BNARC: The Threshold of Material Goals?

- Toward a System of Categorization for Material Goals

One problem confounding research, theories and public discourse concerning the relationship between money or material wealth and happiness or Well-being is that: the different levels of material goals (needs, wants or desires) and their effects are often not well differentiated.

Although some research and discussions noted basic needs, or “essential needs”, in explaining the relationship, these needs are rarely clearly defined, nor their influences on the relationship, vs those of other material goals, clearly differentiated. This sometimes creates confusions and difficulties in addressing questions that often surface in public discourse and in scholarly research, such as “Does money buy happiness?”, and “How much money does one need to be happy?”

This calls for defining and differentiating levels of material goals with respect to their relationships with happiness and well-being. Basic needs have a fundamentally different relationship with happiness or well-being than needs beyond the basics, and more so than wants and desires beyond needs (e.g., luxuries). Differentiating these material goals and their effects may help clarify the relationships.

This article is an attempt on this task.

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