Paper 7 SubjectiveWell-BeingandSustainableConsumption_final

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Subjective Well-being and Sustainable Consumption

Necati Aydin, Florida State University, FL, USA

Abstract: This paper attempts to show that sustainable consumption depends on individuals pursuit

of subjective wellbeing or happiness. Under the inuence of global consumer culture, people believe

that the more they consume the happier they will be. Therefore, they keep spending more for greater

expected pleasure. Paradoxically, with more and more consumption, people are achieving same or

less happiness. This is neither desirable nor sustainable. Therefore, there is an urgent need to examine

and modify the current hedonic happiness model, which is based on always more consumption, in order

to achieve more happiness while reducing consumption to sustainable levels. This paper is an attempt

to examine the relationship between current conspicuous consumption and the hedonic happiness

model promoted by the global consumer culture. The paper offers an alternative happiness path

compatible with human nature resulting in less and sustainable consumption that will increase both

psychological and ecological well-being.

Keywords: Happiness, Capitalism, Happiness Crisis, Human Nature, Consumerism, Subjective Well-

being, Happiness Theory, Sustainable Consumption

Introduction

THIS PAPER ATTEMPTS to show that sustainable consumption depends on an

individuals pursuit of subjective well-being or happiness. If a person believes

greater happiness depends on greater material consumption, it will be hard for him/her

to keep consumption under control because the pursuit of happiness is a universal

quest driven by human nature. Particularly, in a capitalist society, there is a strongly perceivedcorrelation between subjective well-being and consumption. People think that the more they

consume the happier they will be. Therefore, they keep spending more for greater expected

pleasure. Despite some evidence of its failure in providing happiness (Lane 2000; Hamilton

and Dennis 2006; Kasser 2002; Diener, Suh, and Oishi 1997, 25-41; Easterbrook 2003), the

globalization of consumer culture and materialistic values is rapidly displacing traditional

values. Indeed, those questionable new values are spreading all over the world. They have

entered every realm of human life, including even spiritual places like churches, synagogues,

and mosques. They have turned a human being into a consumption machine. But not only

does a consumer culture fail to bring happiness, it also fails to protect the environment. It

has produced many environmental problems, including unchecked growth in the production

of solid waste and in greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is not sustainable in the long

run.

It is not just weapons of mass destruction; it is also the products of mass consumption that

are threatening the future of all living beings on this planet. Indeed, while the former threatens

the outer universe, the latter threatens the inner universe. With more and more consumption,

people are no more, and sometimes even less, happy. This is neither desirable nor sustainable.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to examine and modify the current hedonic happiness

The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability

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model, which is based on always more consumption, in order to achieve more happiness

while reducing consumption to sustainable levels. This paper is an attempt to examine the

relationship between current conspicuous consumption and the hedonic happiness model

promoted by consumer culture. The paper will offer an alternative happiness path based on

less and sustainable consumption that will increase both psychological and ecological well-

being.

Consumption and Happiness

Sustainable consumption was dened by the Oslo Symposium in 1994 as the use of goods

and services that respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life, while minimizing

the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the

life cycle, so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations (Symposium: Sustainable

Consumption 1994). This denition of sustainable consumption covers a number of key issues,

such as meeting basic needs, enhancing the quality of life, and thinking about the needs of

future generations. The denition might be simple, but its achievement is not. In order to

accomplish sustainability, we should start by dening concepts such as need, want, and life

satisfaction; distinguish the differences between basic and luxury needs; understand the

mechanism behind fulllment of needs/wants and life satisfaction; and explain the connection

between caring about ourselves and future generations. For that matter, sustainable consump-

tion does not mean to reduce consumption at the cost of subjective well-being. Rather, it

means to nd the best use of limited resources for maximum well-being of current and future

generations.

We need to start by discussing consumption before discussing its sustainability. Why do

we consume what we consume? How do we arrive at our preferences as consumers? There

are many theories explaining the driving forces behind our behaviors. The Needs-Opportunity-Ability theory argues that consumption is driven by motivation, opportunities, and abilities

to fulll needs. According to Gatersleben (2001, 200-216), people consume certain goods

and services in order to satisfy needs that can also be satised in other ways.

The Means-End Chain Theory suggests that consumer behavior is either consciously or

unconsciously goal-directed (Reynolds, Gutman, and Institute for Consumer Research. 1986).

