Many participants reported an improved ability to be mindful, that is, more focused on the present moment, and more open and accepting of what is happening in the moment. All participants indicated that adopting a minimalistic lifestyle afforded a myriad of wellbeing benefits. The key themes and sub-themes (in parentheses) were identified as: Autonomy (freedom/liberation, aligning with values, authenticity); Competence (feeling in control of environment, less stress and anxiety); Mental Space (saving mental energy, internal reflecting external); Awareness (reflection, mindfulness, savouring); and Positive Emotions (joy, peacefulness). 4.1 Autonomy

Kaida, N., & Kaida, K. (2016). Pro-environmental behavior correlates with present and future subjective well-being. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 18(1), 111–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-015-9629-y. I just said to [my husband] one day, ‘There has to be more to life than this. There just has to be.’ [Now] I think we’re feeling more connected as a family…We have stories now. Memories instead of doing the same old thing. (P7). Participants described mental space as a feeling of clear-headedness, of space, lightness, and clarity within one’s mind. Two sub-themes comprise mental space, the connection between the internal and external world, and saving ‘mental energy’.Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 303–315. https://doi.org/10.1086/209304. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage Publications. We’re not spending money, and we’re just having the best time….my heart has sung the last three weekends. (P7). 4.6 Motivation for Minimalism Kasser, T., & Sheldon, K. M. (2002). What makes for a merry Christmas? Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(August), 313–329. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457.

I think by becoming a minimalist you become more aware of what really expresses you or what you really value…And I think by having this awareness, you kind of become more authentic. (P4). Sheldon, K. M., & Kasser, T. (2008). Psychological threat and extrinsic goal striving. Motivation and Emotion, 32, 37–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-008-9081-5. Roster, C. A., Ferrari, J. R., & Jurkat, M. P. (2016). The dark side of home: Assessing possession “clutter” on subjective well-being. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 46, 32–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.03.003. A number of explanations have been proposed for the relationship between materialism and wellbeing (Dittmar et al. 2014). These include negative self-appraisals and social comparisons (Richins 1991; Sirgy 1998); compensating for insecurities or dissatisfaction with life (Fournier and Richins 1991; Richins and Dawson 1992); and failure to satisfy the psychological needs proposed by self-determination theory (Kasser 2002). Research suggests that when these needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are not met, materialists tend to compensate with possessions (Chang and Arkin 2002; Sheldon and Kasser 2008), perpetuating the cycle of materialism by continually and unsuccessfully attempting to find fulfilment through possession acquisition (Kasser and Ryan 1993). These extrinsic goals do not align with the fulfilment of intrinsic goals of developing autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and as such, result in goals and behaviours that fail to meet these psychological needs (Kasser 2002; Ryan and Deci 2000). These findings provide some support for the wellbeing-related claims of minimalism advocates. He's a minimalist when it comes to owning stuff, doesn't label himself that way, but he sure does practice it. Doesn't have clothes/shoes/stationery more than he needs to have, but spends on places where he wants to spend. So he does spend as he wants to when we go out, on a date or with friends, occasionally treats himself to a nice lunch instead of the ordinary and etc. Does spend on experiences.Rich, S. A., Hanna, S., & Wright, B. J. (2017a). Simply satisfied: The role of psychological need satisfaction in the life satisfaction of voluntary simplifiers. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18(1), 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9718-0. There were ten participants in the study, three males and seven females, ranging in age from 24 to 52 years old. The participants resided in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States of America, Canada, and Germany, and in a range of living situations, including living alone, living with their partner, living with their children, and living in shared accommodation. Dittmar, H., Bond, R., Hurst, M., & Kasser, T. (2014). The relationship between materialism and personal well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(5), 879–924. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037409. It’s almost like saving your brain energy by reducing the things that you have to actually think about. Sometimes it’s people just occupying their brain with these things and for me it’s like I just think to myself, ‘God, I’m so glad I don’t have to divert any brain power to those sorts of things’. (P5). Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(2), 410–422. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.65.2.410.

Ivtzan, I., & Lomas, T. (Eds.). (2016). Mindfulness in positive psychology: The science of meditation and wellbeing. Abingdon: Routledge.La Barbera, P. A., & Gürhan, Z. (1997). The role of materialism, religiosity, and demographics in subjective well-being. Psychology and Marketing, 14(1), 71–97. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6793(199701)14:1<71::AID-MAR5>3.0.CO;2-L. Ah Keng, K., Jung, K., Soo Jiuan, T., & Wirtz, J. (2000). The influence of materialistic inclination on values, life satisfaction and aspirations: An empirical analysis. Social Indicators Research, 49(3), 317–333 Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27522439. I'm not sure why exactly I'm writing this, but I stumbled upon this subreddit and am noticing fascinating arguments from minimalist supporters, and many posts questioning "why do people hate minimalism?" with ludicrous replies such as "they fear what they do not understand" and I just thought I would, as someone who quite openly doesn't like minimalism, share my feelings toward it for deeper understanding, fun, and honestly cause I'm very interested in what the comments will be disputing what I have to say, hopefully I'll learn something too. My goal is not to fight I just wanna discuss...if thats possible, this is reddit lol.

I feel like the decision of what to wear is going to be easier...it’s going to take less time. Like it’s less mental energy. (P7). 4.4 Awareness In addition to the absence of stress and anxiety, all participants reported that their minimalistic lifestyle was a catalyst for positive emotions, in particular joy and peacefulness. Positive emotions appeared to stem from the other benefits of minimalism; autonomy, competence, mental space, and awareness.Craig-Lees, M., & Hill, C. (2002). Understanding voluntary simplifiers. Psychology and Marketing, 19(2), 187–210. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.10009. Rodin, J. (1986). Aging and health: Effects of the sense of control. Science, 233(4770), 1271–1276. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3749877. So first off, this is entirely opinion based, obviously, there is no objective fact in personal taste. I will go into minimalism in terms of housing, branding, business and lifestyle. De Young, R. (1996). Some psychological aspects of reduced consumption behavior: The role of intrinsic satisfaction and competence motivation. Environment and Behavior, 28(3), 358–409. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916596283005. McMains, S., & Kastner, S. (2011). Interactions of top-down and bottom-up mechanisms in human visual cortex. The Journal of Neuroscience, 31(2), 587–597. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3766-10.2011.