花錢(qián)的藝術(shù) 聽(tīng)聽(tīng)心理學(xué)家的消費(fèi)建議吧

Money can’t buy happiness, right? Well, not true.According to a recent article in The Wall StreetJournal, over the past few years, new research hasgiven us a much deeper understanding of therelationship between what we earn and how we feel.The results may seem a bit obvious: Yes, peoplewith higher incomes are, broadly speaking, happierthan those who struggle to get by. But the researchalso shows you have to spend strategically if youexpect those bank notes to put a smile on your face.Here are some ways to better spend your money:

金錢(qián)真得買(mǎi)不到幸福么?也不盡然。最近，《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》的一篇文章就指出，在過(guò)去的幾年間，新的研究讓我們對(duì)掙錢(qián)多少與心理感受間的關(guān)系有了更深刻的認(rèn)識(shí)。研究結(jié)果有些顯而易見(jiàn)，一般而言，有錢(qián)人確實(shí)會(huì)比掙扎在溫飽線上的人更幸福。但是，研究也發(fā)現(xiàn)，合理消費(fèi)才能使你在買(mǎi)單時(shí)更快樂(lè)。下面就奉上一些消費(fèi)建議：

Buy experiences, not stuff.

相比實(shí)物，為體驗(yàn)買(mǎi)單。

In a recently published study, Ryan Howell, associate professor of psychology at San FranciscoState University in the US, found that when people don’t have much money to spare, theytend to stick to material goods.

美國(guó)舊金山州立大學(xué)的心理學(xué)副教授瑞安•豪威爾最近發(fā)表的一項(xiàng)研究顯示，當(dāng)人們沒(méi)有多余的錢(qián)可以支配時(shí)，總會(huì)選擇購(gòu)買(mǎi)物質(zhì)產(chǎn)品。

“People think that experiences are only going to provide temporary happiness,” he told TheWall Street Journal in an interview. “… but they actually provide both more happiness andmore lasting value.”

他在接受《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》的采訪時(shí)說(shuō)：“人們認(rèn)為體驗(yàn)只能帶來(lái)暫時(shí)的幸福感，但事實(shí)上它們不僅能帶來(lái)更大的幸福感，還具有更長(zhǎng)久的價(jià)值。”

 

 

Buy lots of little things, rather than one big thing.

相比大件，入手一些小東西。

No matter how much money you spend on something and how special that product is, you willget used to having it over time and it will become just another object. People adapt to havingnew stuff, and anything that disrupts that adaptation is likely to prolong happiness, says anAtlantic article. Buying small things can give us frequent small pleasures that are different eachtime they occur, as they forestall adaptation.

《大西洋月刊》的一篇文章則寫(xiě)到：不管你在付錢(qián)時(shí)所買(mǎi)之物多么昂貴或是與眾不同，隨著時(shí)間的推移它都會(huì)失去新意，成為一件普通物品。追求新鮮是人的本性，而任何可以打破習(xí)慣之物都能帶來(lái)更長(zhǎng)久的幸福感。買(mǎi)一些小物件則能在上一件物品失去新意之前，不斷帶給我們新的愉悅感。

Buy what you like.

為心儀之物買(mǎi)單。

No keeping up with the Joneses. “There are a lot of reasons someone might buy something …but if the reason is to maximize happiness, the best thing for that person to do is purchase alife experience that is in line with their personality,” Howell tells Forbes. Howell recently co-authored a study finding that when people spend money just to project a certain image, itdoesn’t bring happiness.

莫攀比!豪威爾在接受《福布斯》采訪時(shí)就說(shuō)，“讓人掏錢(qián)的理由有千千萬(wàn)，但要獲得最大的幸福感，就一定要為真正符合自己心意的人生體驗(yàn)買(mǎi)單。”他最近的一項(xiàng)合作研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果一個(gè)人只是為了塑造自己的某種形象而消費(fèi)，那么他將很難獲得幸福感。

Be sure to buy time, too.

時(shí)間也要算在內(nèi)。

It’s also important to consider how what you’re buying will affect how you spend your time. Forexample, that big house in the suburbs may seem like a good idea, but according to The WallStreet Journal, a 2004 study by researchers from University of Zurich in Switzerland found thatpeople with longer commutes reported lower overall life satisfaction, all other things beingequal.

考慮到你的消費(fèi)對(duì)自己時(shí)間的影響也很重要。比如，在郊區(qū)買(mǎi)一幢大房子也許是個(gè)不錯(cuò)的想法，但是據(jù)《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》報(bào)道，2004年瑞士蘇黎世大學(xué)研究人員進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)研究顯示，在同等條件下，通勤時(shí)間較長(zhǎng)的人整體生活幸福感較弱。

Try giving it away.

予人玫瑰，手留余香。

Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia inCanada, found that in countries as diverse as Canada, South Africa and Uganda, giving awaymoney consistently made people happier. This was even true when people were giving awayeven when they themselves were relatively poor.

來(lái)自加拿大的不列顛哥倫比亞大學(xué)的心理學(xué)副教授伊麗莎白•鄧恩則發(fā)現(xiàn)，不論在加拿大，還是在南非、烏干達(dá)等很多國(guó)家，時(shí)不時(shí)地向他人施舍錢(qián)財(cái)會(huì)讓人感覺(jué)更幸福。而這也同樣適用于并不富裕的人群，樂(lè)善好施也能為他們帶來(lái)幸福感。