「释义」

安慰剂效应指病人虽然获得无效的治疗，但却“预料”或“相信”治疗有效，而让病患症状得到舒缓的现象。

安慰剂效应于1955年由毕阙博士（Henry K. Beecher）提出。一个性质完全相反的效应亦同时存在：反安慰剂效应(nocebo effect)：病人不相信治疗有效，可能会令病情恶化。

「应用场景」

HBR: 听起来像是安慰剂效应。

You’re describing it as a placebo effect.

是的。医学上，安慰剂是一种不含任何有效成分的制剂，能起到跟药物制剂一样的效果。最近很多研究表明，心理安慰剂能改变人们的心态，缓解人们生理上的疼痛。比如，一项实验发现，酒店女服务员在知道自己的工作量相当于做了很多种运动后，体重下降得更多。在另一项研究中，喝奶昔的研究对象被告知摄入620卡路里，而非140卡路里（实际是380卡路里），结果发现他们产生了更多调节食欲的脑肠肽。我们指的不是行为上有意识的改变，大多数人根本不知道脑肠肽的存在。这些都是由非传统安慰剂导致的无意识改变。我们把这一观点延伸到睡眠领域。

Yes, in medicine, a placebo is a nonactive drug that achieves the same effect as an active one. Many recent studies have shown that psychological placebos—getting people to shift their mind-set—can affect physiology in the same way. There’s one, for example, that showed that hotel maids lost more weight after learning their duties were equivalent to various exercises. Another found that milkshake drinkers produced more of the gut peptides that regulate appetite when told they were consuming an indulgent 620 calories rather than a sensible 140 calories. (The actual calorie count was 380.) We’re not talking about conscious changes in behavior here; I mean, most people don’t even know they have gut peptides. These are unconscious changes prompted by nontraditional placebos. We’ve extended the idea into the area of sleep.

HBR：非传统安慰剂还有哪些？比如说？

What are some other examples of nontraditional placebos?

迷信。人们在两件事情之间建立一种虚幻的联系，本质上是为自己制造安慰剂。尤其是热身赛、挥杆、射击前的例行动作，当然也有一些更加随机的迷信，比如幸运球或者幸运帽，这些都有助于提高表现。

Superstitions. People make an illusory correlation between two things, in essence creating their own placebo. And often—especially with pre-game, pre-swing, or pre-shot routines but also with more-random superstitions like a lucky ball or cap—it can boost performance.

以上文字选自《哈佛商业评论》中文版2014年9月刊《睡眠的“认知疗法”》

克里斯蒂·埃达尔（Kristi Erdal）丨文

马冰仑 丨编辑