删繁就简：自愿简约及其前因、后果和理论解释&#x0002A;

李斌; 朱钦; 张凯迪; 严仁昊; 冯凯

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240419

PDF(674 KB)

心理科学 ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (4) : 918-925. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240419

社会、人格与管理

删繁就简：自愿简约及其前因、后果和理论解释^*

李斌^**1,2,3, 朱钦¹, 张凯迪¹, 严仁昊¹, 冯凯¹

作者信息 +

Just Make it Simple: The Influential Factors, Consequences and Theoretical Mechanisms of Voluntary Simplicity

Li Bin^1,2,3, Zhu Qin¹, Zhang Kaidi¹, Yan Renhao¹, Feng Kai¹

Author information +

文章历史 +

摘要

自愿简约是指个人因放弃有形的物质资源的拥有和满足,在简化外部生活过程中获得内心的丰富与充盈的生活方式。个体选择自愿简约既受到个人价值观、物质主义和宗教信仰等内部因素的驱使,也受到外部因素的影响。自愿简约对个体主观幸福感和客观环境可持续性具有积极作用。当前研究主要从需要理论、自我决定理论和计划行为理论来解释自愿简约的心理机制。未来研究需要多角度拓展自愿简约的形成机制、进一步挖掘自愿简约与幸福感的关系以及深入探索其产生的多重影响。

Abstract

Voluntary simplicity is a lifestyle in which individuals attain inner abundance and fulfillment in the process of simplifying their external lives, as to give up the possession and satisfaction of physical materials. Instead of living under stress, growing numbers of young people highly value life quality and turn to voluntary simplicity that allows for a better qualitative life. Particularly during the Covid-19 epidemic, consumers' lifestyles and consumption patterns have shifted, with increased acceptance of online purchases and reduced material needs in response to the risk of outings. Voluntary simplicity has emerged as an important lifestyle, and to explore the definition, influences, consequences and theoretical mechanisms of this lifestyle, this review is arranged as follows.
First, we clarified the definition of voluntary simplicity from the perspectives of behavior and values, despite differences, scholars tend to acknowledge this lifestyle as a balance between individual's internal and external growth. Then distinguished this lifestyle from similar concepts. The main difference between voluntary simplicity and green consumption lies in the quantity of consumption, whereas the difference between voluntary simplicity and minimalism emphasizes on the nature of consumption.
Second, influential factors of voluntary simplicity were profiled from aspects like internal factors and external factors. In terms of internal factors, consumers who shift their lifestyles may be motivated by different personal values, such as altruism and green consumption values. Besides, individuals may also choose voluntary simplicity driven by materialism as well as religious beliefs. As for the external factors, negative emotions such as stress and anxiety resulting from consumption may drive individuals away from the consumption world. The outbreak of Covid-19 epidemic has somewhat reduced individuals' consumption desire, which also provides a specific time context for the emergence of voluntary simplicity. Besides, the effects of voluntary simplicity on the environment and individuals were also compiled. Voluntary simplifiers highly value the ecological consequences of their purchases, and emphasize on self-sufficiency and moderate consumption, which have a positive impact on environmental sustainability. The higher the degree of voluntary simplicity consumers have, the less ecological consequences of their consumption behavior and the more friendly to environmental sustainability. Voluntary simplicity is also related to higher life satisfaction and subjective well-being, yet the causal relationship is still subject to further explanations. Voluntary simplicity may promote well-being, and the experience of well-being may also contribute to the willingness of voluntary simplicity. Nevertheless, voluntary simplicity could bring about some negative effects, such as dissatisfaction and unhappiness due to reduced consumption. Moreover, the boundary conditions between voluntary simplicity's positive and negative effects remain to be revealed by further studies.
Finally, theories such as the Needs Theory, the Self-determination Theory, and the Theory of Planned Behavior provide insights into the psychological mechanisms of why individuals shift to the lifestyle of voluntary simplicity. However, the current study overlooked personality which could be a more reliable predictor; future studies should consider exploring the motivations of voluntary simplicity from the perspective of personality traits. Furthermore, present study focuses more on the attitudinal and behavioral aspects of the mechanisms of voluntary simplicity, future research should delve deeper into its cognitive neural mechanisms.

