Don’t expect shopping to lift your mood or boost your sense of self-worth

23. Don’t expect shopping to lift your mood or boost your sense of self-worth

Cost: No cost at all. The hard part is resisting the urge to buy things when you’re feeling down.

In plain terms: On average, people who place a higher value on money and material possessions report lower levels of happiness. This conclusion comes from pooled analyses of hundreds of studies, though the link between the two is fairly weak and it’s unclear which factor drives the other. Other research comparing spending on experiences versus physical goods found that money spent on experiences tends to bring more satisfaction. So when you’re in a bad mood, reallocating your budget toward a day out or a meal with friends is far more likely to help than adding more items to your shopping cart.

Benefit: This meta-analysis combined data from 259 independent studies, covering a total of 753 effect sizes. The results showed that individuals who prioritize material possessions tend to report lower happiness levels. On the most commonly used multi-dimensional well‑being scale, the correlation coefficient was r = –0.19 (adjusted ρ = –0.24). When only the single dimension of “valuing money” was measured, the correlation weakened to r = –0.08 to –0.11. The strength of this link varied depending on the specific outcome measured: it was strongest with risky health‑related and consumption behaviors and negative self‑evaluations (r = –0.28 to –0.44) and weakest with overall life satisfaction and negative emotions (r = –0.13 to –0.15). Mediation analyses suggested that this negative relationship may arise because psychological needs remain unmet. Another set of studies asked different groups of participants whether spending on experiences or on goods made them happier; respondents consistently chose experiences. Laboratory experiments confirmed this: recalling a purchase made for an experience produced a better mood than recalling a purchase of a physical item. Both studies used overseas samples, so these findings don’t apply to the Chinese population.

Evidence grade: B

Sources: Dittmar H, Bond R, Hurst M, Kasser T (2014). The relationship between materialism and personal well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(5), 879-924. <https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037409>; Van Boven L, Gilovich T (2003). To do or to have? That is the question. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(6), 1193-1202. <https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.6.1193>

Notes: Caveats: Most of the included studies surveyed the same group of people at a single point in time, so they can’t determine which factor comes first. The authors themselves note that further experiments and long‑term follow‑ups are needed to clarify the direction of this relationship. Therefore, this recommendation should not be interpreted as “shopping makes people unhappy”; rather, it means “relying on shopping to improve your mood is unlikely to succeed.” The overall correlation is modest: r = –0.19 accounts for only a few percentage points of variation, and individual differences are considerable. Since both studies used foreign samples, there are no comparable Chinese data to cite. This advice does not discourage spending on items you genuinely enjoy; it simply warns against using shopping as a mood‑regulation tool, as that can lead to repeated impulse buys when you’re feeling down. Specific ways to save money are described in Section 5. Evidence‑based strategies for coping with low mood can be found in the latter part of Section 22 and in Section 29. Information on budgeting to “outperform” others is covered in Item 24 of this section.