Expert Article Draft

 

Get in Loser, We’re Going Shopping

How Shopping Builds a Winning Mindset

(First Paragraph)

Raise your hand if you’ve engaged in shopping via “retail therapy” or because you “deserve it”. I’m certain everyone has their hand up (I know I do). The knee-jerk reaction to mood-boost through rewards is only natural, but sometimes leads to a smidgen of guilt post-purchase. Fear not! What if I told you shopping is actually one of the most effective tools we have to build a better mindset? Get your plastic ready as I walk you through four key improvements shopping brings to your mental health!

 

Boosts Confidence

Shopping isn’t always about filling a cart- it’s about filling yourself with confidence! Oftentimes, the items we purchase bring a material confidence to our lives. These external contributions to our self-image are vital to our sense of self. Clothing, in particular, can lend itself to something called “enclothed cognition”. Claire Butler, author of Wearing Confidence: The Psychology of Dressing for Your Mindset, describes enclothed cognition as “the psychological phenomenon where the clothes you wear directly influence your cognitive processes” (Butler). Essentially, she describes how dressing in a way that reflects your goals and ambitions makes you feel confident, shifting your mindset. So, as you’re shopping for clothes, keep in mind the power-potential behind your choices. Outside of what you physically purchase, confidence from purchases can be attributed to the psychological processes that take place while shopping.

 

Sharpens Decision-Making

Diving deeper into psychological functions, we are most obviously met with the need for reliable decision-making.

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