It has long been hailed as the ultimate way to let off steam by some members of the fairer sex. Now, U.S. scientists have discovered that not only does retail therapy exist, but that it could be caused by an individual's fear of sudden death. Researchers found materialistic people find terrorism and war more stressful than others - and are more likely to spend compulsively to help them cope. Psychologists believe the rise of materialism around the world and its therapeutic effect on extreme stress might be a response to fear of death caused by acts of terrorism, disease and natural disasters. The scientists from Michigan State University said people with possession obsessions often have lower self-esteem than others so are more likely splurge in the wake of severe psychological trauma. Ayalla Ruvio, a business professor who studied people's shopping habits while rockets fell in Israel, said: 'When the going gets tough, the materialistic go shopping. 'And this compulsive and impulsive spending is likely to produce even greater stress and lower well-being. Essentially, materialism appears to make bad events even worse.' Dr Ruvio led a two-part study of Israeli citizens living in a town that came under extreme rocket attacks for about six months in 2007. She compared 139 residents of the southern town with 170 from another town that was not under attack to see how their symptoms of post-traumatic stress and shopping habits varied. Along with researchers from the University of Haifa in Israel and the University of Illinois, Dr Ruvio analysed the psychological condition of the two groups. The psychologists found that, when faced with a mortal threat, those who where highly materialistic suffered much higher levels of post-traumatic stress, while their tendency to buy impulsively and compulsively was increased. Dr Ruvio said: 'The relationship between materialism and stress may be more harmful than commonly thought.' The second stage of their research, which was published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, surveyed 855 Americans about their materialistic nature and fear of death. They found that shopping was used to relieve feelings of stress and anxiety about death among more materialistic people, but this was in response to fear of a variety of life-threatening events like car accidents, criminal attacks and natural disasters. |
女性喜歡通過(guò)購(gòu)物緩解壓力。據(jù)英國(guó)《每日郵報(bào)》報(bào)道,科研人員發(fā)現(xiàn),購(gòu)物有助于應(yīng)對(duì)心理壓力,緩解對(duì)死亡的恐懼,并且和物質(zhì)主義思想有關(guān)聯(lián)。 研究發(fā)現(xiàn),面對(duì)致命威脅,那些具有極高的物質(zhì)欲望的人會(huì)遭受更大程度的創(chuàng)傷后壓力,強(qiáng)迫性沖動(dòng)購(gòu)物的傾向也增強(qiáng)了。 2007年,以色列一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)遭遇了長(zhǎng)達(dá)6個(gè)月的火箭彈襲擊??蒲腥藛T用鎮(zhèn)上137名居民進(jìn)和另一個(gè)沒(méi)有遭遇襲擊的小鎮(zhèn)上170位居民進(jìn)行對(duì)比,分析人們戰(zhàn)后壓力和購(gòu)物習(xí)慣的變化。 項(xiàng)目帶頭人阿亞拉?魯維奧博士說(shuō):“當(dāng)形勢(shì)變得糟糕時(shí),物質(zhì)主義者就會(huì)去購(gòu)物。而這種強(qiáng)迫性沖動(dòng)消費(fèi)可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生更大壓力,并降低幸福感。從本質(zhì)上說(shuō),物質(zhì)主義者會(huì)讓本來(lái)已經(jīng)糟糕的事變得更糟?!?/p> 在研究的第二階段,該團(tuán)隊(duì)調(diào)查了855名美國(guó)人,分析他們的物質(zhì)主義天性和對(duì)死亡恐懼。研究發(fā)現(xiàn),大多數(shù)物質(zhì)主義者用購(gòu)物緩解壓力和對(duì)死亡的恐懼。魯維奧說(shuō):“物質(zhì)主義和壓力之間的關(guān)系甚至比我們想象的更加有害?!?/p> 科研人員分別來(lái)自密歇根州立大學(xué)、以色列海法大學(xué)和美國(guó)伊利諾伊大學(xué)。 相關(guān)閱讀 美容業(yè)“針頭風(fēng)險(xiǎn)”日益嚴(yán)重 英國(guó)擬修改指導(dǎo)方針 FBI前特工承認(rèn)向美聯(lián)社記者泄密 面臨12年監(jiān)禁 美流浪漢上交中國(guó)學(xué)生遺失巨款 獲捐款數(shù)萬(wàn)美元 好奇號(hào)在火星未發(fā)現(xiàn)甲烷 暫無(wú)生命跡象 (譯者 yuanlu 編輯 嚴(yán)玉潔) |