Ownership or Taking Action: Which Is More Important for Happiness?

Abstract

In two studies (2010 and 2011), more than 2000 respondents living in Japan were asked whether they gained more happiness from ownership or from taking action. In the 2010 study, many more individuals preferred taking action to ownership; this preference was greater in women than in men and in older people than in younger people. Reasons for this preference were plainly expressed in respondents' free writing, and a categorical distinction between ownership and taking action was readily recognized and widely shared. Social desirability concerns probably did not play a role in responses. In the 2011 study, many individuals valued action more than ownership as like as the 2010 study. The preference for taking action over ownership was greater in women than in men, in older people than in younger people, and in people with higher levels of education than in people with lower levels of education. There was no relationship with annual income. The correlations with gender and level of education were similar to results of comparable studies conducted in the USA, although in the US studies, experiential purchases were evaluated, rather than taking action; however, the correlation with age was uncertain in the US studies. Further studies with US respondents will be necessary to examine this correlation. Possible reasons why many more people preferred happiness gained from taking action to happiness experienced from ownership were discussed.

Consumers’ pursuit of material and experiential purchases: A review

“…Another characteristic of consumers that has received some attention from investigators interested in the experiential advantage is their age. The advantage holds for participants across different age groups (Chan & Mogilner, ; Hayase & Ura, ; Kumar et al., ; Pchelin & Howell, ; Van Boven & Gilovich, ), but with younger participants gaining comparatively more happiness from extraordinary experiences, and older participants getting more enjoyment from ordinary experiences (Bhattacharjee & Mogilner, ).…”