幸福生活的七大秘訣

秘訣5：想幸福？找個胖朋友吧！ Fat friends make you happier than thin ones

       New evidence in economics and epidemiology seems to suggest that we care about other people’s weight as much as we do our own. It’s always more desirable to be slim – perhaps because it offers a better chance of finding a person to date or marry, or even faster job promotion. However, when the people we normally compare ourselves with become fatter, the cost of putting on weight for many of us reduces. Put simply, when other people around me become fatter, I don’t have to compete so much with them to stay slim.
       經(jīng)濟學和流行病學方面的新證據(jù)似乎表明，我們對他人體重的關注絲毫不亞于對自己體重的關注。人們總是更希望苗條一些——或許是因為這樣更容易找到約會或結婚的對象，甚至能更快地升遷。然而，對于我們許多人而言，如果我們常常拿來和自己做對比的人變胖了，我們自己體重增加的成本就會降低。簡言之，如果我身邊的人變胖了，那么我不用太費勁就能比他們苗條。

        According to research conducted by economists David G. Blanchflower, Andrew Oswald and Bert Van Landeghem, people with weight problems – those with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over – are significantly unhappier than people within a healthy weight range (BMI 18.5–25). However, the overweight tend to report higher levels of happiness when other people of the same age and gender are as heavy or heavier than they are. The same also goes for individuals who live in the same household: our own weight doesn’t bother us as much, that is, when our partner is also putting on weight.
        經(jīng)濟學家戴維•G•布蘭奇弗勞爾(David G. Blanchflower)、安德魯•奧斯瓦德(Andrew Oswald)和貝爾特•范蘭德赫姆(Bert Van Landeghem)進行的一項研究顯示，與體重在健康范圍內的人（BMI體重指數(shù)在18.5至25之間）相比，存在體重問題的人（BMI指數(shù)在30或以上）明顯更不快樂。然而，當看到其他同性別的同齡人與自己一樣重，甚至更重時，肥胖人群的幸福感往往會更強烈。這也適用于同一家庭內的不同個體：當伴侶的體重也在增加時，自己的體重就不那么煩人了。

       This positive relationship between our happiness and other people’s weight provides a good psychological explanation for the current obesity epidemic in the west. It’s psychologically easier for us to accept being overweight when everyone else is also overweight – assuming, of course, that most of us enjoy food a lot more than dieting.
       我們的幸福感與他人體重之間的這種正相關關系，為當前西方肥胖癥的流行提供了一個合理的心理學解釋。當其他所有人都超重時，我們在心理上就更容易接受自己變胖的事實——當然，前提是我們當中大部分人對食物的熱愛要遠遠大于節(jié)食。