中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 Scene from movie adapted from Charles Dickens' classic novel "A Christmas Carol". |
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Poor people are quicker than middle-class or rich individuals to recognize the suffering of others and to show compassion, according to a new study. It included more than 300 young adults who were divided into groups that took part in three experiments designed to assess their levels of empathy and compassion. The findings challenge previous research that concluded lower-class people are more likely to react with anxiety and hostility when faced with adversity, said the researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. "These latest results indicate that there's a culture of compassion and cooperation among lower-class individuals that may be born out of threats to their well-being," study author and social psychologist Jennifer Stellar said in a university news release. "It's not that the upper classes are cold-hearted. They may just not be as adept at recognizing the cues and signals of suffering because they haven't had to deal with as many obstacles in their lives," she explained. The findings, published online Dec. 12 in the journal Emotion, suggest a scientific basis for emotional differences between the rich and poor that are depicted in such Charles Dickens classics as "A Christmas Carol" and "A Tale of Two Cities." The results also indicate that people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may do better in cooperative settings than those who are wealthy. "Upper-class individuals appear to be more self-focused, they've grown up with more freedom and autonomy," Stellar said. "They may do better in an individualist, competitive environment." (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
一項(xiàng)新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，窮人比中產(chǎn)階級或富人更易察覺到他人受的苦難，表現(xiàn)出同情心。 該研究涵蓋了300多名年輕人，他們被分成幾個(gè)小組，參加了三個(gè)試驗(yàn)，目的是評估他們的同感能力和同情心。 加利福尼亞大學(xué)伯克利分校的研究人員稱，先前的研究得出結(jié)論說，下層社會(huì)的人在面臨逆境時(shí)更容易出現(xiàn)焦慮和敵意。以上的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)向先前的研究結(jié)果發(fā)出了挑戰(zhàn)。 該研究的作者、社會(huì)心理學(xué)家珍妮弗?斯黛拉在大學(xué)的一篇新聞通稿中說：“這些最新的研究結(jié)果顯示，下層社會(huì)的民眾中有同情和合作的文化，這可能是為應(yīng)對自身幸福受到的威脅而產(chǎn)生的?！?/p> 她解釋說：“并不是上層社會(huì)的人冷酷無情。他們也許只是沒能那么快地察覺到他人的苦難，因?yàn)樗麄冊谧约旱纳钪袕牟恍枰?yīng)對這么多的阻礙?！?/p> 這些研究結(jié)果12月12日發(fā)表在《情感》雜志的網(wǎng)刊上，研究為查爾斯?狄更斯的經(jīng)典小說《圣誕頌歌》和《雙城記》中描繪的富人和窮人間的情感差異提供了科學(xué)依據(jù)。 研究結(jié)果還表明，在需要合作的環(huán)境中，社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)背景較差的人可能會(huì)比富人表現(xiàn)得更好。 斯黛拉說：“上層社會(huì)的人看起來更專注于自身，他們成長過程中有更多自由和自主權(quán)，在個(gè)人主義的競爭性環(huán)境中他們可能會(huì)表現(xiàn)得更好。” 相關(guān)閱讀 研究：自私的人更容易當(dāng)領(lǐng)導(dǎo) （中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: adept at: 善于 autonomy: 自主權(quán) |
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