囧研究：相貌好看的人不容易生病

Attractive people are less likely to get tinnitus — and asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure, according to new research.
根據最新研究，相貌好看的人不太容易患上耳鳴、哮喘、糖尿病以及高血壓。

The more physically attractive men and women are rated, the more unlikely they are to suffer from a wide range of health problems, from high cholesterol to depression.
外貌出衆的人在高膽固醇、抑鬱症等各種健康問題方面，患病機率都比較低。

They also feel healthier, have less time off work and are diagnosed with fewer physical and mental health conditions during their lifetime.
而且他們一輩子都能過得更健康，不太會請病假，並且身心健康方面也很少出狀況。

These extraordinary findings by U.S. researchers are based on a study of 15,000 men and women aged 24 to 35 who have been followed since they were ten.
這一意外發現是由美國研究人員得出的。他們對15000位24-35歲的男女志願者進行了從十歲時就展開的跟蹤調查。

It’s the biggest study yet to find links between attractiveness and good health, and the first to home in on a number of individual diseases.
這是目前在發掘外貌與健康關係方面規模最大的一項調查，並且也是首個針對某些個別疾病的調查。

The researchers, from the University of Cincinnati and other centres, point out that, until now, most studies have been on students.
來自辛辛那提大學及其他中心的研究人員指出，到目前爲止，大部分調查對象都還是學生。

Their new research is based on interviews with a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population.
他們的最新研究是基於對全美代表性個例的採訪進行的。

And, unlike earlier studies, this is based on the researchers’ ratings of the participants’ physical attractiveness done face-to-face, rather than assessments based on pictures, drawings or videos.
並且，不同於以往的是，這次調查中，研究人員對志願者外貌的評價是面對面得出的，而不是通過照片、畫像或視頻。

The researchers, whose work is being published in the journal Evolution And Human Behaviour, say that attractiveness may be a marker of good genes, which also signal good health, as well as increasing the likelihood of having healthy offspring.
這項調查的結果已經發表在了《進化與人類行爲》雜誌上。相關研究人員表示，好相貌可能也是好基因的標誌，這也意味着身體健康，以後生育的子女也會健康。

The study involved face-to-face interviews and questionnaires, as well as an analysis of health data.
調查形式有面對面採訪和調查問卷，並且還對健康數據進行了分析。

The men and women were quizzed about whether they had been diagnosed with various conditions or suffered symptoms of them.
男女志願者被問到身體是否出現過各種健康狀況，或者顯現過某些病症。

Attractiveness rating was based on the assessment made by each interviewer after a 90-minute session.
相貌評分則是由採訪者在90分鐘面談後得出的。

The men and women were put into five categories — very unattractive, unattractive, about average, attractive or very attractive.
這些男女志願者被分成了五類——非常醜、醜、一般、好看、非常好看。

There were direct links between attractiveness and a number of health conditions, and the more attractive the person was rated, the lower the risk of ill-health.
相貌和健康狀況之間確實存在直接聯繫，越是長得好看的人，患病機率就越低。

For each increase in the rating of physical attractiveness for men, there was a 13 per cent reduction in the likelihood of a diagnosis for high cholesterol, a 20 per cent drop in the risk of high blood pressure, a 15 per cent reduction in the probability of being diagnosed with depression, a 23 per cent decrease in the likelihood of an ADHD diagnosis, and a 21 per cent lower likelihood of stuttering.
男性的相貌評分每高一個等級，那麼患高膽固醇的機率就會降低13%，患高血壓的機率會降低20%，患抑鬱症的概率可下降15%，患多動症的機率可下降23%，患上口吃的概率也要低21%。

Women who were rated as more attractive were 21 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with high blood pressure, 22 per cent less likely to have diabetes, 12 per cent less likely to be asthmatic, 17 per cent less likely to suffer from depression, 18 per cent less likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis, 18 per cent less likely to stutter and 13 per cent less likely to have tinnitus.
至於相貌好看的女性，患高血壓的機率會降低21%，患糖尿病的機率則降低22%， 患哮喘的機率降低12%，患抑鬱症的機率降低17%，患多動症的概率可減少18%，患口吃的概率也可減少18%，而且患耳鳴的機率能降低13%。

Both the men and women who were rated as very physically attractive were also more positive about their own health and had fewer days off work due to illness.
在相貌上都非常出衆的男女志願者對自身健康也更樂觀，並且很少因病請假。

They also had a reduced number of chronic disease diagnoses, of psychological disorders and of disease diagnoses overall.
這類人患慢性病、出現心理失衡或其他各類疾病的概率也較低。

