Spendingmoneyontime-savingservicesreducesstressandboosts(增进)happiness,accordingtonewresearch,butshockingly,fewofusdoit.
Whillans,aprofessoratHBS,said,“Buyingtimehelpstoprotectusfromthestressinourlivescausedbytimepressure,andthefeelingthatwedon‘thaveenoughminutesinthedaytocompleteourtasks.”
TheeffectwasclearestintheCanadianexperiment,inwhich60workingadultsweregiven$40tospendintwodifferentways.Oneweekend,theyweretoldtospendthemoneyonamaterialpurchase—agiftforthemselves.Thenextweekend,theywereinstructedtospendthe$40onanythingthatsavedthemtime,frompayingtheneighbour‘skidtorunerrands(跑腿)totakinganUberinsteadofabus.
“Onthedaytheymadethetime-savingpurchase,theyfelthappier,inabettermood,andhadlowerfeelingsoftimestressthanonthedaytheyboughtamaterialpurchase,”saidWhillans.
Thebiggestsurprisetotheresearcherswashowfewpeoplewouldspendmoneyontime-savingservices.Whentheyasked98workingadultshowtheywouldspenda“windfall”of$40,onlytwopercentnamedapurchasethatwouldsavethemtime.
“Onereason,”saidWhillans,“isthatwe‘reverybadatrememberinghowmuchwehatedoingcertaintasksoncethesufferinghaspassed.Thatmakesuslesslikelytotakeactivestepstoavoidthatoverburdenedfeelinginthefuture.”Butanotherpossiblecauseisgoodold-fashionedguilt.“Ifyoufeelguiltyaboutgettingsomeonetocleanyourhouseforyou,thenyoumightgetlesshappinessfromoutsourcing(外包)thattask,”saidWhillans,“oryoumightjustbelesslikelytospendyourmoneyinthatway.”
1.IntheCanadianexperiment,theparticipants .
A.weredividedintotwogroups
B.weregiven$40everytwoweeks
C.wereaskedtogivemoneytoaneighbour‘skid
D.wereaskedtospendthemoneyindifferentways
2.Accordingtotheauthor,whatcanmakepeoplelesstime-stressed?
A.Payingmuchforaconcertticket.
B.Takingaregularbustogettowork.
C.Employingsomeonetocleanthegarden.
D.Buyingthemselvesanexpensivepresent.
3.Whenitcomestospendingmoneyin“buyingtime”, .
A.nopeoplewouldliketodoit
B.asmallpercentageofpeoplechoosetodoit
C.morepeoplewilldoitifextramoneyisgiven
D.mostpeopleliketheideabutdon‘tpractiseitinlife
4.Whatdotheunderlinedwords“thatoverburdenedfeeling”inParagraph6referto?
A.Thegoodold-fashionedguilt.
B.Thefeelingofspendingmoneyongoods.
C.Thestressofhavingsomeonecleanyourhouse.
D.Thediscomfortwhencompletingtaskswehatedoing.
