Larsen Jeff T, McKibban Amie R
Department of Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-2051, USA.
Psychol Sci. 2008 Apr;19(4):371-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02095.x.
Rabbi Hyman Schachtel (1954) proposed that "happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have" (p. 37). In two studies, we tested Schachtel's maxim by asking participants whether or not they had and the extent to which they wanted each of 52 material items. To quantify how much people wanted what they had, we identified what they had and the extent to which they wanted those things. To quantify how much people had what they wanted, we identified how much they wanted and whether or not they had each item. Both variables accounted for unique variance in happiness. Moreover, the extent to which people wanted what they had partially mediated effects of gratitude and maximization on happiness, and the extent to which they had what they wanted partially mediated the effect of maximization. Results indicate that happiness is both wanting what you have and having what you want.
拉比·海曼·沙赫特尔（1954年）提出，“幸福不是拥有你想要的东西，而是想要你所拥有的东西”（第37页）。在两项研究中，我们通过询问参与者是否拥有以及他们想要52种物质物品中每一种的程度来检验沙赫特尔的这句格言。为了量化人们对自己所拥有之物的渴望程度，我们确定了他们拥有什么以及他们对这些东西的渴望程度。为了量化人们拥有自己想要之物的程度，我们确定了他们想要多少以及他们是否拥有每一项物品。这两个变量都解释了幸福中独特的方差。此外，人们对自己所拥有之物的渴望程度部分地介导了感恩和最大化对幸福的影响，而人们拥有自己想要之物的程度部分地介导了最大化的影响。结果表明，幸福既是想要你所拥有的，也是拥有你想要的。