Consumers buy goods to achieve certain goals that are shaped by personal, social or moral

values behind the desire to be happy, to belong, to protect, to be useful, and so on. The at-

tributes of goods are the means, and values are the ends that consumers would like to

achieve. The Theory of Reasoned Action suggests that consumers behave according to their

attitudes and beliefs about the outcome of their behavior and the relative importance (values)

they assign to the outcome (Fishbein and Ajzen 1975).

We do not consume goods just to fulll our functional needs, but for what they represent

for us and others. The goods play a vital symbolic role in our lives in communicating personal,

social, and cultural messages (McCracken 1988). In a consumer society, consumption is to

some extent linked to personal and collective identity, conrming what was famously put

by William James: A mans Self is the sum total of all that he can call his, not only his body

and his psychic powers, but his clothes, his friends, his wife and children, his ancestors, his

reputation and works, his lands and yacht and bank account (James 1950, p.291-292).

In modern consumer society, individuals are in a continuous process of constructing their

personal identity through consuming material goods as social and cultural symbols. Cushman

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AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY


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(1990, 599-611) said that the empty self of a consumer is constantly in need of lling

up through material consumption. Companies are quite successful in providing positional

goods and services to conspicuous consumers. They do not sell just products; they sell

brands, prestige, visions, dreams, associations, status, etc. (Klein 2001).

In short, we consume certain goods to fulll our functional needs, to express our adherence

to certain cultural values, to identify ourselves with respect to others, and so on. But, how

do we make decisions when facing many choices in modern times? Rational choice theory

suggests that our preferences are the outcome of our rational deliberations for maximizing

our expected utility. It assumes that we weigh the expected benets and costs of the choices

we have and choose the one that brings the highest net expected benet (utility). Subjective

expected utility takes this assumption further and argues that consumer behaviors are a

function of expected outcomes and their assigned values. Rational choice theory is widely

used across many social science elds, including economics, in which cost-benet analysis

and utility maximization are nothing more than a quantitative form of the Rational Choice

Model (Becker 1978; Elster 1986).The mainstream economic theory of consumer preferences assumes that consumers ration-

ally maximize their utility in the market based on the available income, price of goods, and

their tastes (McConnell and Brue 2008). The theory suggests that consumers are rational in

their decisions. This is the same assumption embedded in the Rational Choice Model. The

Rational Choice Model is also used to explain consumer preferences for non-marketed goods,

such as time, gifts, appreciation, charity, etc. Another version of a consumer preference

model, developed by Kelvin Lancaster, is worth mentioning here. Lancaster (1998, 276-301)

argues that consumer preferences for goods are not shaped on the basis of products, but on

their attributes and the values of those attributes for consumers.

Despite some objections, mainstream consumer theory still assumes that individuals ra-

tionally maximize their utility through consumption. Jeremy Bentham (17481822), the

father of modern consumer theory, argued that the goal for human beings is to maximize

pleasure and minimize pain (Bentham 2007). He came up with a utility calculator in order

to assist people making estimates trying to maximize their utility through material consump-

tion. The simple formula in his happiness model is dened as follows: the more you consume,

the happier you will be. Igniting the greedy nature of the animal soul and prestige-seeking

ego, consumer culture exploits both human nature and physical nature, creating the upward

trend of unsustainable consumption. Therefore, in order to reduce consumption to a sustainable

level we need to change consumer behavior by showing ways for achieving utility maximiz-

ation with less material consumption. Since consumers allocate their limited time between

consuming material and non-material goods in order to maximize their subjective well-beingas shown in the diagram below, we could reduce material consumption by showing how to

gain pleasure by consuming non-material goods, such as meditation, contemplation, friend-

ship, etc.

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Hedonic Happiness Model: Less Happiness with more Consumption

Since the time of Enlightenment, particularly in the West, the quest for happiness has been

mainly through material consumption. Indeed, the global market economy based on capitalist

ideology has been very successful to produce more wealth and to give more opportunity topeople to consume more. Living in a global consumer culture, people have gone far beyond

purchasing goods and services to fulll their essential needs. They almost turn to consump-

tion machine to produce happiness.

Ironically, consumerism also consumes human happiness and limited natural recourses

for the sake of producing more prot. In his pioneering work, Easterlin (1974) has shown

for the U.S. from 1946 through 1970 that average happiness remained stagnant despite tre-

mendous economic growth over that period. He later did a similar study for Japan and found

that the average self-reported happiness level did not increase in Japan between 1958 and

1987 despite a vefold increase in real income. Since then, many studies have conrmed

that more wealth and more consumption have not increased human happiness.

