在某些文化中，幸福可能使人更健康

I am an Eeyore; I know this. I'm a glass-half-empty, worst-case-scenario, dwell-on-the-imperfections, existential-dread ruminating worrywart, and I envy the people I encounter who seem to effortlessly exude perkiness and fun.

我是一只貓頭鷹，我知道這一點(diǎn)。我是一個(gè)半空的玻璃杯，最壞的情況，糾纏于不完美，恐懼和憂慮，我羨慕我遇到的那些似乎毫不費(fèi)力就散發(fā)出古怪和樂(lè)趣的人。

That's not to say there's no joy in my life; it just doesn't come as naturally to me as it appears to for others. And yet despite fully meeting the textbook definition of "the opposite of an optimist," I've never thought to label myself a pessimist.

這并不是說(shuō)我的生活中沒(méi)有快樂(lè);只是它對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)并不像其他人看起來(lái)那么自然。然而，盡管完全符合教科書對(duì)“樂(lè)觀主義者的反面”的定義，我從未想過(guò)要給自己貼上悲觀主義者的標(biāo)簽。

In large part, that's because of the baggage associated with the term. In America, the tyranny of positivity reigns supreme, so much so that I often find myself worrying about how much I worry.

在很大程度上，這是因?yàn)榕c這個(gè)術(shù)語(yǔ)相關(guān)的包袱。在美國(guó)，積極向上的暴政至高無(wú)上，以至于我經(jīng)常發(fā)現(xiàn)自己擔(dān)心自己有多擔(dān)心。

I worry about my gloomy outlook because of how strongly our culture emphasizes the value of a positive one.

我擔(dān)心我的悲觀前景，因?yàn)槲覀兊奈幕绱藦?qiáng)烈地強(qiáng)調(diào)積極的價(jià)值觀。

And I worry about the ways that all my worrying could potentially affect my health and the health of those around me.

我擔(dān)心我所有的擔(dān)心可能會(huì)影響我的健康和我周圍的人的健康。

Just a few months ago, the New York Times declaredthat "studies have shown an indisputable link between having a positive outlook and health benefits like lower blood pressure, less heart disease, better weight control and healthier blood sugar levels." Plenty of news articles present similar ideas in a stark black-and-white fashion: optimists live longer; pessimism kills.

就在幾個(gè)月前，“紐約時(shí)報(bào)”(The New York Times)宣布，“研究表明，擁有積極的前景與降血壓、減少心臟病、更好地控制體重和更健康的血糖水平等健康益處之間存在著無(wú)可爭(zhēng)辯的聯(lián)系。”大量的新聞文章以赤裸裸的黑白分明的方式提出了類似的觀點(diǎn)：樂(lè)觀主義者活得更長(zhǎng);悲觀主義會(huì)致命。

In a study published last month in the journal Psychological Science, a team of psychologists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reported that positivity was related to improved health markers in Americans, but not in Japanese people.

在上月發(fā)表于《心理科學(xué)》(Psychological Science)雜志上的一項(xiàng)研究中，威斯康星大學(xué)麥迪遜分校(University of Wisconsin-Madison)的一組心理學(xué)家報(bào)告稱，美國(guó)人的積極情緒與健康指標(biāo)的改善有關(guān)，但對(duì)日本人則不是如此。

The study authors analyzed health data from 1,017 American and 374 Japanese people, taken from the Midlife in the United States and Midlife in Japan studies, both funded by the National Institute on Aging. Participants reported how frequently they had felt ten different positive emotions in the previous 30 days, and blood samples were taken to measure lipid levels, an indicator of heart health.

該研究的作者分析了1017名美國(guó)人和374名日本人的健康數(shù)據(jù)，這些數(shù)據(jù)分別來(lái)自美國(guó)的中年和日本的中年研究，均由美國(guó)國(guó)家老齡化研究所(National Institute on Aging)資助。參與者報(bào)告了他們?cè)谶^(guò)去30天內(nèi)感到十種不同積極情緒的頻率，并采集了血液樣本來(lái)測(cè)量血脂水平，這是衡量心臟健康的一個(gè)指標(biāo)。

Even after accounting for things like a person's age, gender, socioeconomic status, and chronic health conditions, there was a significant difference between the two groups: "American adults who experience high levels of positive emotions, such as feeling 'cheerful' and 'extremely happy,' are more likely to have healthy blood-lipid profiles," explains lead study author Jiah Yoo, but the same was not true among Japanese adults.

即使考慮了一個(gè)人的年齡、性別、社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況和慢性健康狀況等因素，兩組之間也存在顯著差異：“經(jīng)歷高水平積極情緒的美國(guó)成年人，如感覺(jué)‘快樂(lè)’和‘極度快樂(lè)’，更有可能擁有健康的血脂譜，”該研究的主要作者Jah Yoo解釋道，但在日本成年人中并非如此。

The discrepancy, she adds, "suggests that health implications of positive emotions may not be completely driven by the inherent nature of positive emotions, but also shaped by American cultural context."

她補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，這種差異“表明積極情緒對(duì)健康的影響可能并非完全由積極情緒的固有性質(zhì)所驅(qū)動(dòng)，而是由美國(guó)文化背景所塑造的。”

"In American cultures, experiencing positive emotions is seen as desirable and is even encouraged via socialization," Yoo explains. "But in East Asian cultures, people commonly view positive emotions as having dark sides -- they are fleeting, may attract unnecessary attention from others, and can be a distraction from focusing on important tasks."

“在美國(guó)文化中，體驗(yàn)積極的情緒被視為是可取的，甚至通過(guò)社交得到鼓勵(lì)，”Yoo 解釋說(shuō)。“但在東亞文化中，人們通常認(rèn)為積極情緒有不好的一面——它們轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝，可能會(huì)引起他人不必要的注意，還可能分散人們對(duì)重要任務(wù)的注意力。”