Essay on Materialism, Experientialism, and Well-being in Psychology

This essay delves into the psychological concepts of materialism and experientialism, exploring their effects on individual well-being. It examines how the desire for material possessions (materialism) and the pursuit of experiences (experientialism) influence happiness, anxiety, depression, and stress levels. The essay discusses the components of materialism, including centrality and acquisition, and contrasts them with experiential purchases. It explores the causes and measurements of materialism, highlighting factors like insecurity and dissatisfaction. The analysis further investigates the differences between materialism and experientialism in terms of their impact on mental health, purchase habits, and social interactions. The essay concludes by summarizing the findings, emphasizing that while experiential purchases can enhance happiness, materialism often leads to dissatisfaction and negative psychological outcomes. The document provides a comprehensive overview of the related research, including references to various studies and journals. The essay provides valuable insights into the complexities of human behavior and consumerism.

Brain and behaviour

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
Materialism is common and usually seen in our society. This term in psychology relates
to people's desire to acquire things. This usually indicates the attachment and possessiveness of
people in which people face satisfaction and dissatisfaction as a high rating of material goods.
People have a desire to acquire the material which is fixed in their minds and without acquiring
the thing individual can dissatisfy until they acquire the goods according to their choice.
According to the many research, high levels of material values negatively affect human well-
being. Experimentalism is directly linked to enhancing happiness which increases brain activity.
The possession of a specific desire causes mental impact which includes anxiety, depression, and
stress. This essay covers the causes of materialism and how they can be measured, outcomes of
psychological and potential differences in outcomes of materialism and experimentalism (Hang
& Zhong, (2022)).
MAIN BODY
The concept of materialism is widely used in psychological studies, which are dependent
on direct people's choices and behavior. Materialism has both positive and negative effects on
individual psychological health. It describes the individual happiness level because people can
directly depend on their mentally prepared thoughts which is impossible to change. Sometimes it
can impact negatively on people's well-being because they can get the things that they desire to
want which will give negative effects on their health. The materialistic purpose of someone's
desire dependent on the people's choices which are positively and negatively affect mental well-
being. When people get dissatisfied, this will negatively affect on well being because this will
create anxiety, depression and stress(Ching & Xu, (2019)). Materialism incorporates three
components which include getting centrality which means people place their desire and
possession in the individual's center of life and acquisition as a chase of happiness which
describes possession and acquisition as more essential to one's happiness. These components
explain the importance of materialism in individual life. The experiential purchase is the
mechanism of physical happiness by which people can assess their happiness regarding their
buying the goods. Many factors affect happiness and the most affected condition is
dissatisfaction with the material. Happiness increases according to the desire acquisition and also
decreased when they are not acquired which will leads to affect human well-being. Happiness
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comes from a balance of positive and negative emotions which is according to the people's desire
and their behavior of getting and guying the material. Every people have different choice and
behavior according to their desire and behavior of acquiring the goods which will give them
happiness. Materialism and Experimentalism both are measured according to the choice and
action of individual behavior for acquiring their desired material and goods(Wilson & Bellezza,
(2022)).
People are more materialistic when they feel insecure because of rejection and
dissatisfaction thoughts in their minds. People become more materialistic and value possession
which will help them in identifying their values. People are more motivated to accumulate
material possession in their major life goals. Experimental purchase can relate to physical
happiness when people can attract to the material and their psychological thoughts will create
thinking which includes fear, anxiety, negative thoughts and fear of not acquiring the desired
goods. The reason is not different for experiential buying because materialism and experimental
are linked together which gives both outcomes positive and negative. The causes of materialism
are associated with more depression, anxiety and alcohol and drug use due to getting less
happiness and more dissatisfaction(Errmann & et. al., (2021)). The materialistic person is
focused and dependent on specific choice and become more dependable on particular material
and buying goods which can leads to cause harmful effects on human well-being. Materialism is
