Sailing and the Happiness Quotient

The late George Carlin did a great bit about ‘stuff’. The reason people need homes, he said, was “to store all your stuff while you go out and get more stuff.”

But a recent study at San Francisco State reveals that, in the long run, experiences make people happier than stuff. A survey of 154 folks who had made a ‘happiness’ purchase within the past three months — either material or experiential — showed that the happiness quotient of the material item generally faded within six to eight weeks, while the experiences continued to provide happiness through memories long after the event occurred. Especially if the experience involved family or friends.

“Most of our life experiences involve other individuals,” said assistant professor of psychology Ryan Howell, who ran the study. A sense of feeling closer to family and friends was one of the reasons why experiences generate more happiness. Another was that people felt a greater sense of ‘being alive’ during the experience, and when reflecting on it later.

To test the theory, we suggest that you go sailing this Valentine’s/President’s weekend. Take your better half. Take your kids or grandkids. Take friends. Sure, you might get rained on. It’s part of the experience. Then in three months, check back and let us know if the memories made everyone concerned happier than if you’d just given your spouse a card and flowers.

But just to be on the safe side, we’d do that, too.