Shared dreams and ambitions can help make a successful relationship. But it seems the rather less romantic link of a shared commute can also help.
共同的梦想和抱负可以帮助恋爱成功。但是似乎上下班同行也有一样的效果,尽管没那么的浪漫。
Married couples are happier if they travel to work in the same direction, says a study. Experts believe it makes couples feel they share wider goals in life.
一项研究显示夫妻如果通勤的方向相同,会更幸福。专家认为这让夫妻感到两人共同拥有的更为远大的人生目标。
They say the findings suggest newlyweds should consider choosing a home that requires them both to commute in one direction, rather than one located at the midway point between their two work places.
他们表示研究发现新婚夫妇应该选择住在能够让两人通勤方向相同的地方,而不是在两人工作单位连线的中间。
'Couples’ marital satisfaction can depend on whether they commute to work in the same or different directions,' said lead researcher Irene Huang, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
香港中文大学(微博)首席研究员黄艾琳(Irene Huang)表示:夫妻的婚姻满意度会受到通勤方向是否相同的影响。
'Physically moving in a particular goal-relevant direction (e.g. commuting to work) might become associated with more general goal-related concepts.'
实际意义上向特定目标方向移动(比如:上下班)会与抽象意义上的目标概念相联系。
The researchers say physical actions are metaphorically linked to wider beliefs and this is exemplified by the use of phrases such as 'going our separate ways' to describe couples who separate due to differences in their goals.
研究员表示身体的动作通常比喻在我们惯知的短语里。例如短语“各走各的路”就被用来形容夫妻两人因为目标的不同而分道扬镳。
They quote the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince, who said: 'Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but looking in the same direction together.'
他们同时引用小王子的作者、法国作家圣-德克旭贝里的话:爱情不是四目交接,而是两人共同眺望同一个方向。
The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, involved two surveys of married working adults, with participants asked how happy they were with their marriage and how satisfied they were with their spouse on a scale of one to nine.
这项发表在实验社会心理学期刊上的研究涉及两项调查,包括从一到九评级的已婚工作男女婚姻幸福度及对伴侣的满意度。
The first survey involved 280 adults in the US, who were aged 33 on average and had been married for an average of eight years.
第一项调查参与者主要有280名平均年龄33岁,平均婚龄8年的美国成年男女。
Huang and her colleagues found a clear correlation between commuting in the same direction and higher marital satisfaction. They also found that this link existed independent of other factors such as number of years married, number of children, income level and differences in actual time spent commuting.
黄和她的同事发现通勤方向相同和高婚姻满意度之间存在着明显的相关关系。他们同时发现这样的关系不受其他的因素如婚龄、育儿数、收入水平、通勤时间的影响。
Furthermore, the link did not depend on whether or not couples sometimes left home for work together, meaning it was not due to having the chance to talk together while commuting.
并且,这种关系与夫妻是否时常一起上下班没有关系,也就是说高婚姻满意度与上下班同行带来的更多交谈机会没有关系。
The second survey involved 139 married adults in Hong Kong, who were 42 years old on average and had been married for an average of 13 years.
第二项调查主要涉及139名平均年龄42岁,平均婚龄达13年的香港成年男女。
It showed a similar correlation to the US results, which also held independent of other relevant factors.
调查结果出现了与美国组相似的相关性,并且这种关系是不受其他相关因素干扰的。
A further study involving 80 strangers arranged into pairs showed that they also rated each other more positively if they walked in the same direction to carry out a task. The experts say this proves the influence of moving on the same direction on 'interpersonal attraction' and means the results on marriage could not be simply down to couples who travel the same way to work being more likely to meet for drinks or dinner afterwards.
另一项更进一步的调查将80名互不相识的陌生人搭配成对,结果显示如果他们在执行任务时,行走方向相同,对对方的评价来得更为积极。专家表示这证实了同向性对人际吸引力的影响,说明通勤方向相同的夫妻婚姻满意度更高不仅仅是因为他们有更多可以见面吃饭的机会。
Huang said choosing a home that is midway between two work places might be a mistake because 'mere similarity in the direction of commuting to work increases marital satisfaction'.
黄说因为通勤的同向性可以提升婚姻的满意度,那么将家安在两人工作单位连线的中间将会是个错误。(来源:沪江英语)