1. We will get used to new possessions: New things after making us feel excited, it will quickly become old.
2. We continue to increase quality standards: New buying actions will lead to new expectations.As soon as we get used to something new, we will start looking for that same thing with better quality.
3. We are very easy to demand: In essence, property will create comparisons.We buy a new car and feel excited about it until a friend owns a better car.There is always another person who owns your better car.

Gilovich said "One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation. We buy things that make us happy and we feel successful. But this feeling lasts only a short time. New things The first strange will make us excited but then we get used to it and this circle continues to continue ".

The paradox of ownership is that we believe that the happiness we get from buying something will last as long as the property remains the same nature itself. This results in an investment in an asset that we can see, hear and touch will essentially create the greatest value. However, this concept is completely wrong.

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The power of experience

Gilovich and other researchers have found that the experience - even if only transient - will bring a sense of happiness more than matter. This is the reason:

Experience is part of the identity (identity) of each person. We are not the things that we own, but the accumulation of things we have seen, done, arrived and lived. Buying an Apple Watch will not change who you are. However, taking a break from work and starting your journey to conquer the Appalachian Trail will certainly change your thoughts and views about life.

"Experience is a lot bigger than material , " Gilovich said, "You can resemble something and even think that there is a connection between you and them, but anyway they separate. In contrast, experience is a part of who you are. You are all the experiences you create in your life. "

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The comparisons are not important: We do not compare the experience in the way we use to compare matter. According to a study conducted at Harvard University, when asked whether they like high salaries but lower than friends or low salaries but higher than friends, many people are unsure of their answers. The same question, but the length of a vacation, many people chose a long vacation, though still shorter than their peers. In terms of quantity, it is difficult to determine the relative value of any two experiences - whether the experience will make them feel more interested but clearly the study has shown two distinct results.

More important predictions: Gilovich also conducts research on prediction and realizes the anticipation of an experience will make us feel more excited and excited while predicting that something will be owned. will cause impatience. Experience has created excitement right from the first moments of planning and it will last forever even if you only reminisce about memories of that journey.

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The experience may be fleeting: Have you ever bought something that when purchased, isn't it as good as you think? Once you buy it, it's right in front of you and always makes you feel disappointed. And even when you own an object that is as you expected, you may feel regretful: "It looks beautiful, but it may be a bit expensive." We do not think so with experience. The fact that the experience only lasts for a short time will make us appreciate it even more and over time, the more we appreciate it.

Conclusion

Gilovich and his colleagues are not the only ones who believe that experience will make us feel happier than material. Dr. Elizabeth Dunn from the University of British Columbia has also studied this topic and also affirmed that temporary happiness obtained from buying something will quickly "evaporate" and make us want more. more. Matter can "last" longer than experience, but memories from those experiences are hard to forget.