别在下班后购物，下班后购物智商媲美脑残

My first job in Manhattan was on Fifth Avenue. How lucky I was, I thought, to be in the center of this dream city. Most of all, though, I loved the clothing shops. All I had to do was wrap up the day’s work and step outside, and everything was there. J. Crew, Anthropologie, Loft, Banana Republic ...It’s hard to resist those glitzy displays showing off an array of drapery wool coats perfect for mid fall, dresses to match any personality you’re in the mood to show, and cute socks with fox faces printed on them ― especially when the clothes are super affordable, as they are at so many hip retailers these days. I found myself buying too many clothes all at once, and I wasn’t the only one: Americans as a whole tend to overshop.

我的第一份工作地点是在曼哈顿的第五大道。我当时想，我是多么幸运，能够在这个梦想城市的正中心工作。最重要的是，我喜欢服装店。我只要搞定一天的工作然后走出办公楼，就可以各种逛，到处都是J. Crew, Anthropologie, Loft, Banana Republic, 闪闪发亮的展品一排排地陈列在那，垂坠的毛衣对那深秋的季节可谓完美，任何个性、任何心情都能找到合适的衣服来搭配，还有印有狐狸脸图案的可爱袜子，这一切都让人难以抗拒——更何况他们的价格还那么亲民，就像现在很多的服装零售商里那样。我发现我每次一下就会买很多，而且不仅仅只有我一个，整个美国都有这种“买太多”的倾向！

There are many reasons why we buy too much clothing, and affordable pricing is one. But new research also points to other factors that can sneakily influence our shopping behaviors ― and we actually have more control over those causes.Neuroscience research shows that being mentally fatigued can make you an impulsive shopper. Just a day at work can burn out our limited resources of self-control, and nearly turn off the brain areas in charge of evaluating decisions. In other words, the person who walks out of the office and into the shops downstairs is simply not your best version of yourself, and probably shouldn’t be making decisions involving money and future planning.

为什么我们会买这么多衣服，有很多的原因，价格合理是其中一个。但是有新研究表明，有其他的因素潜移默化地影响我们的购买行为，而且事实上我们对这些因素有更多的控制权。神经学研究表明，当我们的大脑疲劳的时候，我们更加容易变成一个冲动消费者。一天的工作就能消耗掉我们那有限的自我控制，管理决策的那部分大脑几乎停止工作。换句话说，那个离开办公室进入楼下商店逛街的人，并不是你最靠谱的一面，最好不要让他做和钱有关的决策或是制定未来的计划。

A team of researchers recently set up a situation in the lab resembling the everyday experience of consumers, in order to examine the effects of normal daily fatigue on making decisions that require some degree of self-control. The researchers wanted to see what fatigue does to the decision-evaluating part of the brain, that wise judge inside your head that says no to beer with friends so you can save money for a bike.

有一组研究人员最近在实验室发起一个的实验，情景模拟消费者的日常体验，旨在研究每天工作后的疲劳对于你大脑的决策评估区块有何影响；就是这个区块负责让你为了省钱买一辆自行车而拒绝和朋友一起出去喝啤酒。

“The neural bases of how we make the decision between consuming and saving are somewhat known,” said neuroscientist Bastien Blain, author of the study published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences in June. “For example, to make a decision between an immediate monetary reward, say, $10 now, and a bigger but delayed one, say, $100 in one year, requires the brain to attribute a value to each option. If we temporarily inhibit a particular brain area, people become more likely to choose the immediate reward option.”

“我们做出消费还是储蓄的选择时所仰赖的神经基础已经部分被知晓了，”在今年六月，在美国国家科学院院刊上发表过著作的Bastien Blain说。“举个例子，是要一份立马到手的10美元，还是要一份1年之后到手的100美元？若要做这个决定，你的大脑首先得为两个选项给定一个价值。如果我们暂时抑制大脑的某个特定区域，人们则更倾向于选择立刻拿到现金。

In Blain’s study, people didn’t show ego depletion after 15 minutes of heavy cognitive work, so the team decided to go beyond the usual short time frame used in similar studies and instead mimic a typical workday. The participants who performed the difficult version of the tasks became more impulsive by the end of the day. The group that performed easy versions of the tasks or enjoyed some breaks during the six-hour episode didn’t show increased impulsivity.

