Ah, fall. Crunchy leaves, warm sweaters, chilly weather.
啊,秋天到了!秋天会有松脆的树叶、暖和的毛衣、寒冷的天气。
And, of course, pumpkin spice. Sooo much pumpkin spice.
当然,还有南瓜味。这么多的南瓜味。
From candles, to yogurt, to Oreos, it's everywhere, especially in our lattes.
从南瓜蜡烛到酸奶,再到奥利奥,到处都有,尤其是拿铁咖啡里也有南瓜味。
The craze might seem a little bit over the top,
这种狂热似乎有点儿过头了,
but it actually makes total sense psychologically.
但实际上,它在心理上完全有意义。
So far, there hasn't been any specific research on what makes pumpkin spice so compelling.
到目前为止,我们还没有关于“什么使南瓜味引人注目”的具体研究。
But psychologists do have some ideas about what might be going on.
但是心理学家对这一现象有一些想法。
Turns out, pumpkin spice is basically the perfect brain puppeteer.
事实证明,南瓜味基本上是完美的大脑傀儡师。
First, there's the sugar. In case you missed it, sugar is super addictive.
首先,它含糖。如果你想念它,糖超级容易让人上瘾。
A review from 2013 found that in some ways it can be more rewarding and addictive than cocaine,
2013年的一项研究发现,在某些方面,糖比可卡因更有价值,更容易上瘾。
and hoo boy, there is a lot of it in a pumpkin spice latte.
好家伙,南瓜味拿铁里含多少糖啊。
Sugar, that is. Not cocaine. At least, that's what they tell us.
说的就是糖,不是可卡因,至少这是它们告诉我们的。
A medium-sized pumpkin spice latte can have about 48 grams of sugar,
一中杯南瓜味拿铁大约含48克糖,
which is a quarter of a cup or about 37 gummy bears.
相当于四分之一杯拿铁或37块小熊软糖。
So yeah… if you love your PSLs, you might not want to think too hard about that.
所以,如果你爱你的南瓜味拿铁的话,就可能不想想太多。
And it's not just the lattes.
不仅是拿铁,
Pairing that distinctive pumpkin spice flavor with sugar over and over in baked goods and drinks
在烘焙食品和饮料中,我们将这种独特的南瓜味和糖反复混合,
teaches our brains that pumpkin spice equals reward.
会告诉我们的大脑南瓜味等于奖励。
That's part of why you crave it.
这是你渴望它的原因之一。
Of course, that can't be the whole explanation,
当然,这不可能是全部的解释,
peppermint mochas and caramel apple spice ciders have a ton of sugar, too.
薄荷咖啡与焦糖苹果味果汁也含有大量的糖。
Psychologists think some of pumpkin spice's popularity may have to do with social conformity,
心理学家认为,某些南瓜味的流行可能与社会从众性有关,
our tendency to change our beliefs or behaviors to match those around us or in our culture.
即我们想要改变自己的信仰或行为,以适应周围的人或我们的文化。
While some of your friends might judge you if you don't buy a pumpkin spice latte the second they're available.
如果有现成的南瓜味拿铁,而你却不买第二次,那么你可能会遭到某些朋友的评判。
Social conformity goes way beyond direct peer pressure.
社会从众性远超直接的同辈压力。
Simply seeing everyone else drink 'em and tweet about' em and take selfies with 'em
其他人都喝了这种拿铁,然后发了关于它们的推特,并与它们自拍,
can be enough to convince us that we want one, too.
我们只是看到这些就足以说服自己也想要一杯。
It's a pretty well-documented phenomenon.
这是个证据充分的现象。
The most famous example is the Asch conformity study,
最著名的例子是阿希从众心理研究,
where other people's responses convinced subjects that one line was longer than two others...
案例中,其他人的回答让受试者相信一条线比另外两条线长,
even when it very clearly wasn't.
即使事实明显不是这样。
And psychologists have found that social conformity can also affect our eating choices.
心理学家发现,社会从众性也会影响我们的饮食选择。
For example, in a study of 39 preschoolers in 1980,
例如,在1980年对39名学龄前儿童的研究中,
researchers found that the influence of peers could change a child's opinion about a vegetable they didn't like.
研究人员发现,同伴的影响可以改变孩子对他们不喜欢的蔬菜的看法。
And if you've ever tried to convince a stubborn kid to eat their broccoli,
如果你试图说服过顽固的孩子吃西兰花,
you know exactly how much of an accomplishment that is.
那么就会确切地知道这是个多大的成就。
In the study, children sat at lunch tables with a few other kids who disagreed with their preferences.
在这项研究中,孩子们和其他几个与自己有不同偏好的孩子坐在午餐桌旁。
So a kid who really liked corn but hated peas
一个喜欢玉米但讨厌豌豆的孩子
would be told to sit with kids who dug peas but weren't into corn.
