英五分之一夫妇偷看伴侣的电邮和短信

A fifth of spouses admit checking their partner's emails or text messages, according to a new study.

The report also found that in a fifth of relationships, at least one partner had checked their spouse's browser history on the computer.

Entitled "Netiquette within married couples", the study involved an analysis of data from nearly 1,000 UK couples by researchers from the London School of Economics, the University of Oxford and Nottingham Trent University.

Ellen Helsper, who led the study, said: "Our findings showed that there are surprisingly high levels of surveillance.

"One of the surprising findings was that surveillance was undertaken more often by wives than husbands.

"This contrasts with research that suggests that women are less technologically skilled than men. It seems that they are able to overcome these barriers when they feel their relationship is at stake.''

The researchers, who reported their findings in the journal, Computers in Human Behavior this week, analysed replies given to a series of questions about internet use.

When partners were asked whether they had read their spouses' emails, eight per cent of men and 14 per cent of women said they had. In a further ten per cent of cases, both had done so.

Asked the same question in relation to text messages, seven per cent of men and 13 per cent of women said they had. Again, in a further ten per cent of cases, both said they had done so.

This equates to around a fifth of spouses admitting to checking emails or text messages.

One in 10 women and six per cent of men had check the browser history of their partners. In a further four per cent of relationships, both said they had.

One per cent of both men and women had used monitoring software, and one per cent had posed as someone else to contact their partner.

Ms Helsper added: "It is clear that internet users do not shy from taking action when they think their partner might be undertaking activities that they are not comfortable with.

"Whatever the reason for the monitoring, partner surveillance was wider spread than we initially assumed, with one out of every three couples having at least one partner who monitored the other partner's behaviour using some kind of technological tool."

The average age of those taking part was 49 and the couples had been married for an average 19 years with 1.6 children.

一项最新研究显示，英国五分之一的已婚夫妇承认自己曾检查过伴侣的电子邮件或短信。

调查还发现，五分之一的夫妇中至少有一方曾查看过配偶的网页浏览历史记录。

在这项名为“已婚夫妇网络礼仪”的研究中，来自伦敦经济学院、牛津大学和诺丁汉特伦特大学的研究人员对英国近1000对夫妇的数据资料进行了分析。

研究负责人艾伦．黑尔斯柏说：“我们的分析结果表明，夫妻之间互相监视的程度高得惊人。”

“其中一个令人惊讶的发现就是，妻子更爱监视丈夫。

“过去的研究表明，女性在使用科技手段方面不如男性。从这项研究结果来看，当女性感到婚姻面临危机时能够克服这些障碍。”

研究报告于本周在《计算机在人类行为研究中的应用》杂志中发表。在研究过程中，研究人员对受访者有关网络使用的一系列问题所给出的回答进行了分析。

在被问及是否偷看过配偶的电子邮件时，8%的男性和14%的女性回答“是”。10%的夫妇双方都这么干过。

在查看短信方面，7%的男性和13%的女性说他们这样做过。同样有10%的夫妇承认两人都曾偷看过对方的短信。

这相当于约五分之一的夫妇曾检查过对方的电子邮件或短信。

十分之一的女性和6%的男性曾检查过伴侣的网页浏览历史记录。4%的夫妇双方都这样做过。

各有1%的男性和女性使用过监视软件，1%的人曾装成其他人与伴侣联系。

黑尔斯柏说：“很显然，在网络时代，如果夫妇们觉得对方在背着自己玩花样，会毫不迟疑地采取行动。

“无论监视伴侣的理由是什么，但这一现象比我们预想的要普遍得多，每三对夫妇中有一对至少有一方会使用某种技术工具来监视另一方的行为。”

参加该调查的人群的平均年龄为49岁，平均婚龄为19年，每对夫妇平均育有子女1.6个。

Vocabulary:

netiquette: the rules of correct or polite behaviour among people using the Internet 网络礼仪

surveillance: the act of carefully watching a person suspected of a crime or a place where a crime may be committed （对犯罪嫌疑人或可能发生犯罪的地方的）监视