You might have heard of the expression 'a guilty pleasure' – maybe it's the chocolate bar you buy on the way home from work, or the new clothes that you don't really need. It comes from the idea that when we treat ourselves, it can sometimes leave us feeling guilty. Perhaps we don't feel we deserved it, or we don't think it was a responsible way to spend our money. But should we feel like this? Do we really have to feel guilty about treating ourselves?

您可能听说过“一种罪恶感的快乐”这个说法——也许是您在下班回家的路上买的巧克力，或者是您并不真正需要的新衣服。 它来自这样的想法：当我们对待自己时，有时会让我们感到内疚。 也许我们觉得我们不应该这样做，或者我们认为这不是一种负责任的花钱方式。 但我们应该有这样的感觉吗？ 我们真的需要为对待自己感到内疚吗？

Perhaps not. Psychologists have suggested that buying things for yourself can make you feel better as it provides an opportunity to take control of your situation. It can give you social contact as well as a confidence boost from changes you make to your self-image. It may be that as well as lifting your mood, when you buy a treat, you might just be looking after yourself.

也许不是。 心理学家建议，为自己买东西可以让你感觉更好，因为它提供了一个控制自己处境的机会。 它可以为您提供社交联系，并通过您对自我形象的改变来增强自信。 当您购买零食时，除了可以提振心情之外，您也可能只是为了照顾自己。

Of course, there are also examples of people turning to destructive behaviour when faced with stressful circumstances. People might spend money that they don't have or turn to dangerous addictions. Psychologist Leon Seltzer considers the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurturing. Self-indulgence can be reckless and have negative consequences, while self-nurturing is taking responsible decisions to satisfy our needs and take care of ourselves in ways that don't have a significant impact.

当然，也有一些人在面临压力的情况下转向破坏性行为的例子。 人们可能会花他们没有的钱或者陷入危险的成瘾行为。 心理学家 Leon Seltzer 思考了自我放纵和自我培养之间的区别。 自我放纵可能是鲁莽的，会产生负面后果，而自我培育则是做出负责任的决定，以满足我们的需求，并以不会产生重大影响的方式照顾自己。

One stress that people may need to deal with is exam stress. Many universities publish guides with advice for coping with exam stress. Reflecting the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurture, they recommend rewarding yourself for your efforts, doing things that you enjoy and are good at so that you can feel accomplishment and to avoid things that may make you feel worse afterwards.

人们可能需要应对的一种压力是考试压力。 许多大学发布了指南，提供应对考试压力的建议。 反映自我放纵和自我培养之间的区别，他们建议奖励自己的努力，做你喜欢和擅长的事情，这样你就能感受到成就感，并避免做那些可能会让你事后感觉更糟的事情。

So perhaps, as long as we make responsible decisions, we shouldn't feel guilty about our guilty pleasures.

因此，也许只要我们做出负责任的决定，我们就不应该为自己的罪恶感感到内疚。

词汇表

treat 善待，犒劳
deserve 配得上，应得
responsible 负责任的
social contact 社会联系，社交
confidence boost 增强自信，信心的提升
self-image 自我形象
lift your mood 振作你的精神，让你心情愉快
look after 照顾，照料
destructive behaviour 自毁行为
stressful 有压力的，让人紧张的
addiction 成瘾，上瘾
self-indulgence 自我放纵，自我纵容
self-nurturing 自我呵护，自我照顾
reckless 轻率的，不顾后果的
consequences 后果
satisfy 使满足
cope with 应对，处理
reward 奖励，奖赏
accomplishment 成就