Long gone are the days when a life of material excess and endless leisure time signified prestige. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, Americans increasingly perceive busy and overworked people as having high status.
如今，物质资料的富余和无尽的休闲时光不再是社会地位高的象征。发表在《消费者研究期刊》上的一项新研究表明，美国人越来越将忙碌和过度工作视为高社会地位的标志。
"We examined how signaling busyness at work impacts perceptions of status in the eyes of others," write authors Silvia Bellezza (Columbia University), Neeru Paharia, and Anat Keinan (both Harvard University). "We found that the more we believe that people have the opportunity for social affirmation based on hard work, the more we tend to think that people who skip leisure and work all the time are of higher standing."
工作忙碌的信号如何影响他人对其社会地位的感知?研究人员Silvia Bellezza(哥伦比亚大学)和Neeru Paharia、Anat Keinan(哈佛大学)对此问题进行了探究。结果发现，我们越认为“人们只有通过辛勤工作才有机会获得社会的肯定”，就越容易认为那些放弃休闲、一心工作的人拥有更高的社会地位。
High-status Americans a generation ago might have boasted about their lives of leisure, but today they're more likely to engage in humblebrag, telling those around them how they "have no life" or desperately need a vacation.
在几十年前的美国，高社会地位者可能会对自己的休闲生活自吹自擂。但如今，他们更喜欢以一种看似自谦的方式进行自夸——向周围人抱怨“没有属于自己的生活”，或表示自己迫切需要放假休息。
To explore this phenomenon, the authors conducted a series of studies, drawing participants mostly from Italy and the US. While busyness at work is associated with high status among Americans, the effect is reversed for Italians, who still view a leisurely life as representative of high status.
为深入探索这种现象，研究人员开展了一系列的研究，参与者主要来自美国和意大利。结果发现，美国人会将工作忙碌和高社会地位联系在一起，而意大利人则恰恰相反，他们仍然认为休闲生活代表着更高的社会地位。
Further, the authors found that the use of products and services showcasing one's busyness can also convey status. For instance, the online shopping and delivery grocery brand Peapod signals status just as much as expensive brands, such as Whole Foods, by virtue of its associations with timesaving and a busy lifestyle.
此外，研究人员还发现，选择购买某些能够体现用户忙碌的产品和服务也能够传达出社会地位。举例而言，网络购物、Peapod(线上生鲜杂货品牌)和昂贵品牌(如Whole Foods)一样能够彰显出用户的社会地位，因为它们和忙碌的生活方式、节约时间绑定在一起。
"We uncovered an alternative type of conspicuous consumption that operated by shifting the focus from the preciousness and scarcity of goods to the preciousness and scarcity of individuals," the authors conclude. "People's social-mobility beliefs are psychologically driven by the perception that busy individuals possess desirable characteristics, leading them to be viewed as scarce and in demand."
总而言之，研究人员发现了一种全新的炫耀性消费类型。以往，人们更关注物品的珍贵性和稀有性;但如今，人们更在意个人的珍贵性和稀有性。人们认为忙碌者身上拥有一些优秀品质，他们是稀缺的、被需要的、受欢迎的。因此，忙碌被视为高社会地位的象征。