导出引用

李斌, 朱钦, 张凯迪, 严仁昊, 冯凯. 删繁就简：自愿简约及其前因、后果和理论解释^*[J]. 心理科学. 2024, 47(4): 918-925 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240419

Li Bin, Zhu Qin, Zhang Kaidi, Yan Renhao, Feng Kai. Just Make it Simple: The Influential Factors, Consequences and Theoretical Mechanisms of Voluntary Simplicity[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2024, 47(4): 918-925 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240419

参考文献

[1] 施卓敏, 张彩云. (2023). 消费者为何会落入绿色消费陷阱?——绿色消费对过度消费的影响研究. 南开管理评论, 26(2), 17-26.
[2] 许燕. (2020). 心理简约生活更轻松. 大众健康, 6, 30-31.
[3] Ajzen, I. (2005). Attitudes, personality, and behavior. McGraw-Hill Education.
[4] Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (2005). The influence of attitudes on behavior. In D. Albarracín, B. T. Johnson, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The handbook of attitudes (pp. 173-221). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
[5] Alexander, S. (2011). The voluntary simplicity movement: Reimagining the good life beyond consumer culture. The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic, and Social Sustainability, 7(3), 133-150.
[6] Bailey A. A., Mishra A., & Tiamiyu M. F. (2016). Green consumption values and Indian consumers' response to marketing communications. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 33(7), 562-573.
[7] Balderjahn I., Lee M. S. W., Seegebarth B., & Peyer M. (2020). A sustainable pathway to consumer wellbeing. The role of anticonsumption and consumer empowerment. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 54(2), 456-488.
[8] Bedard, S. A. N., & Tolmie, C. R. (2018). Millennials' green consumption behaviour: Exploring the role of social media. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(6), 1388-1396.
[9] Boujbel, L., & d'Astous, A. (2012). Voluntary simplicity and life satisfaction: Exploring the mediating role of consumption desires. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 11(6), 487-494.
[10] Brown, K. W., & Kasser, T. (2005). Are psychological and ecological well-being compatible? The role of values, mindfulness, and lifestyle. Social Indicators Research, 74(2), 349-368.
[11] Cengiz, H., & Torlak, Ö. (2021). Investigating the demographics and behavioural characteristics associated with voluntary simplicity lifestyles in a developed and a developing country: A comparison between US and Turkish simplifiers. Global Business Review, 22(1), 119-131.
[12] Chang, H. H. (2021). Exploring consumer behavioral predispositions toward voluntary simplicity. Current Psychology, 40(2), 731-743.
[13] Chatterjee, R. S. (2020). Towards sustainable consumption behaviour through voluntary simplicity: A value mapping orientation. International Journal of Sustainable Society, 12(2), 111-133.
[14] Cherrier, H. (2009). Anti-consumption discourses and consumer-resistant identities. Journal of Business Research, 62(2), 181-190.
[15] Chowdhury, R. M. M. I. (2018). Religiosity and voluntary simplicity: The mediating role of spiritual well-being. Journal of Business Ethics, 152(1), 149-174.
[16] Çinar, D. (2021). A research on the evaluation of consumers' voluntary simplicity lifestyle tendency in the Covid-19 period. International Journal of Social Sciences and Education Research, 7(1), 12-23.
[17] Daoud, A. (2011). The modus vivendi of material simplicity: Counteracting scarcity via the deflation of wants. Review of Social Economy, 69(3), 275-305.
[18] Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19(2), 109-134.
[19] Demirel, A. (2022). Voluntary simplicity: An exploration through text analysis. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 46(1), 75-87.
[20] Dopierała, R. (2017). Minimalism-A new mode of consumption?Przegląd Socjologiczny, LXVI(4), 67-83.
[21] Elgin, D. (2010). Voluntary simplicity. Harper.
