A stable marriage has the same emotional value to a husband or wife as a salary of ?65,000 a year, it was claimed yesterday。

　　据说，一段稳定、幸福、美满的婚姻给丈夫或妻子带来的精神上的满足感相当于一份年薪65000英镑(约合69万人民币)工作的所带来的快乐。

　　Couples in long-term marriages are ‘significantly more content’ than those who are unmarried, journalist and author David Brooks told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme。

　　记者兼作家David Brooks在接受英国BBC电台节目采访时如是说，比起那些形单影只的孤家寡人来说，那些沉静稳定婚姻中的夫妇能够获得“更加深刻的满足”。

　　‘Marriage is tremendously important,’ he said. ‘We have a tendency to think of ourselves as rational individuals who are driven by economic motives, but in fact we are social individuals, driven by the need for relationships.’

　　“美满的婚姻是相当重要的，”他说。“虽然我们倾向于认为自己是理性的个体，并且是受经济因素所驱使，不过事实上，我们都是具有社会性的人，驱使我们的对与感情关系的需要。”

　　He has calculated the ‘psychic benefit’ of a long marriage at ?65,000 a year。

　　David Brooks计算，幸福而持久的婚姻的“精神福利”价值相当于每年65000英镑。

　　His estimate of the financial value of marriage is even higher than that of social researchers who look at the cash differences between married and unmarried people。

　　据他估计，比起社会研究院们就已婚与未婚人群在经济层面的区别所得出的结果而言，婚姻所带来的经历价值远远要大得多。

　　Both official and independently-produced figures show that married couples are better off than others, including couples who live together。

　　来自官方和民间的调查数据均小时，已婚的夫妇的(经济方面的)情况的确优于其他人，这其中包括了那些同居的情侣。

　　Mr Brooks, author of a new book, The Social Animal, said that relationships are more important than money and students should take study courses about who they might marry。

　　David Brooks表示，感情关系的重要性超过了经济情况，“学生们应该好好研究一下他们到底将要与怎么样的对象成婚。”

　　The journalist with the New York Times added: 'Joining a club that meets once a month produces the same happiness gain as doubling your income.'

　　这位纽约时报的记者还说到，“每个月参加一次俱乐部的活动所带来的幸福感相当于你收入翻一番所让你感到的满足。”

　　He said that people's emotions are strongly influence by their surroundings but that it is possible to control them。

　　他表示，人们的感情是会受到环境的严重影响的，不过仍是有可能去控制他们的。

　　'We have the power to educate our emotions,' Mr Brooks said. 'The art and music we listen to affects our emotions. By changing our environment we change our mind.'

　　“我们有能力来管理自己的情绪，”Brooks说，“观赏艺术品和聆听音乐都会对我们的情绪产生影响，改变了环境也就是改变了我们的心灵。”

　　He added: 'One of the most important things you can do is learn how to read and attune to other people. We all work better in groups than we do as individuals。

　　他还说到：“我们需要学会的意见非常重要的事是如何读懂别人并且将步调调节到与之同步的状态，我们在集体中的表现总是要比单干优秀得多。”

　　'Even for middle-aged guys, attuning to emotional signals of people around you is probably the most important thing. We are networked, we are social animals.'

　　“就算是已经人到中年，与周围人所发散出的感情频率相一致也是件非常重要的事，我们身处在一个网络之中，我们都是社会的动物。”