Happiness from ordinary and extraordinary experiences

Prior research indicates that experiences bring greater happiness than material possessions, but which experiences result in the greatest happiness? The current investigation is one of the first to categorize types of experiences and highlights one important distinction: the extent to which an experience is ordinary (common and frequent) versus extraordinary (uncommon and infrequent). Eight studies ex-amine the experiences individuals recall, plan, imagine, and post on Facebook finding that the happiness enjoyed from ordinary and extraordinary experiences depends on age. Younger people, who view their future as extensive, gain more happiness from extraordinary experiences; however, ordinary experiences become increasingly associated with happiness as people get older, such that they produce as much happiness as extraordinary experiences when individuals have limited time remaining. Self-definition drives these effects: although extraordinary experiences are self-defining throughout one’s life span, as people get older they increasingly define themselves by the ordinary experiences that comprise their daily lives. The purpose of life is to live it, to taste ex-perience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experi-ence. (Eleanor Roosevelt) How should we spend our time and money to maximizehappiness? A growing set of findings in psychology and consumer research advises that despite the allure of acquiring material possessions, we should acquire experi-ences to enjoy greater happiness (Van Boven and Gilovich 2003). Although there is ample evidence for the hedonic benefits of experiences, existing research provides little Amit Bhattacharjee is a visiting assistant professor of marketing at Th