A bored woman fell asleep in a theater. The secret to happiness is keeping busy, research has found.
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The secret to happiness is keeping busy, research has found. Keeping the mind occupied with tasks - no matter how meaningless - staves off negative emotions, the study found. However, the bad news is that humans seem hard-wired to be lazy in order to save energy, according to Professor Christopher Hsee, a behavioural scientist at Chicago University. In a study 98 students were asked to complete two surveys. After they had completed the first they were made to wait 15 minutes to receive the next one. They were given a choice of either handing in the first survey nearby or at a more distant location they had to walk to. Whichever option they chose, they received a chocolate bar. Two-thirds (68 per cent) chose the lazy option. Those who had taken the walk reported feeling happier than those who had stayed put. Prof Hsee concluded keeping busy helped keep people happy. He said the findings, reported in the journal Psychological Science, had policy implications. "Governments may increase the happiness of idle citizens by having them build bridges that are actually useless", he proposed. At the individidual level, he advised: "Get up and do something. Anything. Even if there really is no point to what you are doing, you will feel better for it." He added: "Incidentally, thinking deeply or engaging in self-reflection counts as keeping busy, too. "You do not need to be running around, – you just need to be engaged, either physically or mentally." (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn),快樂的秘訣就是讓自己忙起來。 該研究發(fā)現(xiàn),讓自己有點(diǎn)事情可想——無論是多么沒意思的事——都有助于抵制消極情緒。 然而,據(jù)芝加哥大學(xué)行為科學(xué)家奚愷元教授介紹,人類似乎生性懶惰,旨在保存精力。 研究人員讓98個(gè)學(xué)生做了兩項(xiàng)調(diào)查。這兩個(gè)調(diào)查間隔15分鐘。 在此期間,學(xué)生可以就近提交第一個(gè)調(diào)查的結(jié)果,或者步行至一個(gè)較遠(yuǎn)的地方遞交結(jié)果。無論選擇哪一種途徑,他們都會(huì)獲贈(zèng)一塊巧克力。 其中,三分之二(68%)的人選擇了走近路。 但據(jù)報(bào)告,走路去遞交結(jié)果的人比待在原地的人感覺更加快樂。 奚教授由此得出結(jié)論,讓自己忙一點(diǎn)有助于保持好的心情。 該研究在《心理科學(xué)》雜志上發(fā)表。奚教授稱該發(fā)現(xiàn)具有政策指導(dǎo)意義。 他建議說:“比如,政府可以讓沒事可做的民眾建造實(shí)際上并沒有什么用處的橋梁來提升他們的幸福感。” 就個(gè)人而言,他建議說:“起來干點(diǎn)什么吧。做什么都行。就算你所做的事情沒什么實(shí)際意義,你也會(huì)因此而感到快樂?!?/p> 他說:“另外,思考或反省也是讓自己動(dòng)起來的一種方式。” “你不需要東奔西跑,只需要有事情做,無論是體力上的還是腦力上的?!?/p> 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯:蔡姍姍) |
Vocabulary: stave off: succeed in stopping sth. bad happening for a while(暫時(shí)擋住,避開) hard-wired: 深植于腦中的 incidentally: 順便提一句 |