時尚雙語:經濟低迷女性更易購物上癮

【英文原文】

In Recession, Women Splurge as if Addicted

摘要：也許大部分人都覺得不足爲奇：女性在經濟危機時期反而比平時更愛購物了。

This may come as little surprise to most people: In times of crisis, women are more likely to take a shopping spree 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 taken a hit. A full 75 percent said they would be making cutbacks.

Yet 79 percent of them said they would splurge 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 itch 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 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.

【中文譯文】

也許大部分人都覺得不足爲奇：女性在經濟危機時期反而比平時更愛購物了。

一項最新調查顯示，近半數英國女性對經濟危機感到害怕或驚恐，45%的受訪女性認爲經濟狀況嚴重惡化。另外足有75%的受訪者稱將縮減開支。

而79%的受訪女性表示，她們將瘋狂購物以便換個好心情。

在參與調查的700位女性中，40%的人稱壓抑是瘋狂購物的藉口，60%的人稱“感到有些低落”是一個充分理由。

赫特福德大學教授、《女性經濟議題》一書的作者凱倫·派恩說：“這種消費類型，或稱爲補償性消費，可以調節緊張的情緒。”

不管是出於純粹的物慾還是爲了調節情緒，人們早已瞭解到有些人的購物慾望是無法剋制的。很多研究人員認爲這相當於上癮，一些人認爲在現代消費社會中這一問題愈加明顯。

並非只有女性受此困擾。2006年美國開展的一項調查表明，6%的女性是“購物狂”，她們被稱爲“強迫購買者”，但有5.5%的男性也是如此。

派恩表示，在經濟衰退時期這種補償購買行爲會更加明顯。他解釋道，人們同樣還會吸毒或者酗酒來調節情緒，但她認爲越來越多的女性以購物來調節情緒狀態。而矛盾的是，越擔心沒錢，女性花得就越多。

派恩教授說：“如果購物是女性的一種情感習慣，那麼就算有經濟危機，她們還會覺得應該繼續消費。或者更糟的是，如果她們不能消費了，那麼焦慮和壓抑等精神健康問題有可能激增。”

而問題在於瘋狂購物並不一定能達到預期效果。

大約25%的受訪女性稱，調查前一週的瘋狂購物令她們感到後悔、內疚或者羞愧。

派恩稱，這和很多其它上癮行爲的後果類似。

【詞彙講解】

1. shopping spree 大血拼!

Some credit companies kept on sending me blank was like saying “Go on a shopping spree.”
一些信用公司不斷寄來空白支票，好像在告訴我“瘋狂購物去吧！”

2. recession n.經濟衰退；不景氣

Many businesses have closed down because of the recession.
因經濟衰退許多企業紛紛倒閉。

3. splurge vt. & vi. 亂花(錢)；糟蹋(錢)；揮霍

Let's splurge on a fried chicken for one time.
我們就奢侈一次買只炸雞吧。

4. consumption n. 消費，消耗；消費[耗]量

But the consumption even of productive labourers is not all of it productive consumption.
但即令是生產性勞動者的消費也不全是生產性消費。

5. materialism 物質主義

6. label vt.貼標籤於；把……列爲

The doctor labeled the bottle.
那位醫生給瓶子貼上了標籤。

He labeled the boastful man a liar.
他把那個好自誇的男人稱作說謊者。

7. paradoxically ad. 反論；自相矛盾

Paradoxically, it's their parents who make up a big percentage of the buyers.
相反，倒是他們的父母構成了買房人的大多數。

8. addiction 成癮；沉溺；癖好

Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction, poverty and murder.
販賣毒品的地區往往是吸毒上癮、貧困和發生謀殺的地方。

【語法和句型】

1. Yet 79 percent of them said they would splurge to cheer themselves up.
而79%的受訪女性表示，她們將瘋狂購物以便換個好心情。

cheer up 表示“ (使)高興起來， (使)振作起來”，例如：

Cheer up! It can't be as bad as all that.
振作起來!情況不會那麼糟。

When I get despondent my roommate cheer me up.
當我沮喪時，我的同室室友給我鼓勁。

2. Of the 700 women surveyed, 40 percent said depression was an excuse to overspend
在參與調查的700位女性中，40%的人稱壓抑是瘋狂購物的藉口

an excuse to表示“ ……的藉口”，例如：

He seemed to be groping around for an excuse to leave.
他似乎在找離去的藉口。

3. The problem is likely not confined to women.
並非只有女性受此困擾。

confined to 侷限於

Confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle
只有在有知識的內部圈子裏才能被理解。