The researchers suggest their findings support the theory that attractiveness is a marker of healthy genes.
研究人員認爲，這一發現可以印證“好相貌是健康基因的標誌”的理論。

Meanwhile, previous research from Newcastle University in 2012 suggests that children rated as physically unattractive had poorer health by the age of 50.
與此同時，先前紐卡斯爾大學在2012年的一項研究也發現，相貌較差的兒童到50歲時會遇到更多健康問題。

Having a partner is known to have a beneficial impact on health, especially for men. According to the research, unattractive men were 7 per cent — and unattractive women 9 per cent — less likely to have a partner than attractive individuals.
衆所周知，尤其對男性而言，擁有伴侶能給身體健康帶來益處。而這項研究發現，較之於長得好看的人而言，長得不好看的人更難找到伴侶——醜男人找伴侶要更困難7%，醜女人則是9%。

Unattractive men also tend to have fewer children, and unattractive men and women are 4 per cent more likely to have no one with whom to discuss their problems.
而且醜男人的子女也會更少。長得不好看的男女更難找到可以傾談的人，並且這一比例要高出4%。Economist Dr Nils Braakmann, who led the study, said: ‘Ratings of physical attractiveness at age 11 influence health at age 50, even when considering a large variety of childhood conditions, with unattractive people generally faring worse.
經濟學家尼爾斯•巴拉克曼是這項調查的負責人。他說：“11歲時的相貌評分能影響50歲時的健康狀況。哪怕綜合考慮各種童年情況，那些長得醜的人基本上也還是不受待見。”

‘These results imply that individuals who are unattractive at an early age experience large welfare losses due to the way they’re treated by others.’
“這些結論說明，由於不受待見，長得不好看的人從小就享受不到很多好處。”

The fact that we rate certain features as more attractive may be driven by evolution — increasing the likelihood of having offspring.
事實上，人們對好看外貌特徵的評價可能也受到了人類進化的影響——這也增加了孕育後代的機率。

For instance, long legs in women could be a visual clue of fitness for childbirth, with research at Gdansk University in Poland suggesting that taller women have wider pelvises, allowing easier births and larger birth-weight babies.
舉例而言，腿長的女性可能被認爲適合生小孩。波蘭格但斯克大學的研究表明，高個女性的骨盆更寬，那麼也就更容易生育——尤其是個頭大的嬰兒。

But Dr Viren Swami, reader in psychology at the University of Westminster, suggests there may be other, non-evolutionary explanations for links between health and beauty.
但是，威斯敏斯特大學心理學博士威倫•斯瓦密認爲，健康與美貌之間的關係也可以通過“非進化論”的角度進行闡釋。

‘People think that “what is beautiful is good”, and we call this a halo effect,’ he says.
“人們認爲‘漂亮的就是美好的’，這就是光圈效應。”他說。

‘Attractive people are perceived as having all kinds of wonderful, positive qualities, and seen as being happier, more popular, more successful, and so on.
“長得好看的人會被認爲具備各種美好積極的品質，比如更快樂、更受歡迎、更成功等等。”

‘We also treat them more positively than less attractive people.
“於是，人們對長相好看的人也會更加熱情友善。”

'We give them more social space [e.g., more time and understanding to achieve a task] and we are more likely to help them.
“人們給長相好看的人更多社會空間，比如在完成任務時給他們更多時間和理解；人們也更願意幫助長得好看的人。”

'This being the case, it’s quite possible that the health benefits of being attractive are the result of this better treatment.
“有鑑於此，那麼，好相貌和好健康也可能是因爲受到好待遇而產生的結果。”

‘For example, attractive people are more likely to be hired, less likely to be fired, and receive a higher starting wage, so it’s possible that any health benefit is the result of their better occupational outcomes.
“比如說，長得好看的人更容易找到工作、不太會被炒魷魚、起薪可能相對較高。所以，他們的良好健康也可能是職業發展順利的結果。”

‘Or, conversely, less attractive people may be less likely to use health-care services because they are concerned about being judged or stigmatised, as in the case of overweight or obese individuals, which obviously has a detrimental effect on their health.
“反之，相貌不出衆的人或許就不太去尋求保健服務，因爲他們擔心自己被人指指點點，對超重或肥胖的人而言尤其如此；而且，這顯然會對他們的健康造成重大影響。”

‘So, the health benefit may be an indirect outcome of better treatment in societies that value attractiveness.
“所以，好健康也可能是這個尊崇美貌的社會在優待相貌好看的人時所造成的間接結果。”

'I’m not suggesting the evolutionary perspective is incorrect, only that it’s not the full explanation.’
“這不是說進化論角度的闡釋不正確，只是這個解釋還有待完善吧。”