A large body of research thus far has supported the negative impact of materialistic (or

extrinsic) values on subjective well-being. For example, extrinsically oriented teenagers,

college students, and adults report lower rates of self-actualization and positive experience,

along with higher rates of depression, anxiety, narcissism, and substance abuse (Kasser 2002;

Kasser T and Ryan RM 1993, 410-22; Kasser and Ryan 1996, 280; Sheldon KM and Kasser

T 1995, 531-43; Williams et al. 2000, 1756). Some consumer researchers also conrmed

the ndings (Richins and Dawson 1992, 303; Sirgy 1998, 227-260). They found the opposite

case for intrinsically oriented people. They argue that, compared to those who are low in

materialism, those who are high in materialism have an underlying feeling of insecurity,

poor interpersonal relationships, and a low or contingent sense of self-esteem. Also, those

who are high in materialism tend to ignore psychological need-satisfying behaviors, suchas social engagement and afliation (Duriez B et al. 2006, 2892-2908). They argue that in-

trinsic values for self-acceptance, afliation, and community feeling increase psychological

well-being while extrinsic values for material success, fame and image experience decreased

personal well-being.

The mainstream happiness model in capitalism stems from Benthams hedonistic view.

In his book called Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Bentham argues

that the utility principle is the main determinant of human behaviors. Every individual acts

according to the utility principle and tries to maximize their utilities by calculating the ex-

pected pain and pleasure of their behaviors.

Bentham came up with the utility principle based on his understanding of human nature

as follows: Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters,

pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determ-

ine what we shall do... They govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think: every effort

we can make to throw off our subjection, will serve but to demonstrate and conrm it. In

words a man may pretend to abjure their empire: but in reality he will remain subject to it

all the while (Bentham 2007, p.14). In other words, human gains pleasure or pain from

anything he does. Bentham argues that it is impossible to change this human nature. If this

is true, it is not difcult to understand why human beings act in this zero sum strategy to

maximize pleasure by minimizing pain. Individual decisions are shaped by the utility principle

which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which

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it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in

question: or, what is the same thing in other words, to promote or to oppose that happiness

(Bentham 2007, p.14).

Bentham stresses that every action we take is shaped by the utility principle. He uses

utility, pleasure, happiness, and well-being interchangeably. Utility maximization

means to maximize pleasures and minimize pains. According to Bentham, every individual,

driven by their nature, makes this calculation in order to maximize their utility. This is also

true for society which is formed by individuals.

For Bentham, it is human nature to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. For Adam Smith(1976;

1990), it is human nature to act based on self-interest. However, neither elaborates on

human nature. Human nature is like a black box from which key assumptions in capitalist

market system are derived. I suggest that it is imperative to examine this black box in order

to understand the failure of capitalism in bringing happiness through unsustainable consump-

tion. I think the path to greater happiness through sustainable consumption goes through a

comprehensive understanding of human nature as outlined in the next section.

A New Theory of Human Nature

Since people consume to be happy, in order to achieve sustainable consumption, we need

to know what makes people happy. In other words, navigating a path to happiness requires

a journey through consciousness and an understanding of what I refer to as the human Inner

Universe. For authentic and lasting happiness, it is important to become aware of the key

elements of the inner universe and knowing how to utilize the elements that lie within that

universe. By human nature I mean the common universal elements shared by humanity.

It does not matter whether human nature is shaped by God, nature, or nurtured by society.

It is the fact that we all have similar biological needs like food, water, oxygen, etc. While

types of food may vary from culture to culture, the need for food is common across all cul-

tures. Similarly, we all experience sensual, intellectual, and spiritual need because of the

universality of our nature. Although methods to satisfy these needs vary among cultures,

existence of the needs is shared by all human beings. For instance, every human being has

the capacity to love and the desire to be loved. It is only the objects of love and values sur-

rounding the concept that differs across cultures.

Inspired largely by the writings of ancient Eastern scholars such as Al-Ghazalli (2007),

Rumi and Nursi and Western scholars such as Jung, Haidt, Kaser, and Schelling, I would

like to present a new theory of human nature, A Grand Theory of the Inner Universe

(GTIU). Using the palace and residents of that palace as metaphors, I will discuss the fol-lowing key elements of human nature according to GTIU: Guard, King, Judge, Elephant,

Advisor, and Showman (Aydin 2009) .

