In Pursuit of Happiness: Effects of Mental Subtraction and Alternative Comparison

Using an experiment, this study examines how happiness towards, and evaluation of, experiential and material purchases are affected by mindset and comparison alternatives. When primed with a mental subtraction mindset, people became happier with their material purchases and evaluated such purchases more positively; however, those who had acquired experiences did not report significant increases in happiness or purchase evaluations. In contrast, when people did not engage in mental subtraction, recollection of purchase details did not enhance associated happiness for both material and experiential purchases. We also found that, relative to experiences, material purchases induced greater increases in happiness in the presence of inferior alternatives. When comparing purchases with superior alternatives, happiness declined significantly regardless of the type of purchase. Further, such decrements in happiness were more dramatic for material purchases than experiences. Collectively, this research suggests that happiness with material goods can increase over time with the appropriate mental strategies (i.e., mental subtraction and comparison against inferior alternatives).