Psychologist warned about the spring trap of "last chance"

In the spring, many people spend more money and take out loans for repairs, summer cottages, travel or wardrobe upgrades. This was stated by Elena Shpagina, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Institute of Management Technologies of RTU MIREA, on Friday, April 3.

She explained how the psychology of "last chance" works. According to the expert, we are talking about a set of mechanisms that scammers and marketers use in the spring period.

"The first mechanism is the phenomenon of "spring renewal". After winter, it seems to us that we are behind the times, that we urgently need to catch up. <...> In this state of "catching up," a person easily agrees to a loan, because it seems to him that otherwise he will miss something important," Shpagina explained in an interview with Lenta.Ru .

Scammers put pressure on this feeling: "keep up with the old price", "the loan is approved on special terms", "only today without interest".

Another mechanism is the fear of lost profits, or FOMO (fear of missing out). In the spring, it escalates due to the large number of offers, advertising and "successful" people who have already bought something, traveled somewhere, built something, Shpagina noted.

As a third factor, she named a seasonal decrease in cognitive control. Spring asthenia leads to the fact that it is difficult for people to calculate the consequences, many see only short-term benefits. Scammers know this, and that's why they're pushing for a solution "here and now."

In addition, the expert noted the phenomenon of "legitimization of desires", when a person justifies his expenses by saying that he "deserved" to make them after the winter. Scammers take advantage of this and play along, offering to "pamper themselves."

Shpagina noted that you can protect yourself from the "last chance" trap by introducing the "three days" rule. If the desire has not passed after three days, it means that it is really yours, and not imposed by marketing, the psychologist emphasized.

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