The Guard: The Self

The self is like a guard in the human palace. The Guard is the source of self-awareness and

serves as a conduit for relationships with other human beings and the external environment.

He is the reference point to know everything including other beings and God (Al-Ghazzali

2007; Nursi 1996). He is in charge of the palace. He is aware of his possessions and protects

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them from intruders. The Guard directs all residents of the palace to serve the Elephant, the

King, or the Showman. He acts under the inuence of residents.

The King: Spiritual HearthMetaphorically speaking, the spiritual heart of an individual is like the King in a human

palace. The King is motivated by the active states of Being, Having and Doing. The king

has the capacity for love, compassion and inspiration. He also has certain needs and desires

for the fulllment of his potential and he takes actions to acquire what he needs and desires.

First, the King has almost innite capacity to love. He needs/desires beauty, perfection, and

benets in his lover(s). The King uses his capital of love to make attachments in his search

for lover(s). From the perspective of the King, life is a journey of making attachments to

satisfy these needs. Second, the King has capacity for compassion that is the source of em-

pathy for the wellbeing of other individuals. For example, compassion for children, the elderly,

and the poor comes from the King. He receives pleasure from exercising this compassionand feels pain when not able to exercise compassion. Third, the King has capacity for inspir-

ation. Concentration and contemplation on objects of amazement or novelty inspire the King

to gain knowledge. The King seeks the company of people, objects, and events that provide

inspiration.

The Judge: Conscience

Conscience, which is dened as the ability to distinguish right from wrong, is like an inner

judge in the human palace. The Judge makes judgments about an individuals decisions in

life. If we treat someone unfairly, the inner judge causes us to be aware of this injustice and

feels guilty for being unfair to others. Central to the Judge is the notion of equity or fairness.

Akerlof and Kranton (2005, 9-32; 2002, 1167-1201; 2000, 715-753) conducted several

studies to nd out how people understand the concept of fairness. For the Judge, fairness

and justice are desired qualities and this inspires an individual to do what he or she believes

to be good, avoiding what he determines to be bad. Feelings of inner peace exist when

community norms and social policy reect values consistent with those of the Judge. In order

to make the inner Judge happy, an individual must develop a code of ethical behavior and

consider fairness in every action. S/he avoids feelings of guilt by acting in an egalitarian

manner toward others.

The Advisor: Mind

Mind which consists of intellect, logic, and memory serves as an Advisor to the King, the

ruler of the human palace. He has the capacity for reasoning and memorization. His fulllment

comes with gaining knowledge by comprehending objects in the environment and through

events that he experiences. He acts to learn, reason, and contemplate the inner and outer

universes. The advisor is thirsty for knowledge and meaning. He asks questions and enjoys

learning their answers. He performs the role of making rational decisions for the King and

other residents such as the Elephant, and Judge. However, he has no power to endorse his

decision and may be silenced if the Elephant is too strong.

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The Elephant: The Animal Spirit

The Elephant is an animal spirit in the human palace. He has the capacity for sensual exper-

ience through using ve senses. He needs and/or desires for many things such as food, drink,

sleep, sex, etc. His fulllment is determined by the acts of eating, drinking, sleeping, sexualactivity and so on. The Elephant is addicted to pleasure. He pursues instant gratication and

selects present pleasure over any greater reward that could be achieved through deferment.

Blind to the future, he wants to gain pleasure and avoid pain now with no ability to conduct

long-term cost and benet analysis. He is never satised with what he has and always asks

for more. Due to the phenomena known as Hedonic Adaptation, he is very adaptable to his

current situations. He ceases to appreciate what he has and always look for new sources of

pleasures.

He resists limits and without external restraint will consume anything and everything that

provides instant gratication. He collaborates with the guard and consumes positional goods

and services (Haidt 2005, p.22).

The Showman: The Human Ego

The ego is like a showman in the human palace. He pursues recognition and fame through

the acts of other residents in the palace. He is in the show business to attract peoples attention

to his possession and achievements. He demands goods and services to improve his image

in the eyes of beholders and always compares his own possessions with those of others. He

enjoys working for the Elephant because of recognition he receives from the latters activities.