[22] Etzioni, A. (1999). Voluntary simplicity: Characterization, select psychological implications, and societal consequences. In Essays in socio-economics (pp. 1-26). Springer.
[23] Evanschitzky H., Emrich O., Sangtani V., Ackfeldt A. L., Reynolds K. E., & Arnold M. J. (2014). Hedonic shopping motivations in collectivistic and individualistic consumer cultures. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 31(3), 335-338.
[24] Folwarczny, M., & Otterbring, T. (2021). Secure and sustainable but not as prominent among the ambivalent: Attachment style and proenvironmental consumption. Personality and Individual Differences, 183, Article 111154.
[25] Gatersleben B., Murtagh N., & Abrahamse W. (2014). Values, identity and pro-environmental behaviour. Contemporary Social Science, 9(4), 374-392.
[26] Halder P., Hansen E. N., Kangas J., & Laukkanen T. (2020). How national culture and ethics matter in consumers' green consumption values. Journal of Cleaner Production, 265, Article 121754.
[27] Haws K. L., Winterich K. P., & Naylor R. W. (2014). Seeing the world through GREEN-tinted glasses: Green consumption values and responses to environmentally friendly products. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(3), 336-354.
[28] Horlings, L. G. (2015). The inner dimension of sustainability: Personal and cultural values. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 14, 163-169.
[29] Huneke, M. E. (2005). The face of the un-consumer: An empirical examination of the practice of voluntary simplicity in the United States. Psychology and Marketing, 22(7), 527-550.
[30] Hunt, S. D., & Vitell, S. J. (2006). The general theory of marketing ethics: A revision and three questions. Journal of Macromarketing, 26(2), 143-153.
[31] Hurst M., Dittmar H., Bond R., & Kasser T. (2013). The relationship between materialistic values and environmental attitudes and behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 36, 257-269.
[32] Hüttel A., Balderjahn I., & Hoffmann S. (2020). Welfare beyond consumption: The benefits of having less. Ecological Economics, 176, Article 106719.
[33] Iyer, R., & Muncy, J. A. (2009). Purpose and object of anti-consumption. Journal of Business Research, 62(2), 160-168.
[34] Kasser, T. (2009). Psychological need satisfaction, personal well-being, and ecological sustainability. Ecopsychology, 1(4), 175-180.
[35] Kasser, T. (2016). Materialistic values and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 489-514.
[36] Kaynak, R., & Eksi, S. (2011). Ethnocentrism, religiosity, environmental and health consciousness: Motivators for anti-consumers. Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics, 4(8), 31-50.
[37] Kim, K., & Moon, S. G. (2012). Determinants of the pro-environmental behavior of Korean immigrants in the U.S. International Review of Public Administration, 17(3), 99-123.
[38] Kim S. Y., Yeo J., Sohn S. H., Rha J. Y., Choi S., Choi A. Y., & Shin S. (2012). Toward a composite measure of green consumption: An exploratory study using a Korean sample. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 33(2), 199-214.
[39] Kraisornsuthasinee, S., & Swierczek, F. W. (2018). Beyond consumption: The promising contribution of voluntary simplicity. Social Responsibility Journal, 14(1), 80-95.
[40] Kropfeld M. I., Nepomuceno M. V., & Dantas D. C. (2018). The ecological impact of anticonsumption lifestyles and environmental concern. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 37(2), 245-259.
[41] Kuanr A., Pradhan D., & Chaudhuri H. R. (2020). I (do not) consume; Therefore, I am: Investigating materialism and voluntary simplicity through a moderated mediation model. Psychology and Marketing, 37(2), 260-277.
[42] Lee, M. S. W., & Ahn, C. S. Y. (2016). Anti-consumption, materialism, and consumer well-being. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 50(1), 18-47.
