A psychology study presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting on Saturday suggested that it isn’t material possessions that lead to consumer happiness, but rather, wealth creates happiness through the purchase of individual experiences.

The study demonstrated that making purchase which are experienced, such as a meal out of theatre tickets, created higher levels of well-being by creating “a feeling of being alive,” through social connectedness and other higher order needs.

“These findings support an extension of basic need theory, where purchases that increase psychological need satisfaction will produce the greatest well-being,” said Ryan Howell, assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University, in the press release.

Howell also discussed the value of memory, which, he argued, is what is being created through “purchased experiences” referring to “memory capital” as the true product being purchased, “we don’t tend to get bored of happy memories,” he said.

The study analyzed subjective reports and interviews with participants regarding their most recent purchases. The participants overwhelmingly indicated that the purchases which led to new memories represented “money better spent,” as well as increased levels of happiness regardless of the price or income level of the consumer.

This study adds to 35 years of research suggesting that money does not make people happy - at least, not directly.

The study is available under the title “The mediators of experiential purchases: Determining the impact of psychological need satisfaction,” by Dr. Ryan Howell and graduate Graham Hill.

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