Universal Needs and Pleasures

I agree with Maslow on the universality of human needs. Indeed, my theory of human nature

provides the basis for Maslows needs and argues that greater pleasures could be attained

through the consumption of non-material goods. In 1954, Maslow published the Need

Hierarchy theory that denes ve levels of human need (Maslow 1968). In a 1970 revision

of his original theory, he expanded the need hierarchy by adding cognitive and aesthetic. In

his last work, published posthumously in 1971, Maslow, who led in the development of

Transpersonal Psychology, argued that some self-actualisers were able to transcend their

own self and experience something beyond. He described it self-transcendence: [Self-

transcenders] may be said to be much more often aware of the realm of Being (B-realm and

B-cognition), to be living at the level of Being to have unitive consciousness and plateau

experience and to have or to have had peak experience (mystic, sacral, ecstatic) with il-

luminations or insights (Maslow 1993). Even though Maslow did not explicitly mention

self-transcendence as a level on the hierarchy of needs, his differentiation between self-actu-

alisers and transcenders clearly implies it. Therefore, a number of psychologists in the

Maslowian tradition such as Henry Gleitman, Alan Fridlund & Daniel Reisberg (2007) dene

Maslows needs model as 8-level model. The table below presents the sources of Maslows

needs and the resultant pleasures according to my theory of human nature.

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PleasuresSourcesNeeds

Sensual pleasuresThe ElephantPhysiological needs

Sensual pleasuresThe Judge/The AdvisorSafety and security need

Emotional/Social/Spiritual pleasuresThe KingLove and belonging

Self-acceptance/Egoistic pleasuresThe Guard / The show-

manEsteem

Intellectual pleasuresThe AdvisorCognitive needs

Aesthetical/Intellectual pleasuresThe King/The AdvisorAesthetic needs

Spiritual/Intellectual pleasuresThe King/The AdvisorSelf-actualization

Spiritual/Altruistic/Conscience

pleasuresThe King/The JudgeSelf-transcendence

Although Maslows needs identify the key elements of human needs, the hierarchy does not

offer direct explanations of how to achieve happiness. This is because Maslows need hier-

archy is based on the immediacy of needs themselves, not the amount or intensity of pleasure

derived. The rst four needs are referred to as decit needs, or D-needs, meaning that if

you have a decit, you feel the need; if your needs are met, you feel nothing. The last four

needs are referred to as being needs, or B-needs, meaning that individuals have a continuous

desire to become self-actualized. This is different from ordinary life achievement because

it refers to the notion of potentiality in human beings. Maslow mentioned names of well-

accomplished people such as Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Jefferson as

examples of human beings that demonstrated self-actualization.

I disagree with Maslow on the hierarchy of needs. Even though physiological needs are

a primary necessity, other needs could become even more important in the long-term.

Therefore, for long-term overall life satisfaction, human beings prioritize needs/desires based

on the expected net pleasures that are determined by the four Cs: Capacity, Cost, Compatib-

ility, and Comparison. Thus, happiness does not lie in fullling our needs in hierarchy, but

in harmony.

By Capacity I mean the limit of each element of human nature. The capacity of the Elephant

to pursue sensual pleasure is restrained by biological limits. For example, due to the limited

capacity of our stomach, we receive diminishing pleasure from eating and drinking. On the

other hand, the capacity of pursuing intellectual, esthetical, and spiritual pleasures are relat-

ively greater than that of sensual pleasures. The capacity to pursue certain actions for thefulllment of different elements of human nature is positively correlated with the level and

intensity of subjective well-being. Capacity building and efcient use are important factors

behind greater pleasure. In his masterpiece Mathnavi Manavi (Spiritual Couplet), 13th

century poet Rumi (2004) compares the human being to a goose egg, along with many hen

eggs, placed under a hen for incubation. Even though the life born from the goose egg will

become a goose, she imitates her chick siblings. Initially, she only walks as the other chicks.

In time, however if she becomes aware of her potential, she can walk, swim, and y. Similarly,

if we human beings become aware of our full capacity and learn how to realize that capacity,

we can have many different experiences and reach a higher level of enjoyment in life.

