When people are feeling negative, they want to cheer themselves up by shopping. People have no idea this is going on.

A new study shows people’s spending judgment goes out the window when they’re down, especially if they’re a bit self-absorbed. Study participants who watched a sadness-inducing video clip offered to pay nearly four times as much money to buy a water bottle than a group that watched an emotionally neutral clip.

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.”

The researchers concluded sadness can trigger a chain of emotions leading to extravagant tendencies. Sadness leads people to become more focused on themselves, causing the person to feel that they and their possessions are worth little. That feeling increases willingness to pay more — presumably to feel better about themselves.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 7:57 pm and is filed under Business Psychology, Consumer Rights, Money Savvy, News, People, Personal Finance, Studies and Surveys. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.