Inspired by Emotional Capital

My background is in business, where I worked on startups and nationwide projects with requirements for each initiative to outline its exit strategy and end goal at the start of planning.

Dear reader, my newsletter aims to uphold your right to be informed and champion science. Together, we can drive social transformation for a post-growth world by uniting, not just teaching or preaching. By meeting people where they are and understanding their stories, motivations, and limitations, we allow amazing impact to happen. Together, we can empower each other through emotional capital – humanity’s most powerful asset – and build the future we aspire to live in, where you are warmly invited.

What do we want?

We must apply the same approach when planning practical interventions for sustainable consumption and clearly define our objectives.

Otherwise, the approach may become as polarized as the one focused solely on economic aspects of human life.

As suggested, we aim for a triple win: benefiting people, the planet, and prosperity* for all.

*prosperity over profit is a changemaker

But why would people support such a win?

While the first post-growth response was a critique of the idea of unlimited economic growth, the next strong sustainability advocates started questioning the welfare goal of economics based on “seemingly insatiable human needs,” as put by the pioneer of ecological economics, Herman Daly.

The multi-level assessment published by the Croatian Interdisciplinary Society reported that though there are differences in the size and generosity of the welfare state, such differences do not generate considerable effects on individuals’ subjective well-being.

The belief that the level of well-being is higher in welfare states and that its distribution is more equitable was tested in another comparative study by Veenhoven of 41 nations from 1980 to 1990.

Contrary to expectation, there appears to be no link between the size of the welfare state and the level of well-being within it.

The emerging sustainable degrowth concept escalated doubts about the reasoning behind the economic growth strategy and its consequences, such as climate change, pollution, loss of biodiversity, and resource depletion.

These concerns were encapsulated in the concept of “well-being.”

Well-being incorporates a broader family of variables such as job circumstances, meaningful social relationships, work–life balance, personal development, and many more in contrast to welfare, although as per Maximo, this distinction is not always well recognized.

In some countries, like Bhutan, prosperity is measured by Gross National Happiness (GNH) instead of traditional economic indicators.

This country is already assessing the overall emotional and physical well-being of the nation’s population.

Additional factors for index calculations include cultural aspects, health, relationships, education, cultural diversity and resilience, community vitality, the standard of living, and so on.

The World Happiness Report, a similar initiative, collaborates with Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Center, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Dermody et al. suggest that well-being and a mindset focused on empathy and community collaboration should be prioritized over the individualistic attitudes typical of contemporary consumerism, where human capital and environmental capital are valued together more than power elites’ dominant ideation of economic capital.

Simply put, the notion that money cannot buy happiness has gained popularity!

It was sparking an argument that questions individual prosperity at the expense of others, and the pursuit of personal benefits through sustainable consumption has begun.

Positive influence of sustainable consumption on well-being

The initial set of assumptions suggests that sustainable consumption behavior leads to positive outcomes for well-being.

Multiple academic studies underline positive well-being outcomes following sustainable consumption patterns.

To Brandão and Cupertino de Miranda, sustainable consumption intends to reduce environmental concerns, increase security, achieve a reasonable natural resource distribution, increase well-being, create a healthy life, and adopt social responsibility.

Reflect on the question, “Does sustainable consumption make consumers happy?” Ramos-Hidalgo et al. conclude that sustainable consumption is positively related to consumer well-being, life satisfaction, and happiness, through encouraging positive emotions, reinforcing consumer moral identity, creating a positive self-image, increasing consumer happiness, and satisfying the need for connectedness with others.

Shaikh et al. revealed that when consumers engage in the sharing economy, they not only meet others but also exhibit pro-social behavior. Even amidst commercialization, they promote social belonging, enhance consumer well-being, and reduce wasteful consumption. Thus, sharing economic experiences can help restore social connectedness lost to materialism.

Another study by Nepomuceno and Laroche suggest reducing current consumption levels, promoting anti-materialistic values, and convincing consumers to break away from mainstream materialistic culture to achieve well-being. They warn that this may be challenging due to materialism’s enduring and resistant nature of value.

Investigating general personal well‐being (also called psychosocial well‐being) as people’s ability to lead a self‐determined and meaningful life (different from the concept of happiness), Hüttel and Balderjahn conclude that cutting back on consumption has led some individuals to realize that well-being can be achieved through reduced consumption, work, and travel, prompting a shift toward leisurely pursuits at home, with family, and in nature, fostering a deeper appreciation for nature and a more straightforward way of living characterized by voluntary simplicity, frugality, and modesty.

Geiger and Keller emphasize concern for others’ well-being and highlight how evoking compassion may enhance pro-environmental intentions by triggering general moral considerations rooted in core values. They acknowledge the necessity for additional research, pointing out that previous studies overlooked the connection between compassion for individuals and sustainable behavior.

The summary here is that prosperity is not equivalent to profit, and well-being is significantly broader when it encompasses welfare.

It is essential to understand these things that define your new lifestyle.

That’s all for today.

We’ll talk again in two weeks.

If these words were useful to you, please share your thoughts with Your Emotional Capital Newsletter readers: we are happy to hear from you!

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Find me on LinkedIn or website. Send me professional inquiries at Kirkus ProConnect. Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Your Emotional Capital Newsletter informs you with a mosaic of perspectives and insights on how emotional depth can fuel transformation, expedite learning, and activate greater cognitive capacities. Here, vulnerability meets strength, and sensitivity is recast not as a liability but as a potent asset.
2. Emotional Capital for the Triple Win: 50 Innovative Ways to Lead the Consumption Revolution reveals 50 innovative strategies to transform consumer behavior for a triple win: benefitting people, the planet, and universal prosperity. It is a groundbreaking guide for the next generation of business leaders, founders, and innovators. Available 24th June 2025.
3. The Gift of Sensitivity Book saves your precious time summarising 8 years of research & personal journey. Take a copy to discover your own sensitivity, transforming it into a superpower for a future with extraordinary faculties such as creativity, originality, innovation, intuition, flexibility, and inclusiveness in times of technological acceleration.

For inspiring researchers:

From footnotes: https://worldhappiness.report/

All the other authors could be easily traced with transparent citations from the book Emotional Capital