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Cost is another determinant of pleasure maximization due to the limited capital (time) we

have in pursuing happiness. Time allocation should be based on expected marginal pleasure

and marginal cost for alternative actions. For sensual and egoistic pleasures, individuals

need to spend time acquiring the means. For instance, one needs to work to make money in

order to buy and consume food. However, an individual does not need money for pursuing

many esthetical, intellectual, and spiritual pleasures. An argument can be made that sensual

and egoistic pleasures are, in fact more expensive than other pleasures. The satisfactions

resulting from lavish consumption in consumer society are offset by the hardship and stress

involved in earning the money required for such consumption. People have to spend more

time working in order to make more money for more consumption. They end up having less

time to enjoy their life. As argued by Robert Lane (2000), people lost happiness in the market

economy because the pressure on material consumption keep them away from intrinsically

more satisfying activities, such as spending time with family members and friends.

By Compatibility, I mean whether pursuing a pleasure by a certain element of human

nature reduces pleasures for other elements or not. For instance, drinking too much alcoholor using drugs would increase sensual pleasure, but decrease intellectual, esthetical, and

spiritual pleasures. Therefore, a human being maximizes pleasure by pursuing actions that

are compatible with all elements of human nature. As Richard Feynman says, it is better to

pursue more than one kind of pleasure at the same time:

I have a friend whos an artist and hes sometimes taken a view which I dont agree with

very well. Hell hold up a ower and say, Look how beautiful it is, and Ill agree, I think.

And he says- you see, I as an artist can see how beautiful this is, but you as a scientist, oh,

take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing. And I think that hes kind of nutty. First of

all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me, too, I believe, although I

might not be quite as rened aesthetically as he is; but I can appreciate the beauty of a ower.

At the same time I see much more about the ower than he sees. I can imagine the cells in

there, the complicated actions inside which also have a beauty. I mean its not just beauty

at this dimension of one centimeter, there is also beauty at a smaller dimension, the inner

structure. (Feynman et al. 1999, p.2)

To continue that thought, a religious person could also receive spiritual pleasure in addition

to esthetical and intellectual pleasures by thinking that a ower is a great gift from God.

Comparison is detrimental to the pursuit of happiness if it results in less contentment with

what one has. This happens when we compare our possessions or achievement with those

who are more successful. However, comparing with less fortunate people would increase

our happiness by increasing contentment. Egoistic and sensual pleasures are mostly compet-

itive compared to other pleasures.Considering capacity, cost, compatibility and comparison factors, I argue that pleasures,

not needs, could be classied in hierarchy as follows:

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Spiritual pleasures are at the top of the pleasure pyramid because the capacity, compatibility,

and contentment for these pleasures are relatively greater while the cost is relatively smaller.

Similar arguments could be made for altruistic, conscience, aesthetical, and intellectual

pleasures, as well. However, egoistic and sensual pleasures are at the bottom because of

greater cost and less contentment. Of course, at this level, the pleasure pyramid above is just

a hypothesis which needs to be tested.

A New Happiness Model Compatible with Human Nature

I suggest a sustainable happiness model compatible with the human nature theory discussed

above. This new model offers a comprehensive approach capturing ve different dimensions

of the human experience as represented by the residents of the palace. For instance, happiness

for the King depends on how one fullls the needs/desires of love, compassion and inspiration.Love pursues beauty, perfection and benets. Life for the King in this regard is a journey

of making attachments. The number, intensity, and duration of attachments produce spiritual

or esthetical pleasures. As the King gains pleasure by making attachments through love,

compassion, and inspiration, he also suffers from any detachments that occur.

Like the King, each resident of the human palace experiences pains and/or pleasures from

daily activities. Therefore, according to GTIU, overall happiness should be dened as a

function of subjective well-being for all residents in the matrix as shown below:

H = f (King(K), Judge(J), Advisor(A), Elephant(E), Guard (G), Showman (S))

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The new happiness model implies that authentic happiness is possible if individuals listen

to the voices of all residents of the human palace and try to fulll their needs and desires in

a balanced manner. One cannot achieve true happiness by listening to only one resident

while disregarding the others. By knowing each resident in terms of their needs, desires, and

dangers an individual can attempt to nd that balance. In many ways, the residents of our

body are quite similar to the members of a family living in the same house. As the entire

familys peace and happiness is possible if each family member lives in peace and prosperity,

the inner peace of a person is also possible if each resident of his palace lives in peace and

prosperity. Making one family member happy and leaving the rest of the family in misery

is not true happiness for the family. Likewise, making one resident of the human palace

happy and neglecting the others is a recipe for discontent.

In order to achieve overall happiness, each residents happiness should be considered.

Prioritizing the needs and desires of residents in case of scarcity and conict allows harmony.

