花錢的藝術(shù)

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

金錢真得買不到幸福么?也不盡然。最近，《華爾街日報》的一篇文章就指出，在過去的幾年間，新的研究讓我們對掙錢多少與心理感受間的關(guān)系有了更深刻的認識。研究結(jié)果有些顯而易見，一般而言，有錢人確實會比掙扎在溫飽線上的人更幸福。但是，研究也發(fā)現(xiàn)，合理消費才能使你在買單時更快樂。下面就奉上一些消費建議：

Buy experiences, not stuff.

相比實物，為體驗買單。

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

美國舊金山州立大學的心理學副教授瑞安•豪威爾最近發(fā)表的一項研究顯示，當人們沒有多余的錢可以支配時，總會選擇購買物質(zhì)產(chǎn)品。

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

他在接受《華爾街日報》的采訪時說：“人們認為體驗只能帶來暫時的幸福感，但事實上它們不僅能帶來更大的幸福感，還具有更長久的價值。”

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 will get used to having it over time and it will become just another object. People adapt to having new stuff, and anything that disrupts that adaptation is likely to prolong happiness, says an Atlantic article. Buying small things can give us frequent small pleasures that are different each time they occur, as they forestalladaptation.

《大西洋月刊》的一篇文章則寫到：不管你在付錢時所買之物多么昂貴或是與眾不同，隨著時間的推移它都會失去新意，成為一件普通物品。追求新鮮是人的本性，而任何可以打破習慣之物都能帶來更長久的幸福感。買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 a life 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, it doesn’t bring happiness.

莫攀比!豪威爾在接受《福布斯》采訪時就說，“讓人掏錢的理由有千千萬，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買單。”他最近的一項合作研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果一個人只是為了塑造自己的某種形象而消費，那么他將很難獲得幸福感。

Be sure to buy time, too.

時間也要算在內(nèi)。

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

考慮到你的消費對自己時間的影響也很重要。比如，在郊區(qū)買一幢大房子也許是個不錯的想法，但是據(jù)《華爾街日報》報道，2004年瑞士蘇黎世大學研究人員進行的一項研究顯示，在同等條件下，通勤時間較長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 in Canada, found that in countries as diverse as Canada, South Africa and Uganda, giving away money consistently made people happier. This was even true when people were giving away even when they themselves were relatively poor.

來自加拿大的不列顛哥倫比亞大學的心理學副教授伊麗莎白•鄧恩則發(fā)現(xiàn)，不論在加拿大，還是在南非、烏干達等很多國家，時不時地向他人施舍錢財會讓人感覺更幸福。而這也同樣適用于并不富裕的人群，樂善好施也能為他們帶來幸福感。