最近，一项消费心理学领域的研究提出：“消费者有时会为看似规格更高级的商品付出更多的钞票，即使他们对它和普通规格的商品的感受相同。”“人们说，我不相信自己的感受，但我相信那些数字。”这些说法让我联想到以前看过的书和文章中的某些观点。我力图找出以下问题的答案：人们为什么不相信自己的感受？人们什么情况下甘愿为看似规格更高级的商品付更多的钱？还有，哪些人会遵循这个思路作出选择，即使他们最后不一定感到快乐？

Barry Schwartz曾将作出选择的人分为两类：追求最佳效应的人和容易满足的人。前者面对候选对象，往往要在确定掌握了所有相关信息并对所有其它备选项也都作过评估之后，才能作出选择。在他们心目中，这是他们做出最佳选择的唯一方式。而后者，即容易满足的人，他们似乎不需要费那么大的周折才能作出选择。尽管他们也对其它备选项做些评估，但他们仍能轻松选定心目中的理想之物。对于那些追求最佳效应的人，他们的选择越多，他们就越不快乐。这就是Schwartz所总结的“选择的悖论”。相对而言，那些容易满足的人就很少受到这个问题的困扰。在选择的时候，容易满足的人似乎要比追求最佳效应的人更轻松、更快乐。

我猜想，“选择的悖论”是否有部分原因是出于个人的虚荣心，抑或自我保护的本能？我可否认为，与追求最佳效应的人相比，容易满足的人身上虚荣心更弱，而对自我保护的自信更强？根据Schwartz的观点，个人的虚荣心是“选择的悖论”的主要原因。追求最佳效应的人喜欢将自己所选择、所拥有的东西与境遇差不多的人相比，这就导致他们经常在作出选择之后感到不快乐。比较并不总是给人们带来快乐，如果你只是在意自己在其它人眼中和心目中是什么形象的话。不过，还有一点，追求最佳效应的人恐怕比容易满足的人更加不能肯定自己的感受和判断。在实验中，那些面对各种数码相机、薯条或毛巾要作选择的人，被众多候选的规格弄昏了头的，都颇有几分追求最佳效应的人的特质。研究人员建议他们转变为容易心满意足的人，这样的人听从的不是规格，而是自己内心的取向，并对自己为了保护钱包里的每一块钱的价值而作出的取舍感到确定和自信。

对于后面两个问题，即选择与快乐的关系也取决于选择的对象和选择的方式，心理学家们已经探讨过了，我也说不出什么特别的东西来。

所以，我可否这样认为：总体来说，决定人们在选择的时候有多快乐的因素是，他们是哪种人？也就是说，他们更有可能是追求最佳效应的人，还是容易满足的人？当然，他们选择的对象和作出选择的方式也非常重要。人们可以从关于快乐的研究中学到选什么、怎么选，来使自己在作选择时获得最大的快乐。不过，人们还可能通过这个让快乐最大化的过程，有意或无意地改变了自己的观念，从而改变自己的人生。

Who is making the choices?

A recent study on consuming psychology suggests, "Consumers are sometimes willing to pay a lot more for the goods with seemingly higher or greater specs, even when the underlying experience is the same." "People say, I don't trust my own experience, but I trust those numbers." These sayings make me associate some ideas in the books and articles I read before. And I try to find why people don’t trust their own experience, when will they tend to pay a lot more for the goods with seemingly greater or higher specs, and who will make choices in this way even as they are not necessary to get final happiness. I try to present my raw thoughts here. May I make a supposition like this: the relation between choice and happiness rests with three factors: who is making the choices, what to choose, and how to choose? And,  the first factor is the most important? Barry Schwartz once divided people who had to make choices into two groups: maximizers and satisficers. The former ones tended to make no choice until they got sure to have known all about the objects to choose and have assessed all the given options, which was the only way in their mind to make their best choice. Meanwhile, for the latter, named satisficers correspondingly, it seemed to involve less effort to make choices. Despite of some certain evaluations for some certain options, they still took it easy to choose something ideal in their mind. For those maximizers, more choices they had, less happiness they got, which was concluded as the paradox of choice by Schwartz. Relatively, the satisficers seldom bothered with the same issue. Satisficers seemed to feel easier and happier than maximizers when making choices.

Is part of the reason of the paradox of choice, I guess, personal vanity, or the self-protect instinct? May I consider, compared with maximizers, satisficers have less vanity and more self confidence to protect themselves? According Schwartz’s suggestion, personal vanity is the major reason. The maximizers tend to compare what they choose, and what they have, with what others do in the same conditions, which results in the fact that they often feel unhappy after making choices. Compare doesn’t always bring people happiness, if you merely care how you are in others’ eyes and minds. But in addition, they may feel less certain than satisficers about their own experience or judgement. Maybe those who were puzzled by lots of given specs when choosing digital cameras, potato chips, or towels in the tests are something maximizers, and are advised to be satisficers, who can listen to their own underlying preference, and feel safe and confident about their own judgements to protect the value of every dollar in their wallet.

As to the latter two supposals, the relation between choice and happiness also rests with what to choose and how to choose, about this psychologists have talked over. I cannot come out with anything special.

Thus, may I hold that, in general, what mostly determines how much happiness people feel with making choices is: what kind of persons they are? That is to say, are they more likely to be the maximizers or satisficers? Of course, the objects for them to choose and the way they make choices are also very important. People can learn more about what and how to choose from the studies on happiness, to maximize their happiness when choosing. However, it is possible for them to change some of their perspectives consciously, or unconsciously, through this happiness maximizing process. That results in mental changes in their life.

油炸花生米的火候不易掌握，不用油直接在锅里炒也颇有难度，很能考验一个人是否眼明手快。对于我这种懒人，微波炉是个得力助手。

花生米洗干净，泡在水里，水里加各种调料，没有一定之规，看各人口味了。我加的调料按照用量排列依次是盐、糖和五香粉。冷水热水泡均可。水多放一点，淹没花生米，再多一点，因为花生米会吸水。泡12小时后将水沥干，摊平晾几小时，完全晾干最好，但多半不可能等得到那时候。

将花生米摊平放在瓷盘或其他能进微波炉的扁平容器里，高火若干分钟。一般8分钟即可，中间要取出来用筷子翻一下，防止烤得不匀。如果觉得不熟或不香就继续转，晾凉后都会变脆。可能会有个别位于微波中心的花生米烤过头，但总体来说绝大多数都吃口上佳，连红衣都脆而香。

每次烤花生米，天宝都候在一旁，从花生米进微波炉一直到出来，整个过程他屡次打听：“好了没有？”然后在我多次阻止之后，终于等到了晾凉的花生米，和我抢吃。我每次烤好花生米都装在一个酱菜瓶里，大约可吃三四天。那天他居然一次吃掉半瓶，我怕他上火，遂每次发放花生米后都把瓶子藏好。昨天终于被他找到，将一瓶花生米公然从我的显示器后面抢走，藏在他认定的藏宝处，然后返回我面前，洋洋得意地对我说：“妈妈，我把花生米藏起来了，就是不给你吃！”