Mental accounting意思

"Mental accounting" is a term used in behavioral economics to describe the way people subconsciously categorize their money or possessions, which often leads to irrational financial decisions. This concept was introduced by Richard Thaler, an American economist and Nobel laureate, who observed that people often treat different funds or assets as if they are separate, with different values and purposes, even when they could be easily interchanged.

Here's a simplified explanation of mental accounting:

  1. Separate Funds: People tend to mentally divide their money into different "pots" or categories, such as money for bills, money for savings, money for entertainment, etc.

  2. Different Values: Each category of money is assigned a different value or purpose, and people may behave as if they are spending someone else's money when it comes from a different mental account.

  3. Irrational Decisions: This mental accounting can lead to irrational decisions, such as being more likely to spend money from a "fun money" account on a frivolous purchase, even if the same amount of money from a different account would be spent more carefully.

  4. Cognitive Ease: Mental accounting allows people to make decisions with less cognitive effort because they have already categorized their funds. However, this can lead to biases and poor financial choices.

  5. Loss Aversion: People are often more averse to losses than they are attracted to gains of the same amount. Mental accounting can exacerbate this by making people more sensitive to losses within a particular category.

  6. Sunk Cost Fallacy: Mental accounting can contribute to the sunk cost fallacy, where people continue to invest time, money, or resources into a failing endeavor because of the money they have already spent on it (which is "accounted for" mentally).

Mental accounting can influence various financial behaviors, including savings, investments, spending, and risk-taking. It's a key concept in understanding why people often make decisions that are not in line with the principles of traditional economics, which assumes that people are rational and make decisions based on the value of the resources, rather than the mental categories those resources are placed in.

By recognizing the influence of mental accounting, individuals can make more informed and rational financial decisions. This can involve consciously blending mental accounts to make decisions based on the overall value of resources rather than the perceived value of a specific mental account.