associated with lower well-being and leads to indicate the risk of causing mental stress. People
possessed too much which is harmful to their mental health. People's choices and behavior
sometimes give positive effects but it also gives negative effects which lead to cause the mental
ill.
Many people are more materialistic because of their specific choice and desire these
people get dissatisfaction which causes mental disability. The cause of materialism depends on
the people's choice and their demands these factors affect the physical and mental health of
individual people. The factor which impacts purchase type on individual happiness level. This
affects the people attending to analyze several decision-making, and this assessment affects
behavior in the end. Another difference between materialism and experimentalism is, that due to
their existence experiences materialize to be more social, as individuals tend to go with friends,
undertake some activities with others and accomplish the needs of their choice (Laamanen &
Wahlen, (2022)). Happiness can be one's life in which a person feels happy at a particular
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moment while consuming a product and service. The strength of the emotional state is assorted
from the others because the different activity inclinations bring different happiness. Physical
purchase underlines the possession of goods that affect the individual mental well-being. Each
culture has different desires and choices and also has a unique action plan for acquiring its
desired goods. Purchasing habits are also the materialism part because people have their specific
choice and if they are not adopting according to their choice it gives dissatisfaction.
The psychological outcomes are the specific desires, values, and possession. When a
person is unable to control their desire to acquire anxiety and emptiness these psychological
effects and experiences anxiety. Materialism and experimentalism are related to each other. The
experimental purchase has a direct impact on the acquisition of their choice material(Islam & et.
al., (2021)). The outcomes have directly affected the person well being because the mentality
will negatively effect ion the person's mind. Experiential purchase is having both positive and
negative effects, these effects do not permanently affect. The major difference between
materialism and experiential is that happiness creates positive and negative impacts on well-
being (Taylor, (2020)). Experiential is the source of happiness while materialism is causing a
negative effect because people get dissatisfied and unable to control their desire to adopt them
which can lead to mental disbalance and person get angry and disappointed. Both are having a
major difference in acquiring happiness. Materialistic happiness. The possible outcomes and
differences of both terms are related to each other because experimental purchasing creates
happiness and others cause dissatisfaction in acquiring the desired product.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it is concluded that materialism and experiential purchase
causes happiness and sometimes it can affect the individual happiness which can lead to creating
stress, anxiety and depression. The physical happiness of purchasing is the individual choice but
some people are materialistic possession of specific goods and they are unable to control their
desires. Materialism and experiential are related to psychological studies which indicate the
individual choice and behavior for acquiring things. The experiential purchase makes the person
happier compare to the materialistic people because they are more possessed for getting the
things and overthinking makes fear and stress which directly affect the individual psychological
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health and well-being. The outcomes for both the term is directly linked to each other and gives
the happiness and materialistic person experiences much dissatisfaction.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ching, B. H. H., & Xu, J. T. (2019). Understanding cosmetic surgery consideration in Chinese
adolescent girls: Contributions of materialism and sexual objectification. Body
Image, 28, 6-15.
Errmann, A., Kim, J., Lee, D. C., Seo, Y., Lee, J., & Kim, S. S. (2021). Mindfulness and pro-
environmental hotel preference. Annals of Tourism Research, 90, 103263.
Hang, H., & Zhong, J. Y. (2022). Sense of belonging, international migrants’ spending, and
implications for their subjective well‐being. International Journal of Consumer Studies.
Islam, T., Pitafi, A. H., Akhtar, N., & Xiaobei, L. (2021). Determinants of purchase luxury
counterfeit products in social commerce: the mediating role of compulsive internet
use. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 62, 102596.
Laamanen, M., Forno, F., & Wahlen, S. (2022). Neo-materialist movement organisations and the
matter of scale: scaling through institutions as prefigurative politics?. Journal of
Marketing Management, 1-22.
Taylor, C. A. (2020). Knowledge matters: Five propositions concerning the reconceptualisation
of knowledge in feminist new materialist, posthumanist and postqualitative approaches.
In Navigating the postqualitative, new materialist and critical posthumanist terrain
across disciplines (pp. 22-42). Routledge.
Wilson, A. V., & Bellezza, S. (2022). Consumer minimalism. Journal of Consumer
Research, 48(5), 796-816.
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