An old cliché says time is money. A newer cliché, from Oliver Stone, says money never sleeps — which is essentially the same assessment as the older one. But why are we pretending there's a contest here? We like what money can buy, but virtually all the research on what makes people happy shows that time matters more than money — not only in the long term but also in the short term. Now a new study shows that time matters more than money even when you live below the poverty line.
' a9 a; p z0 H 一句旧的陈词说时间就是金钱。而Oliver Stone所说的新的迂腐的话金钱永不眠——这本质上跟那句旧话评价一样。但是为什么我们总假装其中有争议呢?我们喜欢钱能买东西,但事实上,所有有关什么让人高兴的研究表明,时间比金钱更重要——不仅从长远而且从短期看来。如今一项新的研究表明即使你生活水平非常地下,时间也比金钱更重要。
% B3 L0 ~: l7 t& K* Z4 ?( C0 _7 w3 u The new paper, which was published by the Association for Psychological Science and written by a young Wharton School instructor, Cassie Mogilner, begins by reminding us that older studies have found a weak relationship between wealth and happiness.7 K7 h! J- Z2 @# t
由沃尔顿商学院一个年轻的教师Cassie Mogilner所写并发表在《心理科学协会》的新论文一开始提醒我们,以往的研究发现财富与幸福之间没有多大关系。+ C! o/ P1 n& W1 K5 j
Then Mogilner notes that although Europe consistently performs worse economically than the U.S., the E.U. consistently performs better in surveys on happiness.8 `" p# U) [, h2 }5 _8 h8 Q
Mogilner指出,尽管欧洲经济状况一贯比美国差,但是欧盟的幸福调查向来都比美国好。" Q6 a7 R1 K' j
As Mogilner writes:+ o* d& C3 N4 V7 u
就如Mogilner所写:
! [7 E* ]" I5 L' v$ ]. I "Work is necessary to pay the bill and contributes to an individual's sense of productivity and self-esteem, but the number of hours Americans spend working frequently exceeds that required to provide these benefits."8 [: j, L! e( `3 ?4 ]/ _1 {
“要付账就必定要工作,而且工作有助于个人的生产力和自尊感,但是美国人的工作时间经常超过所需提供这些好处的时间。”
4 A! z4 E; X4 n6 Q" Q Money is all about utility: it is survival. But time is about emotional investment. In psychological studies of why people donate to charity, the mere mention of money makes people less likely to help. If you ask people to donate time, they may not do it — but they don't become more stingy.
6 Y( H+ J+ y' v0 j5 G) ]9 Q 金钱是非常有用的:它是活的。但时间是精神的投资。关于为什么人们向慈善基金捐款所进行的心理研究发现,仅仅提及金钱使人更不愿意去帮忙。如果你让人们捐出时间,他们做不到——但并不说明他们更小气。" u7 d1 r* U. F
Mogilner found that these same findings held among a population of 76 people who met the 2009 definition for poverty set by the federal government. Which is remarkable: if you qualify for the federal definition of poverty, you almost certainly worry about making sure your family can eat every day. But even then, most people time to be more valuable than money.5 {0 _7 q/ k9 ?' y8 z8 J0 _) T3 }
Mogilner发现这些相同的研究结果包括76名符合2009年联邦政府对贫穷定义的人们。值得注意的是:如果你符合联邦政府贫穷标准,那么你肯定要担心你家庭每天的吃饭问题。但即使那样,大部分人认为时间比金钱更有价值。8 o3 U: S2 G" B6 K1 Q
One flaw in the study is that it may not consider the middle class: if you are very rich or very poor, money may be less valuable than when every bill just balances every month. Money, in that case, can be harmony: a perfect bill-balancing act. Time — well, that's what weekends are for.: b0 h; w1 I4 S* L7 n: v* _1 a
这个研究的一个缺点是它不考虑中产阶级:如果你是非常富裕或非常贫穷,比起月收支平衡的人,钱就比较没意义了。在那种情况下,钱可以协调:一个完美的账单平衡做法。时间——同样是周末所需要的。 |