研究:散播流言能让人平静 有益健康

　　Gossip is healthy because it helps calm you down and is important in maintaining social order, a new study claims.

　　一项新研究称，散播流言有益健康，因为散播流言能让人平静下来，对于维持社会秩序也很重要。

　　Idle chatter in the workplace or over a coffee is often viewed as a damaging habit which spreads salacious rumours and harms people's reputations.

　　在工作场所闲聊或边喝咖啡边聊天常被视为有害的习惯，因为它会传播下流的谣言，损害人们的名誉。

　　But new research suggests gossip could actually lower stress and help people overcome the frustration of seeing someone doing something wrong and getting away with it.

　　然而新研究显示，散播流言其实能减轻压力，帮助人们克服看到有人做错事却没受惩罚的挫败感。

　　Psychologists from the University of California, Berkeley, found that volunteers' heart rates rose when they observed someone misbehaving, but that this stopped when they were allowed to discuss what they had seen with others.

　　来自加利福尼亚大学伯克利分校的心理学家发现，当参加研究的志愿者看到某些人行为不端时心跳会加速，但当他们可以和别人谈论自己所看到的事情时心跳又会恢复正常。

　　The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, focused on "prosocial" gossip which helps spread information about dishonest people rather than voyeuristic chatter about celebrities' love lives, the researchers said.

　　该研究发表在《个性与社会心理学杂志》上。研究者称，这一研究关注的是帮助散播有关不正直的人的信息的“亲社会”流言，而非谈论名人感情生活的窥淫狂式的流言。

　　In a trial designed to determine how strong our urge is to spread gossip, some participants even said they would spend money in order to send a note warning others about people they had seen cheating in a trust exercise.

　　为了明确了解我们散播流言的欲望有多强烈，研究人员开展了一个试验，试验中有些参与者甚至表示，会花钱寄信警告别人要提防那个自己发现在信任练习中作弊的人。