囧研究：相貌好看的人不容易生病

Attractive people are less likely to get tinnitus — and asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure, according to new research.

根据最新研究，相貌好看的人不太容易患上耳鸣、哮喘、糖尿病以及高血压。

The more physically attractive men and women are rated, the more unlikely they are to suffer from a wide range of health problems, from high cholesterol to depression.

外貌出众的人在高胆固醇、抑郁症等各种健康问题方面，患病几率都比较低。

They also feel healthier, have less time off work and are diagnosed with fewer physical and mental health conditions during their lifetime.

而且他们一辈子都能过得更健康，不太会请病假，并且身心健康方面也很少出状况。

These extraordinary findings by U.S. researchers are based on a study of 15,000 men and women aged 24 to 35 who have been followed since they were ten.

这一意外发现是由美国研究人员得出的。他们对15000位24-35岁的男女志愿者进行了从十岁时就展开的跟踪调查。

It’s the biggest study yet to find links between attractiveness and good health, and the first to home in on a number of individual diseases.

这是目前在发掘外貌与健康关系方面规模最大的一项调查，并且也是首个针对某些个别疾病的调查。

The researchers, from the University of Cincinnati and other centres, point out that, until now, most studies have been on students.

来自辛辛那提大学及其他中心的研究人员指出，到目前为止，大部分调查对象都还是学生。

Their new research is based on interviews with a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population.

他们的最新研究是基于对全美代表性个例的采访进行的。

And, unlike earlier studies, this is based on the researchers’ ratings of the participants’ physical attractiveness done face-to-face, rather than assessments based on pictures, drawings or videos.

并且，不同于以往的是，这次调查中，研究人员对志愿者外貌的评价是面对面得出的，而不是通过照片、画像或视频。

The researchers, whose work is being published in the journal Evolution And Human Behaviour, say that attractiveness may be a marker of good genes, which also signal good health, as well as increasing the likelihood of having healthy offspring.

这项调查的结果已经发表在了《进化与人类行为》杂志上。相关研究人员表示，好相貌可能也是好基因的标志，这也意味着身体健康，以后生育的子女也会健康。

The study involved face-to-face interviews and questionnaires, as well as an analysis of health data.

调查形式有面对面采访和调查问卷，并且还对健康数据进行了分析。

The men and women were quizzed about whether they had been diagnosed with various conditions or suffered symptoms of them.

男女志愿者被问到身体是否出现过各种健康状况，或者显现过某些病症。

Attractiveness rating was based on the assessment made by each interviewer after a 90-minute session.

相貌评分则是由采访者在90分钟面谈后得出的。

The men and women were put into five categories — very unattractive, unattractive, about average, attractive or very attractive.

这些男女志愿者被分成了五类——非常丑、丑、一般、好看、非常好看。

There were direct links between attractiveness and a number of health conditions, and the more attractive the person was rated, the lower the risk of ill-health.

相貌和健康状况之间确实存在直接联系，越是长得好看的人，患病几率就越低。

For each increase in the rating of physical attractiveness for men, there was a 13 per cent reduction in the likelihood of a diagnosis for high cholesterol, a 20 per cent drop in the risk of high blood pressure, a 15 per cent reduction in the probability of being diagnosed with depression, a 23 per cent decrease in the likelihood of an ADHD diagnosis, and a 21 per cent lower likelihood of stuttering.

男性的相貌评分每高一个等级，那么患高胆固醇的几率就会降低13%，患高血压的几率会降低20%，患抑郁症的概率可下降15%，患多动症的几率可下降23%，患上口吃的概率也要低21%。

Women who were rated as more attractive were 21 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with high blood pressure, 22 per cent less likely to have diabetes, 12 per cent less likely to be asthmatic, 17 per cent less likely to suffer from depression, 18 per cent less likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis, 18 per cent less likely to stutter and 13 per cent less likely to have tinnitus.

至于相貌好看的女性，患高血压的几率会降低21%，患糖尿病的几率则降低22%， 患哮喘的几率降低12%，患抑郁症的几率降低17%，患多动症的概率可减少18%，患口吃的概率也可减少18%，而且患耳鸣的几率能降低13%。

Both the men and women who were rated as very physically attractive were also more positive about their own health and had fewer days off work due to illness.

在相貌上都非常出众的男女志愿者对自身健康也更乐观，并且很少因病请假。

They also had a reduced number of chronic disease diagnoses, of psychological disorders and of disease diagnoses overall.

这类人患慢性病、出现心理失衡或其他各类疾病的概率也较低。

The researchers suggest their findings support the theory that attractiveness is a marker of healthy genes.

