Some people are born with the belief that they are masters of their own lives. Others feel they are at the mercy of fate.
New research shows that part of those feelings are in the genes.
Psychologists have long known that people confident in their ability to control their destinies are more likely to adjust well to growing old than those who feel that they drift on the currents of fate.
Two researchers who questioned hundreds of Swedish twins report that such confidence, or lark of it, is partly genetic and partly drawn from experience.
They also found that the belief in blind luck-a conviction that coincidence plays a big role in life is something learned in life and has nothing to do with heredity.
The research was conducted at the Karolinska Institute-better known as the body that annually awards the Nobel Prize for medicine by Nancy Pedersen of the Institute and Margaret Gatz, a professor of psychology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Their results were recently published in the United States in the Journal of Gerontology.
People who are confident of their ability to control their lives have an "internal locus of control,"and have a better chance of being well adjusted in their old age, said Pedersen.
An "external locus of control," believing that outside forces determine the course of life, has been linked to depression in latter years, she said.
"We are trying to understand what makes people different. What makes some people age gracefully and others have a more difficult time?" she said.
The study showed that while people have an inborn predilection toward independence and self-confidence, about 70 percent of this personality trait is affected by a person's environment and lifetime experiences.
Pedersen's studies, with various collaborators, probe the aging process by comparing sets of twins, both identical and fraternal, many of whom were separated at an early age.
The subjects were drawn from a roster first compiled about 30 years ago registering all twins born in Sweden since 1886. The complete list, which was extended in 1971, has 95,000 sets of twins.
有些人天生相信他们是自我生命的主宰,其他人则觉得他们受到命运的支配。
一项新的研究发现这些感觉部份来自基因。
心理学家早就知道有信心掌握自己命运的人比那些觉得自己是受命运摆布的人更能适应老化。
两位研究学家在询问了好几百对瑞典的双胞胎后报告说,这种信心,或是信心的缺乏,一部份是与基因有关,另一部份则是来自经验的累积。
他们同时发现,相信盲目运气的人--认为巧合在生命中扮演一个很重要的角色--是在生活过程中学习而来的,与遗传毫无关系。
这项研究是在卡洛林司卡机构里进行的。这个机构亦是每年颁赠诺贝尔医学奖的团体。该研究是由此机构的南西·皮德森与洛杉矶南加大的心理学教授玛格丽特·贾兹所主持,他们这项研究结果最近在美国老年学的期刊上登出。
皮德森说,对自己掌握生命的能力有信心的人有一种‘内在控制的基因位点’,比较能够适应老年期。
她说,相信外在力量决定生命之旅的‘外在控制的基因位点’与晚年沮丧的情绪有关。
她说:‘我们想了解人与人之间相异的原因是什么。是什么原因使有些人安然悠哉地步入晚年,而有些人则比较困难?’
这项研究显示,有人能够拥有天生的自信与独立,而百分之七十有这种个性的人,会受到环境与一生的经验所影响。
皮德森的研究,囊括了许多不同的研究学者,从事双胞胎的比较,并探讨老化的过程。这些同卵及异卵双胞胎有许多都在很小的时候就分开了。
研究对象是由一本三十年前编纂的名册所抽出。这本名册登记有自一八八六年以降,所有在瑞典出生的双胞胎。这份完整的名单—直延续到一九七一年,共行几万五千对双胞胎。
上一篇: 爱的火焰
腾讯市值突破5000亿美元 超过脸书成为全球第五
国际英语资讯:Merkels CDU, President Steinmeier make appeals to avert German re-elections
关于伊丽莎白二世的26件趣闻 原来你是这样的女王[1]
张靓颖挤下霉霉和水果姐?维密表演嘉宾公布!
39人命丧货柜车 英警方正在核实遇难者身份
2017年12月英语六级作文范文:考研热潮
三星指纹传感爆出重大漏洞
国内英语资讯:Xi writes to traveling troupe in N. Chinas Inner Mongolia
Accept Challenge 迎接挑战
2017年12月英语四级作文范文:休闲活动
国际英语资讯:Macron holds phone talks with Iranian, Israeli leaders over Lebanon crisis
数据显示 中国女性在高等教育等多个方面已超越男性
第一次约会一定要定在周日
专家:2018年全球强震或增至20次 这些地区的民众要警惕
女性择偶时最看重的到底是什么?排在第一位的是……
美文赏析:有一种魅力,叫做修养
这些人婚姻不幸,但她们为什么不离婚
听说你一个人住?这些独居安全窍门要记好
Acidic oceans will affect sea life 酸化海洋将威胁海洋生物
国际英语资讯:Russian nuclear corp. denies causing radioactive pollution
Protect Private Information 保护私人信息
体坛英语资讯:No fear of Real Madrid, APOELs coach
研究发现,英国500万烟民在过去一年中尝试戒烟
Food Choice 食品选择
国际英语资讯:Putin, Trump stress diplomatic solution to Korean Peninsula issue -- Kremlin
Saving Money or Spending Money 存钱还是花钱
高校研究生为流浪汉叫外卖 得到阿里巴巴奖励
国内英语资讯:China calls for easing tension on Korean Peninsula issue
英语动词不定式用法小测验
“咸鱼”被列入致癌物,“不好翻身了”