TED演讲:老年人更快乐(2)(在线收听

   Study after study  一个又一个的研究

  is coming to the same conclusion.  证实了相同的结论
  The CDC recently conducted a survey  疾病防治中心(CDC)最近进行了一次调查
  where they asked respondents simply to tell them  他们简单地要求受试者来报告
  whether they experienced significant psychological distress  在过去的一周里自己是否经历了
  in the previous week.  重大的心理困扰
  And fewer older people answered affirmatively to that question  老年人承认有这类问题的
  than middle-aged people,  比中年人少
  and younger people as well.  也比年轻人少
  And a recent Gallup poll  一项近期的盖洛普调查
  asked participants  询问参与者
  how much stress and worry and anger  有多少压力、焦虑和愤怒情绪
  they had experienced the previous day.  他们在前一天体验过
  And stress, worry, anger  压力、焦虑、愤怒
  all decrease with age.  都随着年龄增长而减少
  Now social scientists call this the paradox of aging.  社会学家称这种现象为老龄化悖论
  After all, aging is not a piece of cake.  老龄化可不是小事
  So we've asked all sorts of questions  我们问了各种各样的问题
  to see if we could undo this finding.  试图推翻这个研究结论
  We've asked whether it may be  我们提出这可能是因为
  that the current generations of older people  现在正值老年的这一代人
  are and always have been  一直以来都是
  the greatest generations.  最伟大的一代人
  That is that younger people today  而现在的年青一代
  may not typically experience these improvements  可能不会在成长过程中
  as they grow older.  经历同样的进步
  We've asked,  我们也提出
  well maybe older people are just trying to put a positive spin  也许老年人只是在发扬阿Q精神
  on an otherwise depressing existence.  来应对令人沮丧的事实
  But the more we've tried to disavow this finding,  然而我们越是想要颠覆这个结论
  the more evidence we find  反而找到越多的证据
  to support it.  来支持这个结论
  Years ago, my colleagues and I embarked on a study  很多年前,我和同事一起开始了一项研究
  where we followed the same group of people over a 10-year period.  我们对同一组人进行跟踪调查长达十年
  Originally the sample was aged 18 to 94.  这组人最开始的年龄从18岁到94岁不等
  And we studied whether and how their emotional experiences changed  我们研究了他们的情绪体验
  as they grew older.  是否随着岁月而改变
  Our participants would carry electronic pagers  研究参与者随身携带电子纸张
  for a week at a time,  每次持续一周时间
  and we'd page them throughout the day and evenings at random times.  我们在早晚的任意时间呼叫他们
  And every time we paged them  每一次我们呼叫他们
  we'd ask them to answer several questions --  我们会问他们几个问题
  On a one to seven scale, how happy are you right now?  用1到7的量表来衡量他们当时高兴的程度
  How sad are you right now?  悲伤的程度
  How frustrated are you right now? --  沮丧的程度
  so that we could get a sense  这样我们就能
  of the kinds of emotions and feelings they were having  监测到他们情绪和感觉上的
  in their day-to-day lives.  日常状况
  And using this intense study  通过这种
  of individuals,  对个人的密集调查
  we find that it's not one particular generation  我们发现并没有任何一代人
  that's doing better than the others,  比其他人更好
  but the same individuals over time  但是同一个人随着年岁增长
  come to report relatively greater  开始报告
  positive experience.  相对更积极的体验
  Now you see this slight downturn  现在你看到在非常高的年龄
  at very advanced ages.  这里有些许下降
  And there is a slight downturn.  这里的确有一些下降
  But at no point does it return  但是绝没有回复到
  to the levels we see  他们
  in early adulthood.  早期成年期的水平
  Now it's really too simplistic  当然,光说
  to say that older people are "happy."  老年人更“快乐”,那太过草率
  In our study, they are more positive,  在我们的研究里,他们更积极
  but they're also more likely than younger people  但他们也比年轻人
  to experience mixed emotions --  更能体会到复杂的情感
  sadness at the same time you experience happiness;  悲喜交加
  you know, that tear in the eye  你们知道
  when you're smiling at a friend.  就是冲着朋友微笑的同时眼含泪花
  And other research has shown  有其他研究显示
  that older people seem to engage with sadness  老年人能够
  more comfortably.  更从容地应对悲伤
  They're more accepting of sadness than younger people are.  他们比年轻人更能接受悲伤情绪
  And we suspect that this may help to explain  我们怀疑这能帮助解释
  why older people are better than younger people  为什么老年人比年轻人
  at solving hotly-charged emotional conflicts and debates.  更擅长处理激烈的情绪冲突和争论
  Older people can view injustice  老年人看待不公
  with compassion,  能够带着怜悯
  but not despair.  而不是绝望
  And all things being equal,  在同等条件下
  older people direct their cognitive resources,  老年人会将自己的认知资源
  like attention and memory,  比如注意力和记忆力
  to positive information more than negative.  更多地导向积极信息,而不是消极信息
  If we show older, middle-aged, younger people images,  我们向老年组、中年组和青年组展示图像
  like the ones you see on the screen,  正如你们在屏幕上看到的
  and we later ask them  过后我们让他们
  to recall all the images that they can,  回忆他们看到的图像
  older people, but not younger people,  老年组,而非青年组
  remember more positive images  记得的积极图像
  than negative images.  多过消极图像
  We've asked older and younger people  我们让老年组和青年组
  to view faces in laboratory studies,  去看实验室研究所用的脸部表情
  some frowning, some smiling.  一些皱眉、一些微笑
  Older people look toward the smiling faces  老年组看向微笑的脸
  and away from the frowning, angry faces.  而回避皱眉的、愤怒的脸
  In day-to-day life,  在日常生活中
  this translates into greater enjoyment  这转换成更大的乐趣
  and satisfaction.  以及满足
  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/TEDyj/kxp/453858.html