To do or to have? That is the question
Van Boven and Gilovich ask whether experiences make people happier than material possessions. In two surveys, respondents from various demographic groups said experiential purchases, made mainly to acquire a life experience, made them happier than material ones. In a laboratory experiment, participants felt more positive after pondering an experiential purchase than a material one. In another, participants were more likely to expect experiences to make them happier after taking a temporally distant perspective than a near one.
Van Boven and Gilovich ask whether experiences make people happier than material possessions. In two surveys, respondents from various demographic groups said experiential purchases, made mainly to acquire a life experience, made them happier than material ones. In a laboratory experiment, participants felt more positive after pondering an experiential purchase than a material one. In another, participants were more likely to expect experiences to make them happier after taking a temporally distant perspective than a near one.
Written from the abstract as shown on the OpenAlex record, read 2026-11-04.
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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. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.6.1193.