研究人员认为，这一发现可以印证“好相貌是健康基因的标志”的理论。

Meanwhile, previous research from Newcastle University in 2012 suggests that children rated as physically unattractive had poorer health by the age of 50.

与此同时，先前纽卡斯尔大学在2012年的一项研究也发现，相貌较差的儿童到50岁时会遇到更多健康问题。

Having a partner is known to have a beneficial impact on health, especially for men. According to the research, unattractive men were 7 per cent — and unattractive women 9 per cent — less likely to have a partner than attractive individuals.

众所周知，尤其对男性而言，拥有伴侣能给身体健康带来益处。而这项研究发现，较之于长得好看的人而言，长得不好看的人更难找到伴侣——丑男人找伴侣要更困难7%，丑女人则是9%。

Unattractive men also tend to have fewer children, and unattractive men and women are 4 per cent more likely to have no one with whom to discuss their problems.

而且丑男人的子女也会更少。长得不好看的男女更难找到可以倾谈的人，并且这一比例要高出4%。

Economist Dr Nils Braakmann, who led the study, said: ‘Ratings of physical attractiveness at age 11 influence health at age 50, even when considering a large variety of childhood conditions, with unattractive people generally faring worse.

经济学家尼尔斯•巴拉克曼是这项调查的负责人。他说：“11岁时的相貌评分能影响50岁时的健康状况。哪怕综合考虑各种童年情况，那些长得丑的人基本上也还是不受待见。”

‘These results imply that individuals who are unattractive at an early age experience large welfare losses due to the way they’re treated by others.’

“这些结论说明，由于不受待见，长得不好看的人从小就享受不到很多好处。”

The fact that we rate certain features as more attractive may be driven by evolution — increasing the likelihood of having offspring.

事实上，人们对好看外貌特征的评价可能也受到了人类进化的影响——这也增加了孕育后代的几率。

For instance, long legs in women could be a visual clue of fitness for childbirth, with research at Gdansk University in Poland suggesting that taller women have wider pelvises, allowing easier births and larger birth-weight babies.

举例而言，腿长的女性可能被认为适合生小孩。波兰格但斯克大学的研究表明，高个女性的骨盆更宽，那么也就更容易生育——尤其是个头大的婴儿。

But Dr Viren Swami, reader in psychology at the University of Westminster, suggests there may be other, non-evolutionary explanations for links between health and beauty.

但是，威斯敏斯特大学心理学博士威伦•斯瓦密认为，健康与美貌之间的关系也可以通过“非进化论”的角度进行阐释。

‘People think that “what is beautiful is good”, and we call this a halo effect,’ he says.

“人们认为‘漂亮的就是美好的’，这就是光圈效应。”他说。

‘Attractive people are perceived as having all kinds of wonderful, positive qualities, and seen as being happier, more popular, more successful, and so on.

“长得好看的人会被认为具备各种美好积极的品质，比如更快乐、更受欢迎、更成功等等。”

‘We also treat them more positively than less attractive people.

“于是，人们对长相好看的人也会更加热情友善。”

'We give them more social space [e.g., more time and understanding to achieve a task] and we are more likely to help them.

“人们给长相好看的人更多社会空间，比如在完成任务时给他们更多时间和理解；人们也更愿意帮助长得好看的人。”

'This being the case, it’s quite possible that the health benefits of being attractive are the result of this better treatment.

“有鉴于此，那么，好相貌和好健康也可能是因为受到好待遇而产生的结果。”

‘For example, attractive people are more likely to be hired, less likely to be fired, and receive a higher starting wage, so it’s possible that any health benefit is the result of their better occupational outcomes.

“比如说，长得好看的人更容易找到工作、不太会被炒鱿鱼、起薪可能相对较高。所以，他们的良好健康也可能是职业发展顺利的结果。”

‘Or, conversely, less attractive people may be less likely to use health-care services because they are concerned about being judged or stigmatised, as in the case of overweight or obese individuals, which obviously has a detrimental effect on their health.

“反之，相貌不出众的人或许就不太去寻求保健服务，因为他们担心自己被人指指点点，对超重或肥胖的人而言尤其如此；而且，这显然会对他们的健康造成重大影响。”

‘So, the health benefit may be an indirect outcome of better treatment in societies that value attractiveness.

“所以，好健康也可能是这个尊崇美貌的社会在优待相貌好看的人时所造成的间接结果。”

'I’m not suggesting the evolutionary perspective is incorrect, only that it’s not the full explanation.’

“这不是说进化论角度的阐释不正确，只是这个解释还有待完善吧。”