Study: Sad, Self-absorbed Shoppers Spend More Money

Lies. Lies. All lies!!!

BOSTON -- If you’re sad and shopping, watch your wallet: A new study shows people’s spending judgment goes out the window when they’re down, especially if they’re a bit self-absorbed.

The new study released Friday by researchers from four universities goes further, trying to answer whether temporary sadness alone can trigger spendthrift tendencies.

The study found a willingness to spend freely by sad people occurs mainly when their sadness triggers greater “self-focus.” That response was measured by counting how frequently study participants used references to “I,” “me,” “my” and “myself” in writing an essay about how a sad situation such as the one portrayed in the video would affect them personally.

“This is a phenomenon that occurs without awareness,” Jennifer Lerner, a Harvard professor who studies emotion and decision making, said in a phone interview. “This is really different from the idea of retail therapy, where people are feeling negative and want to cheer themselves up by shopping. People have no idea this is going on.”

“At that point, cost isn’t usually a factor,” said Kalyn Johnson, of New York City-based Style by Kalyn Johnson. “They say, ’If I can have these wonderful shoes, I’ll look better, and feel better.’

“But on the back end, I’ve seen buyer’s remorse. This kicks in after they realize that new pair of shoes, or iPod, or whatever, didn’t make them feel better, and then there’s that sense of, ’Oh my God, why did I spend money on this?”’

By the way, I just bought a new camera. It's the Canon 40D. Yey! I feel better now!