经济低迷女性反而更易购物上瘾.doc

经济低迷 女性反而更易购物上瘾In Recession, Women Splurge as if Addicted[ 2009-05-22 17:11 ]This may come as little surprise to most people: In times of crisis, women are more likely to take a shopping spreespree than in normal times.A new survey finds almost half of UK women are frightened or scared by the recession, and 45 percent felt their financial situation had takentaken a a hithit. A full 75 percent said they would be making cutbacks.Yet 79 percent of them said they would splurgesplurge to cheer themselves up.Of the 700 women surveyed, 40 percent said depression was an excuse to overspend; 60 percent said “feeling a bit low“ was a good enough reason.“This type of spending, or compensatory consumption, serves as a way of regulating intense emotions,“ said Karen Pine, a University of Hertfordshire professor and author of “Sheconomics“ .The itchitch to shop has long been known to overwhelm some people, either because of simple materialism or to compensate for emotional problems. Many researchers liken it to addiction, and some think it has been a growing problem in the modern consumerism society.The problem is likely not confined to women. A 2006 study in the United States found 6 percent of women have it so bad they are labeled compulsive buyers, but so are 5.5 percent of men.Pine says this compensatory behavior 也许大部分人都觉得不足为 奇：女性在经济危机时期反 而比平时更爱购物了。

一项最新调查显示，近半数 英国女性对经济危机感到害 怕或惊恐，45%的受访女性 认为经济状况严重恶化另 外足有 75%的受访者称将缩 减开支而 79%的受访女性表示，她 们将疯狂购物以便换个好心 情在参与调查的 700 位女性中， 40%的人称压抑是疯狂购物 的借口，60%的人称“感到 有些低落”是一个充分理由赫特福德大学教授、《女性 经济议题》一书的作者凯伦 •派恩说：“这种消费类型， 或称为补偿性消费，可以调 节紧张的情绪不管是出于纯粹的物欲还是 为了调节情绪，人们早已了 解到有些人的购物欲望是无 法克制的很多研究人员认 为这相当于上瘾，一些人认 为在现代消费社会中这一问 题愈加明显并非只有女性受此困扰 2006 年美国开展的一项调查 表明，6%的女性是“购物狂” ，她们被称为“强迫购买者” ，但有 5.5%的男性也是如此could become more pronounced in a recession. People use drugs and alcohol similarly to regulate emotions, Pine explains, but she thinks shopping is increasingly employed by women for this purpose. And, paradoxically, worrying about money could lead women to spend more, she said.“If shopping is an emotional habit for women they may feel the need to keep spending despite the economic downturn,“ said Professor Pine. “Or, perhaps worse still, if they can't spend we might see an increase in mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.“Problem is, the splurges don't always have the intended effect.About 25 percent of the women surveyed said shopping sprees in the week prior to being surveyed left them with feelings of regret, guilt or shame.Sounds a lot like other addictions, Pine said.Vocabulary:spreespree：a period, spell, or bout of indulgence, as of a particular wish, craving, or whim（无节制的狂热行为）taketake a a hithit：：遭受重创splurgesplurge：to spend (money) lavishly or ostentatiously（挥霍）itchitch：to have a desire to do or get something（渴望）派恩表示，在经济衰退时期 这种补偿购买行为会更加明 显。

他解释道，人们同样还 会吸毒或者酗酒来调节情绪， 但她认为越来越多的女性以 购物来调节情绪状态而矛 盾的是，越担心没钱，女性 花得就越多派恩教授说：“如果购物是 女性的一种情感习惯，那么 就算有经济危机，她们还会 觉得应该继续消费或者更 糟的是，如果她们不能消费 了，那么焦虑和压抑等精神 健康问题有可能激增而问题在于疯狂购物并不一 定能达到预期效果大约 25%的受访女性称，调 查前一周的疯狂购物令她们 感到后悔、内疚或者羞愧派恩称，这和很多其它上瘾 行为的后果类似相关阅读经济危机难挡新加坡人爱美之心经济危机致恐慌蔓延 美专家建议心理治疗经济危机 谨防诈骗趁虚而入lipstick effect 口红效应shopaholic: 购物狂。