Shopping can make people three times happier

Feeling sad? Hit the shops!
Going on a shopping spree can make people three times happier by overcoming sadness and sparking motivation, a new study suggests.
Retail therapy, researchers said, should no longer be dismissed and it can even help a person feel more in control of their environment, researchers have found.
In order to investigate whether shopping restored a sense of control in people to counter feelings of sadness, researchers from the University of Michigan carried out three experiments.
Their findings suggest that shopping was up to 40 times more effective at giving people a sense of control. They were also three times less sad, 'The Independent' reported.

Researchers said until now it was unclear whether shopping conveys benefits beyond those produced merely by distraction, or the passage of time.
"Our work suggests that making shopping choices can help to restore a sense of personal control over one's environment and reduce sadness," researchers said.
"Retail therapy - shopping that is motivated by distress - is often said to be ineffective, wasteful and a dark side of consumer behaviour, but we propose that retail therapy has been viewed too negatively, and that shopping may be an effective way to minimise sadness," they said.