真相了！沒(méi)結(jié)婚沒(méi)孩子的女性更幸福

童話故事里，公主的結(jié)局總是遇到白馬王子，從此永遠(yuǎn)幸?？鞓?lè)。似乎找到如意郎君就會(huì)改變單身的“悲慘生活”。

但是，權(quán)威專(zhuān)家指出，事實(shí)正好相反。幸?？鞓?lè)的是單身女性，結(jié)婚后才是過(guò)上了悲慘生活，不但更不健康、更不快樂(lè)，死得也更早。

We may have suspected it already, but now the science backs it up: unmarried and childless women are the happiest subgroup in the population. And they are more likely to live longer than their married and child-rearing peers, according to a leading expert in happiness.

可能早已有人開(kāi)始懷疑，但如今有了科學(xué)依據(jù)：未婚和沒(méi)有孩子的女性是最幸福的人群。而且，據(jù)幸福研究權(quán)威專(zhuān)家稱(chēng)，這部分女性比那些已婚有孩子的女性更長(zhǎng)壽。

Speaking at the Hay festival, Paul Dolan, a professor of behavioral science at the London School of Economics, said the latest evidence showed that the traditional markers used to measure success did not correlate with happiness – particularly marriage and raising children.

倫敦經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)院行為科學(xué)教授保羅·多蘭在海伊文化藝術(shù)節(jié)上說(shuō)，最新的證據(jù)顯示，用于衡量成功的傳統(tǒng)標(biāo)志——尤其是婚姻和養(yǎng)小孩——和幸福無(wú)關(guān)。

"Married people are happier than other population subgroups, but only when their spouse is in the room when they’re asked how happy they are. When the spouse is not present: f**king miserable,” he said.

他說(shuō)：“已婚人群比其他人群幸福，那是在配偶在場(chǎng)的時(shí)候被問(wèn)及是否幸福，人們才這么說(shuō)。當(dāng)配偶不在的時(shí)候，人們的回答是：太悲慘了?！?

"We do have some good longitudinal data following the same people over time, but I am going to do a massive disservice to that science and just say: if you’re a man, you should probably get married; if you’re a woman, don’t bother.”

“我們確實(shí)在一段時(shí)間內(nèi)跟蹤調(diào)查了同一批人并收集了優(yōu)質(zhì)的縱向數(shù)據(jù)，但我想把這種科學(xué)方法甩到一邊，直接得出結(jié)論說(shuō)：如果你是男性，你應(yīng)該結(jié)婚；如果你是女性，還是別結(jié)了?！?

Men benefited from marriage because they “calmed down”, he said. “You take less risks, you earn more money at work, and you live a little longer. She, on the other hand, has to put up with that, and dies sooner than if she never married. The healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children,” he said.

他說(shuō)，男性從婚姻中受益是因?yàn)樗麄儭捌届o了下來(lái)”?！敖Y(jié)婚后，男性承擔(dān)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)更少，掙的錢(qián)更多，壽命也能長(zhǎng)一點(diǎn)。與此同時(shí)，女性不得不忍受婚姻生活，而且死得也比終身未婚的女性更早。最健康最快樂(lè)的人群是一輩子不結(jié)婚或不生養(yǎng)孩子的女性?！?

put up with: 忍受（某人或某事）

Dolan’s latest book, Happy Ever After, cites evidence from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which compared levels of pleasure and misery in unmarried, married, divorced, separated and widowed individuals. The study found that levels of happiness reported by those who were married was higher than the unmarried, but only when their spouse was in the room. Unmarried individuals reported lower levels of misery than married individuals who were asked when their spouse was not present.

多蘭的新書(shū)《從此永遠(yuǎn)幸?？鞓?lè)》援引了美國(guó)時(shí)間使用調(diào)查報(bào)告的證據(jù)，該調(diào)查對(duì)比了未婚、已婚、離異、分居和鰥寡人群的快樂(lè)和痛苦的水平。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，已婚人群所報(bào)告的快樂(lè)水平高于未婚人群，但只有在配偶在場(chǎng)時(shí)才如此。當(dāng)配偶不在場(chǎng)時(shí)，已婚人群所報(bào)告的痛苦水平高于未婚人群。

Other studies have measured some financial and health benefits in being married for both men and women on average, which Dolan said could be attributed to higher incomes and emotional support, allowing married people to take risks and seek medical help.

其他研究衡量了婚姻給男性和女性帶來(lái)的平均經(jīng)濟(jì)和健康效益，多蘭說(shuō)，這些效益源于更高水平的收入和情感支持，讓已婚人群可以承擔(dān)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和尋求醫(yī)療幫助。

However, Dolan said men showed more health benefits from tying the knot, as they took fewer risks. Women’s health was mostly unaffected by marriage, with middle-aged married women even being at higher risk of physical and mental conditions than their single counterparts.

但是，多蘭表示，男性顯然從婚姻中獲得了更多健康效益，因?yàn)樗麄兂袚?dān)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)更少。女性的健康基本不會(huì)因婚姻而改善，已婚中年婦女身心受損的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)比單身女性更高。

tie the knot: 結(jié)婚

Despite the benefits of a single, childless lifestyle for women, Dolan said that the existing narrative that marriage and children were signs of success meant that the stigma could lead some single women to feel unhappy.

盡管單身、沒(méi)有孩子的生活方式對(duì)女性有好處，但多蘭指出，社會(huì)輿論認(rèn)為，婚姻和孩子是成功的標(biāo)志，這意味著一些單身女性會(huì)因恥辱感而感到不快樂(lè)。

"You see a single woman of 40, who has never had children – ‘Bless, that’s a shame, isn’t it? Maybe one day you’ll meet the right guy and that’ll change.’ No, maybe she’ll meet the wrong guy and that’ll change. Maybe she’ll meet a guy who makes her less happy and healthy, and die sooner.”

“如果你看到一個(gè)從未生養(yǎng)孩子的40歲單身女性，你會(huì)說(shuō)：‘好可惜！也許有一天你會(huì)遇到合適的男人，一切都會(huì)改變。’不，也許她會(huì)遇到錯(cuò)的男人，一切都會(huì)改變。也許她會(huì)遇到一個(gè)男人，讓她更不快樂(lè)、更不健康，然后死得更早?！?

（編輯：夏花）