How buying things that match our personality enhances mental well-being
Scientific litsketch on boosting mental health
We have unique personalities. Different personalities command different needs and wants. Our unique desires demand different products and services. Research shows that we can extract greater happiness by spending more money on things that better match our personality (Matz et al., 2016).
Your personality can be described in terms of the five characteristics: openness to experience, conscientiousness (highly organised and attentive to detail), extraversion (outgoing), agreeableness (kind and caring) and neuroticism (stressed and anxious). Transaction categories or the things that you soend money on can also be characterised by these personality traits. For example, movies, arts and craft, tourism, DIY projects, travel can be linked to openness to experience; home and life insurance, stationery, subscriptions and health and fitness to conscientiousness; music, sports, bars, eating out to extraversion; charities and florists to agreeableness; gambling to neuroticism.
A survey of 625 people found that spending money on transaction categories that better match our personality allows us to better express who we are, and to experience greater happiness. For example, extroverts are happier if they purchase on food and drinks at a bar but introverts are happier when they purchase books. People who are low in neuroticism or are less stressed and anxious are better off spending money on gardening, stationery and hotels.
So understand who you are as a person and your unique personality, and spend your money on things that better match your personality to get the most happiness from your money. What purchases better match your personality?
Matz, S. C., Gladstone, J. J., & Stillwell, D. (2016). Money buys happiness when spending fits our personality. Psychological Science, 27(5), 715-725