家務新主張：常做家務的男性最快樂大綱

Many men are happiest when making an equal contribution to household chores, according to a University of Cambridge study that concludes what many women might have considered unimaginable.
男人在與妻子分擔同等家務活時是最快樂的——這個來自劍橋大學的研究結果可能是許多女人難以想象的吧！

“Contrary to expectations, they found that men, not women, benefited from a less traditional gender role divide in household chores,” the introduction to the study reads.
這項研究的介紹說，“出乎大家意料的是，他們發現，恰恰是男人，在從事家務活方面減少了性別不等的觀念。”

And women weren’t the only ones left scratching their heads. The researchers themselves were surprised with the findings.
除了女人，男人在處理家務活上也傷透了腦筋。這也令研究者本身非常吃驚。

“The academics expected to find that men’s work-family conflict rose, and their well-being fell, when they did more housework,” a University of Cambridge news release states. ”In practice, they found the opposite, with conflict falling, and well-being going up.”
劍橋大學新聞發佈會上指出：“學術界普遍認爲，當男人開始分擔家務後，他們的工作和家庭比重開始失衡，幸福感也會降低。但實際上恰恰相反。男人因爲從事家務活而變得矛盾減少，幸福感大大提升。”

The study was conducted across seven European countries and tens of thousands of participants were asked how much time they spent on tasks such as cooking, washing, cleaning, shopping and property maintenance. They then weighed work-life conflict with other measures of their well-being, which provided the surprising results.
此次研究對象的是從歐洲七個國家挑選出的數萬名受試者。研究主要問及他們在烹飪，洗衣，打掃，購物以及物業維修上所花的時間。之後他們把工作和生活的衝突與影響幸福感的其他因素進行權衡，最後產生了驚人的結果。

Researchers attributed their findings to two factors: They believe more men support gender equality and women are more assertive than in the past.
研究者認爲有兩個原因導致其結果：如今男人更支持男女平等，女人比過去更加獨立堅強。

The researchers said men are actually uncomfortable when they are not taking equal responsibility for housework. And history and habit might also contribute to such guilt.
研究者指出，現在的男人會因爲沒有承擔相等的家務而不安。這種不安也有歷史和習慣的原因。

“[The results] suggest that men may be uncomfortably conscious of work getting in the way of their doing a fair share of chores at home, whereas women have long been used to doing a ‘double shift,’” the introduction says.
”這項研究結果表明男人或許會因爲沒有承擔和女人相等家務而不安，而女人一直以來都習慣於兩人共同承擔家務。“研究簡介顯示。

Women’s attitudes are also evolving, allowing them to voice their concerns. “Women are becoming more assertive and making their dissatisfaction with lazy partners plain,” the news release states.
女人這方面的態度在改變，開始明確表達出自己的感受。新聞發佈會上指出，”當今女人更加獨立，會對自己的另一半的懶惰感到不滿“。

The research, titled “Gendered Lives,” which includes the findings on men and household chores, analyzes several other aspects of gender equality as well, including equality at home and in the workplace.
以”性別化生活“爲標題的這項研究，主要包括男人和家務活之間的關係方面研究結果，同時還分析了男女在工作上和家庭上平等的其他幾個方面。

While this aspect of the gender gap seems to be closing, the researchers saw mixed results in other areas.
雖然家務上的性別差異看起來告一段落，但研究者在其他領域上仍發現一些複雜的結果。

“Prospects for the future remain mixed. On the one hand, an investigation into the business case for closing the workplace gender gap was ‘not encouraging,’” the news release states. ”At the same time, however, there are grounds for optimism. Regardless of policy regimes, researchers found evidence that across Europe, the gap between women and men in terms of how much paid and unpaid work both do, is closing.”
“未來前景還有待明朗。再者，縮小職場性別差異的調研情況也並不樂觀”，發佈會上表示，”但與此同時，我們仍有理由保持積極態度。即使現存的政治制度無法改變，但研究者發現，在歐洲，男人和女人已經不再清楚計算各自該做多少有償和無償工作了。”

Overall, the researchers believe gender equality is moving, however slowly, in the right direction. “The conclusion is that as far as gender roles are concerned,” the book’s editors find, “there is staggered adaptation, rather than a stalled revolution.”
總之，研究者認爲，即使兩性平等發展速度緩慢，但卻是朝着一個正確的方向進行着。“就目前的形式來看”，此書的編輯認爲，“兩性平等不會停滯不前，我們也將會逐漸適應這個趨勢。”