研究:周圍女性少 男性出手更大方

Men turn from penny-pinching savers to big spenders if they think there is a shortage of women around them according to new research.

新研究顯示，男性認爲周圍女性數量不足時就會從小氣節儉變成慷慨大方。

When men believe that competition for wives and girlfriends is increasing they become impulsive with their money and even increase their borrowing.

當男性認爲娶媳婦或找女朋友的競爭變得激烈時，他們花錢會變得衝動，甚至會借更多的錢。

To test their theory that sex ratios affect economic decisions, researchers at Minnesota University's Carlson School of Management told volunteers to read articles that described their local population as having more men or more women.

爲了測試“性別比會影響經濟決策”這一理論，明尼蘇達大學卡爾森管理學院的研究員讓志願者們朗讀一些文章，這些文章描述了當地人口男性偏多或者女性偏多的情況。

They were then asked to indicate how much money they would save each month from a pay cheque, as well as how much they would borrow with credit cards for immediate expenditures.

然後研究員們要求志願者指出他們準備從每個月的收入中存下多少錢，以及他們會從信用卡中借多少錢用來應急。

When led to believe women were scarce, the savings rates for men decreased by 42 percent.

當志願者們得知女性數量不足時，男性志願者們的存款率下降了42%。

Men were also willing to borrow 84 percent more money each month.

此外男性每個月打算借的錢數增加了84%。

In another study, participants saw photographs showing more men, more women or were neutral.

在另一個研究中，參與者們看到的圖片顯示男性更多、女性更多或男性和女性一樣多。

After looking at the photographs, participants were asked to choose between receiving some money tomorrow or a larger amount in a month.

看完後，研究人員要求參與者在“明天得到一點錢”和“一個月後得到更多的錢”兩者間做出選擇。

When women were scarce in the photos, men were much more likely to take an immediate $20 rather than wait for $30 in a month.

當圖片中女性較少時，男性更傾向於選擇馬上拿到20美元，而非一個月後拿到30美元。

Study leader Vlada Griskevicius said: "What we see in other animals is that when females are scarce, males become more competitive. They compete more for access to mates."

該研究的帶頭人伏拉達•格里斯克維修斯說：“我們從其他動物身上可以看到，當雌性數量不足時，雄性間的競爭變得更激烈。它們的競爭加劇是爲了獲得交配機會。”

"How do humans compete for access to mates? What you find across cultures is that men often do it through money, through status and through products."

“人類是如何爲得到求偶機會而競爭的呢？縱覽各種文化，你會發現男性通常憑藉金錢、地位和成果來競爭。”

"It turns out we have a lot in common with other animals. Some of our behaviours are much more reflexive and subconscious. We see that there are more men than women in our environment and it automatically changes our desires, our behaviours, and our entire psychology."

“研究表明，我們與其它動物有很多相同之處。我們的一些行爲更具反射性，而且更多地來自潛意識。當我們看到我們生活的環境中男性比女性更多時，我們的慾望、行爲和整個心理世界就會不自覺地發生改變。”

詞彙點津：

penny-pinching: 小氣的

pay cheque: 【英】薪金(或工資)支票，付薪金用的支票

automatically: 無意識地，不自覺地