Would this lifestyle make you happier than living a simpler life?
Surprisingly, new research from the University of Otago says it would not.
Co-author and marketing researcher Associate Prof Leah Watkins said the research aimed to understand the relationship between consumption and wellbeing, and it found people were happier and more satisfied when adopting sustainable lifestyles and resisting the temptations of consumerism.
"Up to a certain level, increases in income do contribute to happiness, but then it sort of plateaus, and it is not the case that those very, very high levels of income do lead to greater happiness.
"In fact, they seem to lead towards a lack of satisfaction, depression and a lack of social connection.
"They are called the diseases of affluence."
The Otago study analysed data from more than 1000 New Zealanders, made up of 51% men and 49% women, with a median age of 45, and a median annual household income of $50,000.
It found their commitment to simple living (voluntary simplicity) led to wellbeing through providing more opportunities for personal interaction and social connection.
"When people adopt simple lifestyles, it’s not necessarily about having less material objects.
"It’s the behaviours they engage in, such as sharing food from community gardens, which leads to more connection, a sense of autonomy and living their own values, and it seems to be that that predicted their wellbeing.
"It gave them a sense of inclusion in the world."
Co-author Prof Rob Aitken said fulfilment also came from community involvement and a sense of living a purposeful and meaningful life.
"In a world where billionaire weddings are treated like state occasions and private yachts are the new status symbols, voluntary simplicity offers a quiet, powerful counter-narrative — one that values enough over excess, connection over consumption and meaning over materialism."
Assoc Prof Watkins said growing consumer affluence and higher living standards had resulted in warnings of alarming trends of environmental degradation from human consumption.
Between 2000 and 2019, global domestic material consumption increased by 66%. This, coupled with global warming and post-pandemic health and financial anxieties, led researchers and policymakers to call for a better understanding of the links between simple consumer lifestyles and wellbeing, she said.
