R: Minimalist Small Monogram Plain White Notebook, Dot Grid Paper, 120 pages, Letter R (B&W Initial Monogram Notebooks)

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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.

Chang, L., & Arkin, R. M. (2002). Materialism as an attempt to cope with uncertainty. Psychology and Marketing, 19(5), 389–406. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.10016. There is this interplay between your inner self and your outer environment…and I think that people should be doing a lot more to do what they can to control the outer environment…it reflects who you are on the inside…but also the outside can give you the peace and calm that you need. (P10). I would walk into my [home] office and see the clutter on my desk and see the things all over the walls...I would just feel my heart rate rise, you know…and my chest seize up and I had always just kind of thought, ‘well that’s just how work is’. But now that things are so much more cleared out and it’s just an open space… I don’t have chest tightening from the space…It just makes me breathe easier. (P1). Thompson, S., Cheek, P., & Graham, M. (1988). The other side of perceived control: Disadvantages and negative effects. In S. Spacapan & S. Oskamp (Eds.), The social psychology of health (pp. 69–93). Newbury Park: Sage. McDonald, S., Oates, C. J., Young, C. W., & Hwang, K. (2006). Toward sustainable consumption: Researching voluntary simplifiers. Psychology and Marketing, 23(6), 515–534. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20132.

Elgin, D., & Mitchell, A. (1977). Voluntary simplicity. CoEvolution Quarterly, 3, 2 Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313754669_Voluntary_Simplicity_in_Co-Evolution_Quarterly_1977. 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. 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 Keyes, C. L. M. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(2), 207–222. https://doi.org/10.2307/3090197. 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’.

Possessions before allowed me to be inauthentically something that was more socially acceptable, now my possessions are more an expression of who I consider to be my authentic self. (P8). 4.2 Competence Kasser, T. (2011). Can thrift bring well-being? A review of the research and a tentative theory. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(11), 865–877. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00396.x. Many participants identified the idea of saving ‘mental energy’ as a benefit of minimalism that promotes wellbeing. Participants reported this was due to having fewer choices to make and not pre-occupying the mind with trivial matters. 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. Kasser, T. (2009). Psychological need satisfaction, personal well-being, and ecological sustainability. Ecopsychology, 1(4), 175–180. https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2009.0025.People who engage in low-consumption lifestyles and behaviours such as voluntary simplicity, thrift, and pro-ecological behaviours tend to avoid excessive consumption and the acquisition of material possessions. As such, research regarding these lifestyles could provide useful insights for the current study. Participants were sought through purposeful sampling (Patton 1990) which enabled the researcher to find participants who met participation criteria of self-identifying with the term “minimalist” or identifying as living a minimalistic lifestyle. Participation was sought through social media groups relating to minimalism and through the primary researcher’s personal and professional networks. Sirgy, M. J. (1998). Materialism and quality of life. Social Indicators Research, 43(3), 227–260 Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27522311. On the other end of that, the customer. I had a fun debate with by best friend, who likes minimalism. He was saying "if you had to choose between a bank that looked minimalist, and a bank that looked like a cozy log cabin, who would you trust more with your money?" and tbh I still choose the log cabin man, they're still an officialize bank, being aesthetically boring doesn't make me any more or less comfortable - I can see the argument, but its just matter of tastes I guess. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.