The Power of Purchases

(excerpt from Richard Wiseman's book "59 seconds")

It's time for a quick questionnaire.

Take a few moments to read the following ten statements, and assign each of them a rating [from 1 to 5] to indicate the degree to which they describe you.

• Don't spend too long thinking about each statement, answer honestly, and no peeking at the answers ;)
• Ratings [1, 2, 3, 4 or 5]: 1 = strongly DISAGREE ... 5 = strongly AGREE

1. I am impressed by people who own expensive cars and houses.
2. I tend to judge how well I am doing in life by the possessions I buy.
3. I like to buy things I don't really need.
4. I like to be surrounded by expensive items.
5. I think that my life would be better if I owned more luxury items.
6. I am sometimes bothered by the fact that I can't afford to buy certain luxury goods.
7. Buying expensive items makes me feel good about myself.
8. I seem to put more emphasis on material things than most of my friends and family.
9. I am prepared to pay significantly more money for branded items.
10. I enjoy owning items that others find impressive.

Now add up your ratings. Low scores are between 10 and 20, medium scores between 21 and 39, and high scores between 40 and 50.

Researchers have spent a great deal of time looking at the link between people's scores on these types of questionnaires and happiness. The findings are as consistent as they are worrying - high scores tend to be associated with feeling unhappy and unsatisfied with life.

Of course, this is not the case with every single materialist and so, if you did get a high score, you might be one of the happy-go-lucky people who buck the trend.

• However, before assuming this, do bear in mind that research also suggests that whenever we are confronted with negative results from tests, we are exceptionally good at convincing ourselves that we are an exception to the rule."