Why More and More People Are Prioritising Wellbeing Over Status Symbols

Circumstances change, and with evolving times, priorities change as well. Currently, there’s a clear shift in societal values. We’re increasingly heading towards lives that prioritise wellness and inner peace more than materialistic gains or status symbols. Expensive cars, designer clothing, and luxury mansions no longer hold the sway over many as they used to. While a lot of us still love these things and consider them deserved symbols of our hard work, many others are viewing them very differently – as wasteful, boastful, and pointless. But what’s driving this trend, and why?

Mental health recognition

In recent years we’ve made huge strides in recognising and treating mental health issues. This is brilliant on a societal level, and everyone should be encouraged to take their mental health seriously. It’s also made a lot of people truly understand the importance of wellness and mental resilience – and to prize possessions and activities that promote mental wellness over more consumeristic status symbols.

Sports cars and party drugs are out, zen gardens and ketamine addiction treatment are in. And so much so that many who choose the path of wellness look with disdain upon people with a taste for the high life. Some even pathologise a love of luxury, telling sports car owners that they’re “compensating”, or theorising that a shopaholic is subconsciously trying to repair some kind of psychological damage.

Digital detox

As digital and AI solutions become ever more entangled with our daily lives, many of us are consciously rejecting the digital infrastructure in favour of more ‘real’ experiences. Digital detox is increasingly popular, and many people are making conscious efforts to spend time outdoors, disconnect from their devices and connect more meaningfully with loved ones, and so on.

However, a lot of luxury status symbols are now inextricably tied to digital culture and the digital elite. All the fanciest cars come with a serious array of tech these days, and most (if not all) consumerist culture happens online. As such, the digital detox movement naturally also tends to disengage from luxury culture as well as from digital culture – or, at least, it appears to.

The role of social media

Can we blame social media for this as well as for everything else? Yep! Social media platforms, often criticised for promoting unrealistic lifestyles, are now amplifying a wide range of voices championing wellbeing over wealth attainment.

Fitness gurus, mental health advocates, and influencers promoting minimalistic lifestyles are all gaining massive followings, and the algorithms are listening. Increasingly, social feeds are pushing content about holistic living, minimalism, and authentic human experiences over materialistic show-off. The irony, of course, is that the algorithms are ultimately doing this to drive ad revenue and generate a whole load of consumerist wealth.

Can you buy happiness?

Another factor – and one that’s arguably at the heart of this – is the idea that there’s something hollow about luxury, consumerist culture. We’ve all heard that money can’t buy you happiness, and right now society is leaning hard into that old adage.

The thing is…it kind of can, actually.

As anyone who’s ever been poor knows, struggling to get by without money is miserable. Having enough money to not worry about rent or where your next meal is coming from can significantly impact your well-being.

On the other hand, it is true that there is a kind of loneliness to the extremely wealthy. Once you get so rich that people start fawning all over you, you can develop a number of mental health issues, including emotional coldness or ‘numbing’ and a reduced ability to take responsibility for problems in your life.

Psychologists theorise that this is due to the degradation of ‘mirror neurons’ in your brain: when people start agreeing with everything you say and constantly tell you how great you are, your brain literally loses the ability to think critically about yourself, which can have a devastating impact on your overall emotional health.

When people say that ‘money can’t buy you happiness’, they’re typically talking about people at the top end of the scale – the people with the decaying mirror neurons. But there is a happy in-between. Studies consistently show that having more money than average (even a lot more money than average!) – but not the astronomical amounts that cause people to flock to and fawn all over you – really can buy you happiness.

Ultimately, more money means more comfort, better access to healthcare, more security, fewer everyday stressors, and greater opportunities for your children. You can also afford to do all those things we mentioned earlier – you can live in a nature-rich area, take regular wellness breaks, and prioritise your mental health over the 9-5 grind. All of this is ideal for both your mental and your physical health.