Following this line of thought, if one considered the elements in our “leisure” category to reflect primarily “status” goods, then one could equally well conclude from our results that spending on status goods increases happiness in part through its effect on perceived connectedness. One might simply perceive a stronger sense of belonging or fitting in with the acquisition of status goods if, for example, such an acquisition makes one more similar to one’s reference group in terms of material purchases. In other words, “keeping up with the Joneses” might make a person feel more like “one of the Joneses” and hence less lonely and this might ultimately make him happier even if he never actually interacts with the Joneses. This idea corresponds to Layard’s (2005) contention that happiness is affected by an assessment of one’s own situation relative to one’s peers, but it also illuminates some of the psychological channels that might operate when individuals make such assessments.