Why wait before you buy?

On average, money spent on things you do brings a little more joy than money spent on things you own.

Limit: The effect is smaller than early studies suggested, and part of it may be publication bias. It shrinks for unpleasant or solo experiences.

Source: Weingarten & Goodman 2020, Journal of Consumer Research141 studies, d ≈ 0.38

Waiting for an experience usually feels better than waiting for a thing. Looking forward is part of the fun.

Limit: It shows the wait itself feels good. It does not show that waiting makes you happier later.

Source: Kumar, Killingsworth & Gilovich 2014, Psychological Science4 studies, incl. experience sampling

People who pay to save time tend to be a little more satisfied with life.

Limit: Mostly surveys. The cause-and-effect test was one small experiment with 60 people in one city.

Source: Whillans, Dunn, Smeets, Bekkers & Norton 2017, PNAS6 samples, n = 4,469, d ≈ 0.24

Spending some money on other people often makes people a little happier.

Limit: A pre-registered replication found the effect in two of three experiments, and the differences were small.

Source: Aknin, Dunn, Proulx, Lok & Norton 2020, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology3 experiments, about 7,900 people

People whose spending fits their personality report more satisfaction with life.

Limit: One research team so far. We found no independent replication.

Source: Matz, Gladstone & Stillwell 2016, Psychological Science76,000+ bank transactions

The joy of something new fades over time. Noticing it and adding variety can slow the fade.

Limit: Participants were university students, followed for only three months.

Source: Sheldon & Lyubomirsky 2012, Personality and Social Psychology BulletinN = 481, 3 waves

Having money you can reach easily goes with higher life satisfaction, beyond what income explains.

Limit: Customers of one UK bank at one point in time, so we can’t tell which causes which.

Source: Ruberton, Gladstone & Lyubomirsky 2016, EmotionN = 585

On average, more income goes with more well-being, with smaller steps as income grows. It doesn’t tell you what to buy.

Limit: Correlational, mostly employed US adults. For the least happy people, gains level off at higher incomes.

Source: Killingsworth, Kahneman & Mellers 2023, PNAS33,391 US adults, experience sampling