怎么一出新款手機，你的舊手機就“恰好”被摔壞了？其實，這可能是“升級效應(yīng)”所致。

If you've dropped, shattered or misplaced your phone more than usual in recent months, there could be a good reason.
如果你近幾個月比平時更容易掉手機，摔壞手機，或者把手機放錯位置，那你可能真的有充足的理由。

Scientists claim that as soon as a new phone comes out, people tend to act recklessly with their existing phones - without even realising it.
科學家表示，一旦有新款手機面世，人們對現(xiàn)有的手機就更加“肆意妄為”，而自己根本意識不到。

Researchers believe this is because we are conditioned to avoid the guilt of upgrading to a more expensive model without proper justification.
研究人員認為，這是因為人們下意識地為自己給手機升級換代找個理由，以避免“罪惡感”。

They've labelled this phenomenon the 'upgrade effect'.
他們將這種現(xiàn)象稱之為“升級效應(yīng)”。

'We would feel guilty about upgrading without a reason - but if our current product were damaged or depleted, we'd have a justification to upgrade without appearing wasteful,' said Columbia Business School Professor Silvia Bellezza.
哥倫比亞商學院教授西爾維婭說：“沒有理由就給手機升級換代，我們會感到罪惡。但如果你現(xiàn)在的手機壞掉了或者不好用了，我們就有理由換手機，而且看起來不浪費。”

'So, we use our phone in the rain or leave our laptop behind at airport security without being aware that our carelessness has an underlying motivation.'
“所以我們會在雨中使用手機，或者把筆記本電腦落在機場安檢那里，卻意識不到我們的粗心其實有潛在的動機。”

By tracking the figures for the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S, the group found that as soon as the 5S was released, iPhone 5 owners spent less time looking for their lost phones.
研究人員還追蹤了iPhone 5和iPhone 5S的數(shù)據(jù)，結(jié)果顯示，當iPhone 5S發(fā)布后，iPhone 5的失主就不再熱衷于尋找自己丟失的手機。

The team also looked at an online survey of 602 mobile phone owners and found that the availability of an upgrade would lead to product neglect.
另外，研究小組還對602名手機用戶進行了在線調(diào)查，發(fā)現(xiàn)有新款手機上市時，大家對舊手機就不那么在乎了。

（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 yaning）