We are obsessed with status. We fear loss. And we are more driven by stories than evidence.

These are all typical human characteristics, which often help us navigate life. But they can also have damaging effects on our happiness. If we don’t acknowledge and work with these three very human characteristics, our happiness will deteriorate.

Economic growth does not go hand in hand with a better quality of life – especially as countries get richer beyond a certain income point. Richard Easterlin, a professor of economics, was the first to illustrate this phenomenon using subjective wellbeing data in the 1970s. His research followed American politician Robert Kennedy’s pronouncement of the perils of relying on GDP to measure the worth of our societies, the publication of Limits to Growth, and the formulation of Bhutan’s model for sustainable development: gross national happiness.

Yet most countries have grown their economies. In fact, since the 1980s, when neoliberal ideas took a firm hold across many economic and political systems, the global obsession with economic growth has flourished. Yet economic growth isn’t the panacea for all social ills.

Here are three things that spur this obsession with economic growth – and how they can lead to unhappiness.

## Our obsession with status

We all want to be seen, valued and respected. That is a normal part of being human and there is no shame in it. However, it can also lock us into a never-ending race to keep up with others.

Conspicuous consumption, driven by boosting status (such as buying bigger houses or a fancier car) rather than meeting core human needs rarely brings prolonged pleasure and joy to our lives. We adapt to many materialistic acquisitions and end up no happier.

There are costs to individuals and society for this type of consumption. First, there are personal sacrifices just to keep up with others, such as longer work hours and higher debt. Money has also been shown to reduce our ability to enjoy the simple things in life.

More worryingly, there are wider collective sacrifices, such as climate change and pressure on scarce resources, to support such consumption.

## The fear of loss

Most humans will do their best to avoid loss. We hate losing stuff – be it money, possessions, or jobs. But the psychological effect of loss can often outweigh the benefit of gaining something in the first place – the more people have, the more they live in fear of losing it. It is a natural part of being human.

Yet that doesn’t stop us from gaining stuff in the first place. Our fear of loss might in fact encourage us to keep on acquiring more stuff now in the hope that we’ll be better protected when we are one day faced with having less (or at least better protected than others).

Current economic and political systems don’t offer much in the way of protection from loss. Many of the most vulnerable people, such as those who are unemployed or sick, receive little protection from loss. One key factor that holds back our collective wellbeing is our failure to deal with human misery.

Countries that care for the most vulnerable – such as Finland, Norway and New Zealand  – are on average happier than countries that do not protect their most vulnerable. During crises, such as a recession or a pandemic, it is after all those who lose their jobs or who are long-term sick that suffer to any real degree.

So when it comes to wellbeing, policies that limit losses – such as a generous benefit systems – are far more important than opportunities for gain.

## Unhelpful stories

Humans also love telling stories. And stories can capture people’s imagination in a way that evidence does not. I never appreciated this until I stepped away from the academic world and brought my own wellbeing research to life on a personal cycle journey to Bhutan.

Research that claims money is important for happiness and wellbeing often makes erroneous claims that can be hard to detect for those who are unfamiliar with interpreting statistics.

Take the finding of economist Richard Easterlin, who showed in 1974 (updated in 1995) that economic growth does not correlate with greater wellbeing. It was an eye-opening finding and any claims to the counter, although finding statistically significant effects, often depend on specific time periods of analysis and rarely call attention to the magnitude of their effects, which are trivial in high (and even medium) income countries.

Yet, many societies are predicated on the belief that money is synonymous with happiness.  And humans tend to put more weight on evidence that supports our beliefs and disregard evidence that doesn’t support it. This is called confirmation bias, and we all have a propensity to do it – the economists, politicians, newspapers, all of us.

## What can we do?

We’re all at the mercy of these human characteristics. Yet we could use our flaws for the betterment of humankind. Disappointingly, though, in a materialistic society, these flaws are often used to sell more stuff – be they gratitude journals or new cars.

Raising our awareness of our own unhelpful biases can help us question our consumption patterns. We could also, however, tell different stories. Rather than look in awe at those people with fast shiny cars who holiday several times a year, we could look disappointingly upon them.

We could celebrate the most generous people in our societies, those who share a good percentage of their wealth with others. And rather than play on people’s fears about loss, we could ensure that everyone has what they need to live a good life.

We could also rewrite the story of what the “good life” is – one where our relationships and communities are strong, our health is good and we have values that don’t get sacrificed for meagre personal gain.

****** Thank you for reading. If you’d like to read similar articles related to research about happiness that I’ve written then go here.

Or, why not consider getting a copy of my book – A Journey for Happiness.