For instance, if we spend too much time earning money for sensual pleasure, we will have

less time left for pursuing other pleasures. Furthermore, things that give pleasure to oneresident might be painful for the other. For instance, drinking too much alcohol might create

sensual pleasure, but it kills intellectual pleasure. Thus, overall happiness requires effort to

balance the need and desires of all residents. Such a balanced approached will provide

greater subjective wellbeing through less/sustainable consumption.

Capitalism and Human Nature

There is no doubt that capitalism has been successful in production and consumption.

However, it has failed to bring the promised paradise. Both the success and failure of capit-

alism can be explained through its understanding of human nature. Indeed, as the success

of capitalism comes from its partial understanding of human nature, its failure comes from

its partial misunderstanding or exploitation of human nature. On the one hand, the system

has been very successful in production and consumption by igniting certain elements of human

nature. On the other hand, the system has failed to bring happiness to people by ignoring or

denying other elements of human nature.

The capitalist happiness model fails to bring authentic happiness because it relies on self-

interest as suggested by Adam Smith: It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the

brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest,

(Smith 1976, p.26-27). Thus, the market mechanism determines what and how much to

produce if we simply let everyone act based on his or her self-interest. In my view, self

refers to ego and interest refers to the desires of animal spirits. Individuals will demandand supply the optimum amount of goods and services to boost their ego (or make up their

images) and fulll the desires of their animal spirits. Thus, supply and demand driven by

self (ego) and (animal spirits) interest work like an invisible hand pushing the market

mechanism toward an efcient production and consumption.

In essence, the capitalist system ignites the greed of the animal spirit in each individual

to always ask for more(Akerlof and Shiller 2009; Ariely 2008). Then, the system makes

people work hard to produce goods and services to fulll their desires. Meanwhile, it uses

the level of production and consumption per person to boost human ego. It is fair to say that

capitalism has succeeded because of its recognition and even exploitation of the self-inter-

ested human nature.

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Capitalist ideology gives the following message to people: the ultimate goal in life is to

have fun and power. Consumers need to work hard to become rich in order to have fun and

gain admirable images. Capitalist entrepreneurs try to maximize their prots by creating

demand for their goods and services, and minimizing the cost of their production. By using

all kinds of advertisement, they ignite animal spirits and egos, thus creating demand for their

products. On the other hand, by rewarding workers, they increase labor productivity and

minimize the cost of production. Their goal of prot maximization overlaps with the con-

sumers goal of pleasure (utility) maximization. While one side tries to maximize prot, the

other side tries to maximize pleasure. In fact, capitalist producers are aware of the weakness

of a consumer driven by the sexual desire of the animal soul and the social status desire of

ego. Through advertising, they ignite and exploit these vulnerable sides of consumers.

In my view, the failure of capitalism in bringing happiness could be explained through

its understanding of human nature.

First, capitalism fails to fulll the desires of the King. It turns everything into commodities.

It commercializes everything, including human values and relationships, because it lacksunderstanding of true human nature. It replaces authentic and lasting love with fake and fast

love. It kills friendship for the sake of making more money. It replaces long-lived family

life with short-lived dating. What free market capitalism offers does not satisfy the King

who enjoys real or authentic attachments rather than supercial ones. It is not the king, rather

the Elephant that wants sensual and sexual love.

Second, capitalism does not recognize the desires of the Judge. It does not consider fairness

in determining prices and wages. This unfairness hurts people and diminishes their subjective

sense of well-being.

Third, the capitalist system fails to control/train the Elephant. Instead, it does everything

to further excite him for consumption. Indeed, the system makes all other residents a slave

to the Elephant. As argued by Haidt, in the capitalist system, it is not the mind but the Elephant

in control of the human palace. Without guidance from the Judge, the Elephant becomes

addicted to many pleasures that ultimately damage or even kill his owner.

Fourth, the capitalist ideology that produces popular culture and consumer society

views the showman (ego) and animal spirits as the central elements of human nature and

relies on these pillars. It uses market mechanisms to please animal spirits and boost human

egos. It creates conspicuous consumption in Veblens (2006) terms or positional consump-

tion in Hirschs (1976) terms, meaning that people purchase goods and services not just to

satisfy their functional needs; they also do so to attract attention to their wealth or to suggest

that they are wealthy. People do so not just to fulll their needs. Rather, they think they gain

a higher position/status in the eyes of beholders through such consumption. As suggestedby Frank (1999), this is a zero-sum game in which one participants gains equal other parti-

cipants losses. The net change in total welfare due to positional consumption is always zero.

