The Well-Being Manifesto and The Happy Planet Index

“Human beings are phenomenally adaptable, and we tend to learn very quickly to view our current position as normal.... We compare ourselves to where we want to be, and to other people. As we achieve our goals, we change whom we compare ourselves to and find a new source of unhappiness! The goalposts are always moving.” (pg.8 in Box 2, The Well-Being Manifesto)

This points to one of the main problems of consumption, that once we start, we continually want more. The above description of consumption reminds me of Relative Deprivation Theory. In a nutshell, it states that people compare themselves to their neighbours, their peers, and others they come in contact with and use them as their marker of success. If they perceive everyone else as doing better than they are, then they feel deprived, however, if they feel that they are doing as well as, or even doing better than everyone else, then they do not feel deprived. As Shah and Marks point out in the above quote, that is exactly what happens when we consume to make ourselves happy. The Happy Planet Index seems to support this theory: “The HPI shows that around the world, high levels of resource consumption do not reliably produce high levels of well-being, and that it is possible to produce high well-being without excessive consumption of the Earth’s resources” (www.happyplanetindex.org). 

As the Well-Being Manifesto points out, we are constantly moving the goalposts – we are always striving for more. Consumption is a short-term solution to the feelings of relative deprivation, but it is a persistent problem, especially in the US. Even though it never fully satisfies us, consuming seems to be the only way Americans can think of to feel better about their situations. I suppose marketing is one of the reasons for this. People are bombarded with the idea that to be happy, they need to buy new products.

As Shah and Marks mention, “Most advertising rests on the pretence that material goods or services will deliver a variety of non-material benefits, and ultimately happiness. This is patently untrue. Advertising raises the standard of what we consider to be normal, inducing unrealistic comparisons.” (pg.17, The Well-Being Manifesto)

My initial reaction to this statement is that material goods can provide confidence, and therefore a level of happiness – but what does that say about my attitude towards shopping? I realize that I have been conditioned to react in such a way through a lifetime of advertising aimed at turning me into a buying, consuming machine. The important question I have to ask myself is: can the same confidence come from other means besides material possessions? The answer is yes, it has to. Otherwise it won't last and anyone who doesn't like your car or the smell of our shampoo or whatever else you buy can take away that confidence, or at least severely damage it. If we rely on objects to make us feel good about ourselves, then we are only concerning ourselves with how others perceive us, not with how we perceive ourselves.

The Happy Planet index is designed to help us realise that we do not need to consume to be happy. As Shah and Marks point out, the only result will be moving the goal posts further away, so we’re left feeling like we have even more consuming to go before we finally make it.