研究：窮人更有同情心
Poor People May Be Quicker to Be Kind
Poor people are quicker than middle-class or rich individuals to recognize the suffering of others and to show compassion, according to a new study.
It included more than 300 young adults who were divided into groups that took part in three experiments designed to assess their levels of empathy and compassion.
The findings challenge previous research that concluded lower-class people are more likely to react with anxiety and hostility when faced with adversity, said the researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
"These latest results indicate that there's a culture of compassion and cooperation among lower-class individuals that may be born out of threats to their well-being," study author and social psychologist Jennifer Stellar said in a university news release.
"It's not that the upper classes are cold-hearted. They may just not be as adept at recognizing the cues and signals of suffering because they haven't had to deal with as many obstacles in their lives," she explained.
The findings, published online Dec. 12 in the journal Emotion, suggest a scientific basis for emotional differences between the rich and poor that are depicted in such Charles Dickens classics as "A Christmas Carol" and "A Tale of Two Cities."
The results also indicate that people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may do better in cooperative settings than those who are wealthy.
"Upper-class individuals appear to be more self-focused, they've grown up with more freedom and autonomy," Stellar said. "They may do better in an individualist, competitive environment."
一項新研究發現，窮人比中產階級或富人更易察覺到他人受的苦難，表現出同情心。
該研究涵蓋了300多名年輕人，他們被分成幾個小組，參加了三個試驗，目的是評估他們的同感能力和同情心。
加利福尼亞大學伯克利分校的研究人員稱，先前的研究得出結論說，下層社會的人在面臨逆境時更容易出現焦慮和敵意。以上的研究發現向先前的研究結果發出了挑戰。
該研究的作者、社會心理學家珍妮弗`斯黛拉在大學的一篇新聞通稿中說：“這些最新的研究結果顯示，下層社會的民眾中有同情和合作的文化，這可能是為應對自身幸福受到的威脅而產生的。”
她解釋說：“並不是上層社會的人冷酷無情。他們也許只是沒能那麼快地察覺到他人的苦難，因為他們在自己的生活中從不需要去應對這麼多的阻礙。”
這些研究結果12月12日發表在《情感》雜誌的網刊上，研究為查爾斯`狄更斯的經典小說《聖誕頌歌》和《雙城記》中描繪的富人和窮人間的情感差異提供了科學依據。
研究結果還表明，在需要合作的環境中，社會經濟背景較差的人可能會比富人表現得更好。
斯黛拉說：“上層社會的人看起來更專注于自身，他們成長過程中有更多自由和自主權，在個人主義的競爭性環境中他們可能會表現得更好。”
Vocabulary:
adept at: 善於
autonomy: 自主權