||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BEING SAD CAN BE COSTLY
SCIENTIFIC BLOGGING - In a new study that links contemporary science
with the classic philosophy of William James, a research team finds that
people feeling sad and self-focused spend more money to acquire the same
commodities than those in a neutral emotional state. The team's paper,
"Misery is not Miserly: Sad and Self-Focused Individuals Spend More,"
will be published in the June edition of Psychological Science . . .
In the experiment, participants viewed either a sad video clip or one
devoid of human emotion. Afterward, participants could purchase an
ordinary commodity, such as a water bottle, at various prices.
Participants randomly assigned to the sad condition offered almost 300%
more money to buy the product than "neutral" participants. Notably,
participants in the sadness condition typically insist, incorrectly,
that the emotional content of the film clip did not carry over to affect
their spending.
Self-focus helps to explain the spending differences between the two
groups. Among participants "primed" to feel sad, those who were highly
self-focused paid more than those low in self-focus. Notably, sadness
tends to increase self-focus, making the increased spending prompted by
sadness difficult to avoid.
Why might a combination of sadness and self-focus lead people to spend
more money? First, sadness and self-focus cause one to devalue both
one's sense of self and one's current possessions. Second, this
devaluation increases a person's willingness to pay more for new
material goods, presumably to enhance sense of self.
http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_releases/
new_study_examines_why_sadness_increases_spending
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BEING SAD CAN BE COSTLY
SCIENTIFIC BLOGGING - In a new study that links contemporary science
with the classic philosophy of William James, a research team finds that
people feeling sad and self-focused spend more money to acquire the same
commodities than those in a neutral emotional state. The team's paper,
"Misery is not Miserly: Sad and Self-Focused Individuals Spend More,"
will be published in the June edition of Psychological Science . . .
In the experiment, participants viewed either a sad video clip or one
devoid of human emotion. Afterward, participants could purchase an
ordinary commodity, such as a water bottle, at various prices.
Participants randomly assigned to the sad condition offered almost 300%
more money to buy the product than "neutral" participants. Notably,
participants in the sadness condition typically insist, incorrectly,
that the emotional content of the film clip did not carry over to affect
their spending.
Self-focus helps to explain the spending differences between the two
groups. Among participants "primed" to feel sad, those who were highly
self-focused paid more than those low in self-focus. Notably, sadness
tends to increase self-focus, making the increased spending prompted by
sadness difficult to avoid.
Why might a combination of sadness and self-focus lead people to spend
more money? First, sadness and self-focus cause one to devalue both
one's sense of self and one's current possessions. Second, this
devaluation increases a person's willingness to pay more for new
material goods, presumably to enhance sense of self.
http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_releases/
new_study_examines_why_sadness_increases_spending
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No comments:
Post a Comment