My last post looked at the relationship between happiness, dopamine and ethical consumption. It looked at two versions of happiness – hedonic and eudaimonic – and how ethical consumption can help us experience more of the latter. In this post we’ll take a look at a psychological concept closely linked to eudaimonic happiness: Self-determination theory.

The bulk of this post will be an excerpt from my book-in-progress, Climactic, for which I’m currently seeking an agent and/or publisher. See my recent post on human population growth for another excerpt. Before I get to the excerpt, I want to mention how self-determination theory relates to eudaimonic happiness (eudaimonia).

Self-determination theory maintains that our three core psychological needs are competence, autonomy, and relatedness. They motivate us, giving us a feeling of being in charge of our own destiny and also a sense of eudaimonic happiness.

We have thus proposed that the basic needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness must be satisfied across the life span for an individual to experience an ongoing sense of integrity and well-being or “eudaimonia” – Ryan and Deci, 2000.

Here’s an introduction to self-determination theory by one of the two psychologists behind it, Dr. Richard M. Ryan. If you watch further he describes some interesting studies on depression and happiness:

Excerpt from Climactic, Chapter 5: Waste

The following Climactic excerpt is from Chapter 5, which deals with waste, composting, materialism, minimalism, and psychological well-being. For background to the waste angle in the excerpt you can check out the GSP post on domestic waste policy.

---

Several things tend to fall into place when we commit to waste minimization by placing a physical limit on our trash. We become more likely to think twice before buying stuff that comes with a lot of packaging or that will end up in a landfill after a short life. We save money by using what we have and reducing our spending on redundant or nonessential items, helping us get closer to financial independence. And studies show that we tend to feel more content and fulfilled when we reduce clutter and our mental dependency on possessions.

Letting go of our attachment to possessions is not a new idea – you can read more about it in books related to the minimalist movement, Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Marie Kondo. Richard Gregg coined the phrase voluntary simplicity in his 1936 essay, which reasons that a life free of clutter opens the doors to goodness, spiritual awakening, beauty and psychological health.¹ Gregg points out that voluntary simplicity was advocated and practiced by many spiritual leaders, artists, scientists, and advocates for societal change. Non-attachment to material possessions, he argues, is necessary for effecting social change via nonviolent resistance, as practiced by Gandhi. Gregg’s thoughts on ownership not being a requirement for the appreciation of beauty (nature, art, music, architecture, etc.) were echoed 50 years later by the discoverer of LSD, Albert Hoffman.²

Psychologists have begun to study the impact of simplicity or minimalism on mental health and fulfilment. One of the most important recent advances in psychology is self-determination theory, originally published by Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan in 1985. Deci and Ryan maintain that three innate psychological needs enhance our mental health and motivation: competence, autonomy, and relatedness (connection). These three basic needs are important for intrinsic motivation (self-motivation) which enables an enjoyable and satisfactory life, often filled with curiosity and playfulness.³ Without this, we rely on extrinsic motivation (rules, rewards, and punishments) as a framework for life or, worse again, no motivation at all.

In one recent study, psychologists found that people who live a minimal or low-consumption lifestyle experienced an increase in competence and autonomy, two of the pillars of self-determination.⁴ The increase in autonomy was associated with feelings of freedom, authenticity, and alignment with personal values. The increase in competence may be a result of having more free time, less clutter, and a sense of achievement and empowerment that comes from maintaining/fixing things instead of discarding them. Improvements in mental space, awareness, and positive emotions (joy and peace) were also reported.

A 2017 meta-analysis (a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple studies) of research in this emerging field concluded that there is empirical evidence for an association between voluntary simplicity and improved wellbeing.⁵ There was a statistically significant increase (of around 25%) in life satisfaction scores across the studies examined.

Looking at the other end of the materialism scale, one study reported that “clutter has a strong negative impact on psychological home and perceived well-being.”⁶ Another reported that “chaotic home lives are correlated with behavior problems in children.”⁷ A 2014 meta-analysis of studies on the relationship between materialism and well-being concluded that there is “a clear, consistent negative association between a broad array of types of personal well-being and people’s belief in and prioritization of materialistic pursuits in life.”⁸

This last study concluded that “something inherent in a materialistic attitude and lifestyle … interferes with the ability of people to live in ways that make them happy and healthy. Such findings are consistent not only with self-determination theory but also with the variety of spiritual and religious traditions that have questioned and critiqued the value of materialism since the beginning of recorded history.”

So, you could say that there has been a call to action, going back a couple of thousand years, asking us to break out of the cycle of attempting to compensate for insecurities and dissatisfaction by buying stuff. This call has been getting louder in recent years, with good reason. The accumulation of plastic pollution and the rise of online shopping are two factors that are worth taking a closer look at.

Notes

1. The value of voluntary simplicity, Richard B. Gregg (1936).
2. Insight Outlook, Albert Hofmann (1938).
3. Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well-Being (2000).
4. Towards a Theory of Minimalism and Wellbeing (2020).
5. Fact or fable: Increased wellbeing in voluntary simplicity (2017).
6. The dark side of home: Assessing possession ‘clutter’ on subjective well-being (2016).
7. Chaotic Homes and Children’s Disruptive Behavior (2012).
8. The Relationship Between Materialism and Personal Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis (2014).

That’s all for now; See you next time!

Related posts:

Climactic excerpt: How big is the human population likely to get?

Domestic waste policy: The best way to reduce your waste.