Displays of pride and shame are hard-wired
自豪与羞愧的表现乃是自然流露
Garret Weber-Gale and Michael Phelps display an evolutionarytrait
盖尔和菲尔普斯展示出了进化和特点
WHETHER you are a gorilla, a four-year-old child, a politicianor an Olympic athlete, the signs of victory are obvious for all tosee: the chest inflates, the head is thrown back and the victordisplays a strutting and confident air. Shame at being defeated isequally recognizable: the head bows, and sometimes the shouldersslump and the chest narrows too-something that is not a millionmiles away from the cringing postures associated with submission inanimals, from chimpanzees to rats, rabbits and even salamanders.Are these displays of pride and shame common to all humans? If theyare, they will have evolved to serve some function.
甭管是类人猿，蹒跚学童，政客，还是奥林匹克的运动员，胜利的印迹都显而易见：胸膛起伏，头颈高昂以及获胜者所表现出神气十足和信心百倍的样子。羞愧在战败方同样轻易辨认，低头俯首，两肩深陷，还有丧气瘪胸，这种畏首畏脚的姿态多少让人联想到并非遥远的动物界中的顺从，从猩猩到老鼠，兔子甚至是蝾螈。它们展示的自豪与羞愧与人类的相通吗？假如相通，它们将会进化出一些用途。
The past week in Beijing demonstrates that different cultures doindeed show similar displays of pride and shame. But it isdifficult to say if these reactions are instinctive or learnt.Jessica Tracy at the University of British Columbia and DavidMatsumoto at San Francisco State University decided to explore thisby comparing pictures of blind and sighted athletes from differentcultures.
上周北京的例子阐释了在不同文化背景下的确存在着相同的豪情与羞愧的表现。但想要分清这些反应是先天本能，还是后天习得可不是那么轻易。英属哥伦比亚大学的杰西卡和旧金山州立大学的大卫决定通过比较来自不同文化的失明的和健全的职业运动员的照片来进行研究。
In their research, published in Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences, the team analyzed images from the judocompetition held in the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Theylooked for whether or not competitors indulged in post-matchbehavior such as tilting their heads back, raising their arms orexpanding their chests in victory, or hiding their face ornarrowing their chests in defeat. They found that in response tosuccess and failure, people from different cultures displayed thestereotypical gestures of pride and some of the components ofexpressions of shame. This included the blind competitors-eventhose blind from birth.
在这个发表于《美国科学院院刊》的研究中，科研小组通过分析2004年奥运会及残奥会中的柔道比赛图像。通过搜寻运动员是否在刻意沉浸于赛后的那些行为动作，诸如：成功时的趾高气昂，举臂展胸，或失利中的垂头掩面，缩手缩脚。他们发现这些在胜利和失败的反应中，来自不同文化的人们展示出一成不变的胜利姿态和由若干固定成分组成的羞愧表情。这其中包括盲人运动员，甚至还是先天失明的。
Although the researchers say that congenitally blind childrenmight have been taught by their parents to lift their hands abovetheir heads after a victory, they speculate that it would be harderto teach them the full spectrum of displays they witnessed. Thesefindings, then, imply that displays of pride are not simplycultural stereotypes learnt after birth, but an innate form ofbehavior that was relevant to the way humans lived. A display ofpride (or shame), in other words, may be an evolved and innatebehavioral response.
尽管研究人员们知道，先天失明的孩子们或许在胜利后会由他们的家长以言传身教的方式让他们举臂昂头，但研究人员们根据这些图像仍然可以推测到，要教会他们全套姿态还是很难的。那么，这些研究的发现意味着自豪的表现并不是单纯的从文化模式中后天习得，而是来源于与人类生存之道息息相关的先天本能。换句话说，自豪（羞愧）的表现或许是进化与天生的行为反应。
Why? Such displays may have an evolutionary function. Peoplecould be advertising their accomplishments and ensuring theirstatus and acceptance within their social group. Similarly, shameshows acceptance of a defeat and a reluctance to fight on (whichmay help to avoid further aggression), and so might well be adisplay of submission.
原因在于诸如此类的表现也许是进化的作用。人们要炫耀他们的成果，确保他们的地位并获得所处社会群体的认同。同样，羞愧表现出对失利的认可和对竞技的不情愿（如此可以避免遭受进一步的威胁），以及非常可能做出屈从。
The researchers also found that the behavioral response to shamewas weaker in sighted athletes from cultures that wereindividualistic-or “self-expression valuing”-societies in the West.They suggest that athletes from these parts were suppressingresponses in accordance with “cultural norms” that stigmatizedisplays of shame. If so, this would explain why the congenitallyblind displayed more shame in defeat than did people who becameblind later in life.
研究人员们还发现在羞愧的行为反应中，那些来自个人主义或是自我表现价值的西方社会健全的运动员们会比较轻。研究表明来自于这些地方的职业运动员抑制了反应，而这种反应与控制耻辱表现的社会行为规范相一致。假如是这样，也就解释了在失利中先天失明的盲人为什么会比起后天失明的盲人表现出更多的羞愧。
Culture has a lot to do with displays of victory, whether it isthe two-fingered “V” salute or footballers removing their clothing.Both are culturally influenced, but they have their roots inshowing exactly who is on top.
文化在很多方面与胜利的表现息息相关，不管是竖起两指的”V”型手势还是球员甩掉战袍。这些都是文化的影响，但也都溯源于运动员竭力诉说到底谁是赢家的本能。
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