会被告知要和那些热爱豌豆但不喜欢玉米的孩子们坐在一起。
After just four days of seeing the other students pick peas over corn
他在仅仅4天的时间里,观察其他学生在玉米里挑豌豆,
and express their liking for peas,
并听到他们对豌豆表达的喜爱,
the kid who originally said they didn't like peas would start liking them a little more.
于是最初说自己不喜欢豌豆的孩子开始有点儿喜欢豌豆了。
So with everyone around you talking about how awesome pumpkin spice lattes are,
所以,你周围的人都在谈论南瓜味拿铁是多么棒时,
it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that they're influencing your opinion of it, too.
不难想象,他们也会影响你对它的看法。
There's evidence that social pressures can also affect our buying habits.
有证据表明,社会压力也会影响我们的购买习惯。
Research has shown that when we don't have objective information telling us whether to buy something,
研究表明,当没有客观信息告诉我们是否买某物时,
we'll usually just do what everyone else is doing.
我们通常会随大流。
And the way it's only offered each fall?
南瓜味拿铁只在每个秋天供应的策略呢?
That's another part of the brain-gaming.
这是大脑游戏的另一部分。
It's taking advantage of what's known as reactance theory,
它利用了所谓的抗拒理论,
which says that we don't like when people try to limit our behavioral freedoms,
这一理论是说我们不喜欢人们试图限制我们的行为自由,
and as a result, we're more likely to do things others try to keep us from doing.
因此,我们更有可能去做别人试图阻止我们做的事情。
And not being able to buy a pumpkin spice latte whenever we want to?
我们不能随时买南瓜味拿铁?
You'd better believe that feels like a limit on our freedom.
你最好相信这是对我们自由的限制。
I mean, this is America!
我的意思是,这就是美国!
So, since we can't get pumpkin spice all year round, we want it more.
因此,既然我们不能全年都会吃到南瓜味,就会想要更多。
It might sound a little extreme.
这听起来可能有点儿极端。
But reactance theory has been shown to explain
但抗拒理论已经证明,它可以解释
why short-term sales or seasonal specials like pumpkin spice lattes are so effective.
为什么短期销售或南瓜味拿铁这样的季节性特色销售如此有效。
For example, way back in 1966 a study showed that
例如,1966年的一项研究表明
just telling people a certain product was out of stock was enough to make them rate it as more desirable.
仅告诉人们某件产品缺货就足以让他们更想要它。
And another study from 1987 found that
1987年的另一项研究发现,
one-day sales made people more likely to buy something than three-day sales or five-day sales.
人们更愿意购买为期一天的销售,而不是三天的销售或五天的销售。
So the burning envy you feel when your coworker posts
所以同事在Insta上发布帖子时你会妒火中烧,
that Insta of the pumpkin spice latte they managed to get a whole day early.
因为他们提前一天拿到了南瓜味拿铁。
You want that latte so bad because you can't have it...and that's reactance.
你非常想要拿铁,因为你不能拥有它……这就是抗拒理论。
We might also love pumpkin spice so much because it's quintessentially fall.
我们喜欢南瓜味可能是因为它是典型的秋季产品。
For a lot of people, pumpkin spice triggers nostalgia.
对很多人来说,南瓜味会引发怀旧情绪。
That mysterious mix of cinnamon and nutmeg drags us right back to
那神秘肉桂和肉豆蔻的混合气味促使我们回到
apple picking, carving pumpkins, and baking Thanksgiving pies with Grandma.
采摘苹果、雕刻南瓜、与奶奶一起烘焙感恩节馅饼的旧时光。
And studies have shown that those warm fuzzies can literally make us feel happier,
研究表明,这些好话可以让我们感到更快乐,
giving a boost to our social bonds, our self-regard, and our mood generally.
对我们的社会关系、自尊以及情绪都有促进作用。
Which means that if pumpkin spice makes you nostalgic,
这意味着如果南瓜味使你怀旧,
you're basically buying happiness in a little paper cup.
那么你基本上是在一个小纸杯里买幸福。
So, pumpkin spice has our brains good and hacked.
所以,南瓜味让我们的大脑感觉良好,并被它侵入了。
We drink it in lattes and put it in candles because everyone else is doing it,
我们在拿铁里喝它,把它放进蜡烛里,因为其他人都在做,
because we can't have it all the time, and because it literally makes us feel good.
因为我们不能一直拥有它,因为它真的让我们感觉很好。
None of that is necessarily a problem, though.
但这些都不是问题,
Y'know, assuming you don't spend your entire paycheck at the coffee shop.
前提是你没有把全部薪水都花在咖啡店里。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感谢您收看本期的心理科学秀!
If you're interested in learning about what's really in a pumpkin spice latte,
如果你有兴趣了解南瓜味拿铁里有什么,
and the chemistry that goes into flavor science in general,
以及味道科学中的化学过程,
you can watch our video about that on the main SciShow channel.
你可以在科学秀主频道观看我们的视频。