The Verdict on Retail Therapy

We’ve all hit the mall after a terrible day, but can it be true? Can retail therapy actually be a good thing?

Survey says: kind of!

According to Walletpop.com, two professors and a PhD student and Michigan University’s Ross School of Business proved that buying something when you’re feeling down will help cheer you up. The three gathered 45 female undergrad students, showed them a movie clip of a bullying incident, then gave them the option of buying a snack. When they did, they felt better.

But wait — there’s more (dun, dun, dun): in another experiment, another sad clip was shown, and subjects were given one of two shopping scenes to watch afterwards. The ones who could choose their own purchases walked away happier, thus proving that shopping can solve problems (provided your problems aren’t because you’ve gone shopping too much).

If anyone needs us, we’ll be buying things.