Why Spending Money on Experiences Instead of Things Could Be the Key to Lasting Happiness

Think about the last thing you bought that truly excited you — a new phone, a pair of shoes, a piece of furniture. Now think about how long that excitement lasted. A few days? A week? Compare that to the last great experience you had — a road trip with friends, a memorable dinner, a concert that gave you chills. Chances are, the memory of that experience still brings a smile to your face.

It turns out there’s a reason for that, and it’s backed by decades of research.

The Problem With Buying Things

Most of us operate under the assumption that owning nice things makes us happy. It’s a belief so deeply woven into daily life that we rarely question it. But psychologists who study the relationship between money and happiness have found that the joy we get from material purchases tends to be surprisingly short-lived.

Dr. Thomas Gilovich, a psychology professor at Cornell University who studies the topic, explained the phenomenon in an interview with Fast Company.

“One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation,” Gilovich shared. “We buy things to make us happy, and we succeed. But only for a while. New things are exciting to us at first, but then we adapt to them.”

That word adaptation is at the heart...