Many people think they couldn’t live without their domestic appliances, recent research has shown.
A poll, by Direct Line Home Insurance, revealed that the 15 most essential items for modern day-to-day life are:
- The internet
- Showers and baths
- Televisions
- iPads, laptops and tablets
- Cars
- Smartphones and mobile phones
- Pet dogs and cats
- Washing machines
- Cups of tea
- Cups of coffee
- Kindles, eReaders and books
- Comfortable sofas and chairs
- Make-up
- Magazines and newspapers
- Chocolate
The study also found that almost half (48%) of people think they would go without seeing their family for longer than they could survive without the internet, while 12% said they believe they could go without food for longer than without social media webpages. Furthermore, 51% of people think they could survive without their friends for longer than they could without their phone.
Direct Line’s research also found that 13% of people think they couldn’t survive without their mobile phone for over an hour, with a similar proportion saying they couldn’t live without internet access for this long. Furthermore, 8% of people said they couldn’t go without the television for over 60 minutes, while 6% couldn’t last without social media for this long, and 5% need access to a music player at least once an hour.
Head of Direct Line Home Insurance Katie Lomas said that “essential” items vary from person to person, and are an “extremely personal choice”.
However, she noted that technology now “dominates” the average person’s list of vital daily comforts, possibly because of how “reliant” people are on digital connectivity.
Christine Webber, a health writer and psychotherapist, said she is pleased that the bath took second-place in the list of most-important items, saying that a soak in a fragrant, warm bathtub can improve most of life’s situations and worries to some extent.
Therefore, while Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs puts ‘self-actualisation’ at the top of the pyramid, Direct Line Home Insurance’s research has suggested that Wi-Fi could actually take its place, while ‘esteem’ could be usurped by the television and the shower.
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* Terms and conditions apply
