Psychologists have been saying for years that shared experiences like vacations lead to more long-term happiness than the latest bauble. And perhaps the change was inevitable  to be expected when a shopping-spree nation trades a glut of credit for layoffs and furloughs.

“Part of it is cyclical,” said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics for Moody’s Economy.com. “They have less money, so they’ll spend less time and money shopping, whether they want to or not.”

Still, the New York Times/CBS News poll  a telephone survey of 855 adults, conducted Nov. 6 to Nov. 8, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points  found that the shift spanned income brackets. And in interviews, many Americans described motives beyond pure economic necessity.

Barbara Koricanek, 73, a retired nurse in rural Texas, said she cut back on shopping after a recent mission trip to Nicaragua made her realize that “we don’t need half of what we got.” Over the past few months, Ms. Koricanek has started purging her closets and baking bread from scratch, partly because it tastes better, she said, partly to become more independent.

“We cannot rely on money and the banking system and government to come up with all the answers,” she said. “People years ago were more self-reliant and were more able to take hold of the reins and do things themselves. I think we need to get back some of those basics.”

Many young people, experiencing their first economic downturn, are also making different choices. Megan Stallings, 25, an investment analyst in Raleigh, N.C., said she first learned to value experiences while studying abroad in college, when the dollar was weak and trips brought her better memories than souvenirs. Now, she said, she spaces out her shopping trips to preserve time for activities. She has even studied how stores organize displays to make people buy more than they need.