True Minimalism vs. Fake Minimalism: Does Owning Less Actually Lead to More?

If you have been following trends over the last few years, you might have seen that minimalism is popping up everywhere. From TikTok “day in the life” videos to influencers on Instagram posting spotless, colorless apartments. Minimalism seems and sounds very simple. You own less but are able to live a fuller life, but like a lot of trends, the truth is not what is seen on the internet. What started as a way to live more intentionally has become another consumer lifestyle, where people buy expensive “minimalist” chairs just to show off how little they own or buy a “minimalist” t-shirt to show everyone that they live a minimalist lifestyle. For my final project, I wanted to dig deeper into the idea of minimalism. What is true minimalism supposed to be? What does the research actually say about whether it has a positive influence on people's mental health? And why do so many people fail at it? I found that real minimalism is focused on clearing space for the things that matter in your life, and it is genuinely backed by science. Fake minimalism though, the kind you post for likes, misses the true point entirely.

At its core, minimalism is not about living in an empty apartment or owning 20 identical beige outfits. It is about making more room mentally and physically, for the people, passions, and experiences that matter most to you. Ancient Greece philosophers like Diogenes, understood this better than anyone. Diogenes rejected wealth and status, living with basically nothing because he believed freedom came from needing less. Fast forward to today, and you have thinkers like Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus (known as The Minimalists) preaching the same idea: “Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important” (The Minimalists). True minimalism is about cutting out the noise, not showing off how little you own. The main problem is that once social media and companies got ahold of the concept, minimalism started getting warped. “Fake minimalism” is everywhere now, it is when someone throws out all their clothes just to replace them with trendy neutral-tone outfits, or how influencers show off “decluttered” apartments filled with $10,000 worth of designer furniture. It is less about living meaningfully and more about creating an aesthetic for views. Ironically, fake minimalism actually leads to more consumerism. Buying minimalist products does not mean you are living intentionally and like a true minimalist. As The Minimalists say (Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus), “Love people, use things. The opposite never works.” Buying more stuff to seem like you have less misses the entire point of minimalism.

When I really started diving deep into research on this topic, I found that real minimalism, when people actually embrace it for the right reasons, has some serious science behind it and its positive effects.One of the biggest studies came from UCLA’s Center on Everyday Lives of Families (CELF). Researchers spent months documenting the lives of 32 middle-class families, they took photographs and recorded every item in their homes. They found the average American household had over 300,000 individual items (Saxbe and Repetti). More importantly, homes with more clutter were directly tied to higher cortisol levels which is the hormone your body produces when you are stressed. Moms, especially, showed elevated cortisol all day long when living in high-clutter environments. The more physical clutter you have, the more chronic stress you carry around.

Another really eye-opening study came from Cal Newport, who researched the idea of digital minimalism. In his 2020 book Digital Minimalism, Newport organized a “digital declutter” experiment where thousands of people gave up optional technologies (social media, gaming, endless online browsing) for 30 days. Afterwards, participants said they felt calmer, more focused, and even felt more connected to real life. About 75% of them made long-term changes to their habits according to Newport. What is the main takeaway? Minimalism is not just about physical stuff anymore. It is also about clearing digital clutter too, something that is just as draining and distracting and a major part of our generation's everyday life. Another research study that was very interesting was Helga Dittmar’s 2022 meta-analysis. This research added even more evidence to the impact of minimalism. Helga Dittmar reviewed over 25 studies and found a clear pattern. Dittmar found that people who are materialistic, meaning they constantly crave and chase new stuff, consistently report lower life satisfaction, higher anxiety, and lower self-esteem. Basically, the more you define your happiness by what you own, the less happy you actually are. This is one of the clearest arguments for why minimalism can help. Minimalism can flip that whole mindset around. A 2019 study in The Journal of Positive Psychology looked specifically at minimalists themselves. Researchers surveyed over 1,000 self-identified minimalists and found that 68% reported higher life satisfaction after they adopted a minimalist lifestyle (Minimalism and Well-Being). These people also reported feeling more purposeful and less anxious in their daily life. What is important about this study is that it was not based on theory, it was based on real people living with less and actually feeling better because of it.

If minimalism works so well, why do so many people fail at it? For one, modern consumer culture is built to make us think happiness is always just one more purchase away. Being able to own expensive clothes, cars, jewelry, and furniture is supposed to make you happy. Even so-called minimalist branding pushes us to buy “minimalist” versions of everything. Social media makes it worse. It is not enough to live intentionally, now you have to post your curated, perfectly staged life to get validation from your friends, family, or just random people who are viewing your profile. Another reason people struggle is because minimalism requires confronting emotional attachments, letting go of things tied to memories, identity, or “what if” fears. That is not an easy task to do. True minimalism demands way more than a clean closet, it demands a whole mindset shift which is why so many struggle to adopt a minimalist lifestyle. I will be honest, when I first tried to live more minimally, I thought it would be very simple. I thought that cleaning out my closet and decluttering my space would be simple, and easy. I quickly realized it was about way more than that. It was not until I cut back not just on physical clutter but also on digital noise, I started to unsubscribe from junk emails, limiting my phone time, deleting social media applications like Instagram, snapchat, and overall just cutting out mindless distraction. This is when I really started to feel that stress, and anxiety leave my body while peace enters it. I am not perfect though, I still sometimes buy stuff I do not need such as new sneakers or clothing. Overall though, my mental energy feels so much less drained. I have more time on my hands  for what matters most, which is my  relationships, goals, and anything that genuinely brings a smile to my face. It is not about doing minimalism perfectly,  but more so about aiming to live with more purpose and less noise.

In conclusion, minimalism is not just a cute lifestyle trend. Minimalism is a real antitoxin to the constant overwhelm most people feel in a world about consumerism and impressing those around you. The research backs this up. Clutter increases stress, Materialism decreases happiness, but simplicity and intentional living improve mental and emotional health. Minimalism matters because it is not just about owning less stuff but it is about living more fully. It is about creating freedom within your life. Releasing the feelings of comparison, anxiety, and mindless consumption. Real minimalism is about using your time, space, and energy for what really matters. And when you live that way, you do not just have less but you have a whole lot more.

Works Cited

Dittmar, Helga. Materialistic Values and Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis. Routledge, 2022.

Newport, Cal. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Portfolio, 2020.

Saxbe, Darby E., and Rena L. Repetti. “No Place Like Home: Home Tours Correlate With Daily Patterns of Mood and Cortisol.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 36, no. 1, 2010, pp. 71–81.

“The Minimalists.” The Minimalists, 2023, www.theminimalists.com.

“Minimalism and Well-Being: An Exploratory Study.” The Journal of Positive Psychology, vol. 14, no. 5, 2019, pp. 576–585.