Mindful Consumption: Being Happier with what you Have

22.12.2016

Probably all of the people reading this will have what they need in life to survive. And most will have many of the extras we all want for an enjoyable lifestyle as well. But we live in a culture where spending is the norm and there are more retail outlets than ever, encouraging us to part with our hard-earned cash.

It’s easy to forget all the things we already have, and to be grateful for them. Last year, on Black Friday the British public parted with £2 billion in just 24 hours online and in the shops. That shows how much we love a good deal - but is it really a good deal, when we buy items we don’t need?

The impulses driving consumerism

When we make the decision to buy something, there are a huge variety of processes going on in the mind. Spending activates the nucleus accumbens: the pleasure centre in the brain. The medial pre-frontal cortex weighs up the loss and gain of whether to make a purchase, and the insula deals with the pain of not being able to buy something we want. The way these processes all fire up and dance together makes shopping, for many of us, a thrilling ride of pleasure, decision-making, and pain.

With Black Friday in particular, the scarcity principle comes into play. With only limited time to buy at a particular price, we are more likely to purchase things – even when we don’t need them. Apparent scarcity makes items more desirable and we develop a fear of missing out. We compete to buy and experience validation when we win the prize.

One of the darker sides of consumerism, however, lies in its consequences for vulnerable people. With the internet being as powerful as it is at honing in on what people’s preferences are based on what they have clicked on, there is no respite. When we’re taunted with images of the things we want, control can become tricky. It’s no surprise that some people get out of their depth with debt because of their shopping addictions.

Do we need to spend to be happy?

Traditional economic theories of wealth suggest that consumption leads to happiness. But Dan Brown, an analyst for the Bank of England disagrees: “We can be happier by seeking to simplify our desires rather than satisfy them; the result is less consumption yet more utility.”

He suggests that the happiness associated with consumption is only fleeting and the more we buy, the less we feel; purchasing the things we want doesn’t make us happy in the long term. Brown suggests using mindfulness to adopt a ‘less is more’ mentality.

How can mindfulness stop the consumerism cycle?

By stilling the mind with mindfulness meditation, it’s possible to gain more control over thoughts and impulses. Brown et al, 2007 measured the discrepancy between current and desired states. They found that people who practiced mindfulness had a smaller gap, suggesting they were happier with what they had.

It’s clear that some people are more vulnerable to consumerism than others. In a 2011 study, called Resolve, Allison Armstrong suggested that people addicted to shopping were more likely to be women and vulnerable in some way i.e. suffering from depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and other compulsive behaviours. Armstrong found using mindfulness helped control the root cause of the addiction, giving participants the ability to deal with urges and gain a greater understanding of the wider context of spending.

Being happy with what you have is the way to avoid debt and the stress that having too many possessions can cause. Mindfulness training is a great way to put to rest the damaging mental processes that drive unhealthy consumerism.