Better understanding the foundations of sufficiency in consumption: the role of religiosity[Mieux comprendre les fondements de la sobriété dans la consommation : le rôle de la religiosité]

While sufficiency is attracting renewed interest in the context of the ecological transition, its roots lie in the religious traditions. The literature shows that an individual's religiosity encourages sufficiency in consumption. However, our understanding of the mechanisms through which this link operates remains patchy, in particular because the literature emphasises the role of the moral dimension of religion without considering how individuals appropriate and live their religion in all its components. Based on guided introspections collected from 20 practising Catholics, our research reveals five mechanisms through which religiosity promotes sufficiency in consumption. We show how religiosity acts as a substitute for consumption to construct the self and to cope with uncertainty. This work enriches the literature on sufficiency in consumption by inviting further exploration of the links between different forms of spirituality (institutionalised or not) and sufficiency.