[43] Lloyd, K., & Pennington, W. (2020). Towards a theory of minimalism and wellbeing. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 5(3), 121-136.
[44] McDonald S., Oates C. J., Young C. W., & Hwang K. (2006). Toward sustainable consumption: Researching voluntary simplifiers. Psychology and Marketing, 23(6), 515-534.
[45] McGouran, C., & Prothero, A. (2016). Enacted voluntary simplicity - exploring the consequences of requesting consumers to intentionally consume less. European Journal of Marketing, 50(1-2), 189-212.
[46] Milfont, T. L., & Sibley, C. G. (2012). The big five personality traits and environmental engagement: Associations at the individual and societal level. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 32(2), 187-195.
[47] Miller, S., & Gregan-Paxton, J. (2006). Community and connectivity: Examining the motives underlying the adoption of a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity. Advances in Consumer Research, 33, 289-290.
[48] Nair, S. R., & Little, V. J. (2016). Context, culture and green consumption: A new framework. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 28(3), 169-184.
[49] Osikominu, J., & Bocken, N. (2020). A voluntary simplicity lifestyle: Values, adoption, practices and effects. Sustainability, 12(5), Article 1903.
[50] Pace, S. (2013). Does religion affect the materialism of consumers? An empirical investigation of Buddhist ethics and the resistance of the self. Journal of Business Ethics, 112(1), 25-46.
[51] Peifer J. L., Chugani S., & Roos J. M. (2020). The ethical underpinnings of nonmaterialistic values and voluntary simplicity behavior in the United States. Psychology and Marketing, 37(2), 232-249.
[52] Peyer M., Balderjahn I., Seegebarth B., & Klemm A. (2017). The role of sustainability in profiling voluntary simplifiers. Journal of Business Research, 70, 37-43.
[53] Read R., Alexander S., & Garrett J. (2018). Voluntary simplicity strongly backed by all three main normative-ethical traditions. Ethical Perspectives, 25(1), 87-116.
[54] Rich S. A., Hanna S., & Wright B. J. (2017). Simply satisfied: The role of psychological need satisfaction in the life satisfaction of voluntary simplifiers. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18(1), 89-105.
[55] Rich S. A., Hanna S., Wright B. J., & Bennett P. C. (2017). Fact or fable: Increased wellbeing in voluntary simplicity. International Journal of Wellbeing, 7(2), 64-77.
[56] Rich S. A., Wright B. J., & Bennett P. C. (2020). Development of the voluntary simplicity engagement scale: Measuring low-consumption lifestyles. Journal of Consumer Policy, 43(2), 295-313.
[57] 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), 303-316.
[58] Shaw, D., & Newholm, T. (2002). Voluntary simplicity and the ethics of consumption. Psychology and Marketing, 19(2), 167-185.
[59] Sheth, J. (2020). Impact of Covid-19 on consumer behavior: Will the old habits return or die? Journal of Business Research, 117, 280-283.
[60] Sun Y. H., Liu N. N., & Zhao M. Z. (2019). Factors and mechanisms affecting green consumption in China: A multilevel analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 209, 481-493.
[61] Varshneya G., Pandey S. K., & Das G. (2017). Impact of social influence and green consumption values on purchase intention of organic clothing: A study on collectivist developing economy. Global Business Review, 18(2), 478-492.
[62] Wong, N. Y. C. (1997). Suppose you own the world and no one knows? Conspicuous consumption, materialism and self. Advances in Consumer Research, 24, 197-203.
[63] Zavestoski, S. (2002). The social-psychological bases of anticonsumption attitudes. Psychology and Marketing, 19(2), 149-165.

基金

*本研究得到教育部人文社科青年基金项目（22YJCZH074）、广东省哲学社会科学规划基金一般项目（GD22CGL05）、中央高校基本科研业务费专项资金（23JNQMX11 ）、国家自然科学基金项目（71601084）、暨南大学企业发展研究所重点项目（2021MYZD01）、广州品牌创新发展研究基地研究项目（2021CR03）和暨南大学管理学院育题课题（GY21011）的资助