Hirsch also observed that mass consumption does not produce greater satisfaction due to

various crowd-out effects, meaning that people do not receive pleasure from owning some-

thing once it becomes available to everyone.

Conclusion

In my view, sustainable consumption is a balanced way of recognizing and meeting the

needs and desired of all elements of human nature. I argue that authentic, pure, and lasting

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happiness is only possible if individuals recognize and respond to the needs and desires of

all elements of human nature in a balanced way. Metaphorically speaking, each resident of

the human palace has a different taste. The Elephant pursues sensual and emotional pleasures

by pursuing all kinds of fun, food, and irting. The Guard pursues self-esteem pleasures

through awareness and acceptance of his possessions. The Showman pursues egotistic

pleasure through image making and power. The Advisor pursues intellectual pleasure. The

King and the Judge receive aesthetical and spiritual pleasures through love, compassion,

fairness, and belief. Capitalism results in unsustainable consumption because it focuses on

the desires of the Elephant and the Showman while ignoring the needs of the King, the Judge

and the Advisor. As argued by Haidt, in the capitalist system, it is not the mind (Advisor),

but the Elephant in control of the human palace (Haidt 2005). Without guidance from the

Judge, the Elephant makes its owner a slave of his desires.

The new understanding of human nature will result in less and sustainable consumption

for several reasons. First, it puts more emphasis on spiritual, altruistic, conscience, aesthet-

ical, and intellectual pleasures for greater happiness instead of egoistic and sensual pleasures,which require greater material consumption. Second, it suggests that we should control or

train the elephant rather than being its slave through conspicuous consumption. Third, it

puts forward fairness to others as a critical element of authentic happiness coming from the

Judge. Fourth, it urges compassionate, caring and loving behaviors as a means to satisfy the

desires of the King. Fifth, it suggests that we fulll the needs of all residents in harmony,

rather than fullling false, articial, non functional or unnatural needs created by

consumer culture. It urges the reduction of positional consumption due to its harm to

happiness at individual and societal levels.

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About the Author

Dr. Necati Aydin

Dr. Necati Aydin currently works as the director of the Neuroeconomics and Well-being

Studies at Florida State University. The program specializes in well-being studies both at

individual and societal levels bringing experts from different subject matters to conduct

qualitative and quantitative analysis of happiness related issues. Dr. Aydin received his

bachelors degree in Public Finance, masters degree in International Economics, and doc-

toral degrees in both Education and Economics. He has been working as a researcher since2002. He has conducted research in variety of topics including local and state government

budget analysis, economic impact studies, tourism, higher education, virtual education, in-

formation technology, Medicaid, and happiness. Dr. Aydin has completed over thirty research

projects; authored six, translated two, and co-authored three books; and published many

peer-reviewed articles. He also writes op-ed articles in Zaman, the most widely circulated

Turkish newspaper. He has published several articles and book chapters on happiness in

Turkish and English.

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EDITORSAmareswar Galla, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.Bill Cope, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.

EDITORIALADVISORYBOARDShamsul Nahar Abdullah, University of Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia.Wan Izatul Asma, University of Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia.

Dang Van Bai, Ministry of Culture and Information, Vietnam.Michael Cameron, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.Richard M. Clugston, University Leaders for a Sustainable Future, Washington, D.C., USA.John Dryzek, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.DatoAbdul Razak Dzulkifli, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia.Robyn Eckersley, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.Steven Engelsman, Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden, The Netherlands.John Fien, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.Suzanne Grant, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.Steve Hamnett, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.Paul James, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.Mary Kalantzis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.Nik Fuad Nik Mohd Kamil, University of Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia.Lily Kong, National University of Singapore, Singapore.Thangavelu Vasantha Kumaran, University of Madras, Chennai, India.Jim McAllister, Central Queensland University, Rockhamptom, Australia.Nik Hashim Nik Mustapha, University of Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia.Helena Norberg-Hodge, The International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC), UK.Peter Phipps, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.Koteswara Prasad, University of Madras, Chennai, India.Behzad Sodagar, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, UK.Judy Spokes, Cultural Development Network, Melbourne, Australia.Manfred Steger, Illinois State University, Normal, USA; RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

David Wood, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada.Lyuba Zarsky, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia; Tufts University, Medford, USA.

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