侯冬意

Have you ever squealed （尖叫） when you saw a cute puppy （小狗） or darling infant？ If you have， youre not alone. New research finds that seeing something cute actually does bring out aggression （攻擊性） in us.

你有沒有在看到萌犬或是可愛的嬰兒的時候激動地尖叫呢？如果是的，你不是一個人在戰(zhàn)斗。最新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)看見可愛的東西確實會讓人變得更加有攻擊性。

Researchers， led by Rebecca Dyer， a graduate student （研究生） in psychology （心理學） at Yale University （耶魯大學）， ran an experiment to see if cuteness （可愛） aggression was real. They found 109 people to look at pictures of animals included cute， funny and normal photos of puppies. Those lucky participants （參與者） then rated （評分） how they felt about the pictures and how much they felt the pictures made them lose control. The result is that the cuter the animal is， the more aggressive the response is.

耶魯大學心理學碩士Rebecca Dyer領導的研究者團隊先做了個實驗看看“萌”引發(fā)的攻擊性究竟是不是真的。他們給109個實驗參與者分別看了不同的動物圖片，包括可愛的、搞笑的，以及正常的小狗的照片。這些幸運的參與者們接著對照片給他們的感覺進行了評價，還要形容出他們對圖片的失控程度。結果顯示：動物越可愛，人們的反應也越激烈。

Dyer said “We think its about high positive affection （感情） and almost a sense of lost control. Its so adorable， it drives you crazy.”

Dyer 說：“我們認為，這種現(xiàn)象表現(xiàn)為高度積極的感情和一種幾乎失控的感覺。它太可愛了，可愛到讓你發(fā)瘋?！?/p>

Still， those results could only prove （證明） a verbal （言語的） expression for cuteness， rather than a real feeling. So Dyer and her partners asked 90 volunteers for a second experiment.

盡管如此，這些研究結果只能證明人們對萌物有一種言語表達的傾向，而不能證明是真實的情感。于是黛兒和她的同伴們又邀請了90名志愿者進行了另一個實驗。

Volunteers were given bubble wrap （氣泡膜） and told they could pop （使……砰地一聲爆裂） as much of it as they wanted when they see the pictures of wide-eyed kittens and lovely babies. In fact， the researchers really wanted to know if people would respond to cute animals with an outward （外向的） display （顯示） of aggression， popping more bubbles， compared with people looking at normal or funny animals.

研究者給了志愿者們一些外包裝氣泡膜，告訴他們在看到大眼睛的貓咪和胖乎乎的寶寶時，隨便擠破多少都可以。實際上，研究人員真正的目的是想了解，與對搞笑動物及正常的動物相比，人們是否會對可愛的萌物產(chǎn)生一種直接外向的攻擊性。

In fact， people not only tell these aggressive desires with phrases like“I just want to squeeze something”， but also really do act them out. In the study， researchers found that people watching a slide show （幻燈片） of pictures of cute animals popped more bubbles than those who watched funny or normal pictures.

事實上，地球人不僅愿意把攻擊性的欲望用語言，比方說“我就想捏點啥”表達出來，還特熱衷于將其付諸實踐。在這個研究當中，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)人們在觀看可愛的萌物圖片時捏破泡泡的數(shù)量要比觀看搞笑或正常動物圖片時的更多。

Dyer said she and her partners arent sure yet why cuteness seems to trigger （引發(fā)） expressions of aggression.

黛兒表示她和她的同事還沒搞清楚為什么萌屬性會引發(fā)有暴力特征的行為。

But since the animal is just a picture， and since even in real life we might not be able to care for the lovely animal as much as we want， and the frustration （挫折；挫敗感） could lead to aggression.

但因為這個動物只是一張圖片，并且在現(xiàn)實生活中，即使我們想，可能也沒機會照看這樣一只萌物，于是挫敗感則可能導致攻擊性。

“We think its almost a sense of lost control，” said Dyer. “You know， you cant stand it， you cant handle it， that kind of thing.” Its just as a child wanting to care for a cat might hug （抱緊） it too tightly and get scratched （撓） .

“我們認為這幾乎是一種失控”，Dyer說， “你們懂的，你覺得受不了，欲罷不能，就是那種感覺?！本秃孟褚粋€孩子想輕撫小貓但未曾想抓得太緊了（有可能還為此被貓撓了一下）。

It might not be specific to cuteness， too. As when Miss America sobs （啜泣） while receiving her crown， such high levels of positive emotion may overwhelm （淹沒；壓倒） people. And the dealing with high positive emotion keeps the balance of emotion and releases that energy.

也可能，原因不光在于萌。就像當美國小姐接受加冕冠時卻哽咽了一樣，人們可能會被過高的積極情緒所湮沒。而我們處理正能量的方式讓我們保持了情緒上的平衡并且釋放富余能量。

So the next time an aunt moves in to pinch your cheeks， just think — you cant help being cute.

所以下次哪個阿姨捏你臉的時候，你要這樣想——沒辦法，你實在是太可愛了。