在Blain的研究中，人们在15分钟的高强度认知工作以后，没有出现自我意识耗损的现象。于是小组决定不限于短时间的框架，而是模拟一个典型的工作日时间。那些从事有难度工作的参与者，在一天结束的时候表现的更加冲动。那些从事简单工作或是在6小时工作间隙有休息的参与者则没有冲动表现。

“Our findings demonstrate a concept of focused neural fatigue that might be naturally induced in real-life situations and have important repercussions on economic decisions,” the researchers wrote in their paper.

“我们的研究表明，神经的疲劳会自然而然影响我们实际生活中的情景，对我们经济决策有着重要的影响。”研究者们在他们的论文中写道。

Back at my first job, situated strategically in the center of a shoppers’ haven, I was exposed to the lure of beautiful pieces of clothing every single day. Even on a shoestring budget of an intern, I was always able to afford a cute top or a stylish pair of shoes — and that was thanks to the glut of cheap, trendy clothes that retailers churn out at a breakneck pace.

再来讲我的第一份工作，那么有战略意识地正好就在那购物者港湾的中心，我每天赤裸裸的受到那些漂亮衣服的引诱。即使是实习生那么少的工资，也买得起一件心仪的上衣或是一双款式应景的鞋子，这一切都要归功于零售商以极快的速度生产这些又便宜又潮的衣服。

I asked Blain whether his findings have made him change his own behaviors. "Yes, definitely," he said. “Now I always wait for the morning or the weekend to make purchasing decisions. I also try to resist an impulse after a day of work, thinking that my desire is purely transient and will be different after a night of rest."There is some relief in learning that some of our regretful purchasing decisions may have been caused by unavoidable mental fatigue, and not a fundamental personality flaw.

我问Blain，他的这些研究结果对他自己的购买行为有没有产生影响。他回答说：“当然啦，我现在总是等到早上或者周末的时候再做购买决定。我尽量克制工作一天之后的消费冲动，我会想：这些欲望纯粹是暂时的，等睡一觉之后我的感觉就不一样了。”通过研究，我了解到很多让我们感到后悔的消费决策，是因为不可避免的大脑疲劳，而不是本质上的人格缺陷。这多少让我松了一口气。

And the solution seems pretty simple. Take breaks during the workday to avoid the accumulation of fatigue. Or, like Blain, just don’t shop right after work and wait for the weekend or mornings instead. Always try to wait a few days to check whether the desire to buy something is fleeting ― is your decision based on your particular state of mind or is it objectively a good idea? When feeling an impulse to buy something, remember that you ― and your brain ― really may need to sleep on it.

而且应对这种状态的解决方案似乎也相当的简单。在工作的时候尽量多休息，以免疲劳累积。或者，就像Blain一样，不要在工作后购物，等到周末或者早上。总是过几天以后，看看自己想要某个东西愿望是不是没有那么强烈了——来检验你的决策只到底是大脑在某个生理状态下的反应还是一个货真价实的好主意？当你感觉要冲动消费的时候，要让你和你的大脑要好好休息，第二天早上再作决定。

Mental fatigue is still only one factor behind a mindless shopping episode. Blain’s study showed that after a six-hour task, people became just 10 percent more impulsive. Obviously there are many more variables constantly influencing how we decide to buy. Mood is one. It’s been shown that listening to pleasant music increases the normal activity of the brain areas involved in valuation, and therefore makes the brain more likely to like what it subsequently sees.

精神疲劳只是造成盲目购物的因素之一。Blain的研究说明，在六小时的工作以后，人们冲动消费的概率仅仅上升10%。很显然还有很多动因持续影响着我们怎样决定去买。心情是其中一个。研究显示听令人愉悦的音乐能够让大脑的做评估的区域回复正常活动，因此让大脑变得更容易喜欢你马上看到的东西，（就可以做正确的评估）。