研究：太快乐的人容易早死

People who are too happy die younger than their more downbeat peers, claims new research。

A study which followed children from the 1920s to old age showed that people who were rated 'highly cheerful' by teachers at school died younger than their more reserved classmates。

This was because people who were too happy were more likely to suffer from mental disorders such as bipolar, making them less fearful and more likely to take risks that increase the chance of having a fatal accident。

Being too cheerful - especially at inappropriate times - can also rouse anger in others, increasing the risk of a person coming to harm。

Researchers from a variety of universities worldwide also discovered that trying too hard to be happy often ended up leaving people feeling more depressed than before, as putting an effort into improving their mood often left people feeling cheated。

And magazine articles offering tips on how to be happy were also blamed for worsening depression。

One study saw participants asked to read an article offering ways to improve your mood, and follow one of the tips to see how effective it was。

Participants then took the advice offered - such as watching an upbeat film - often concentrated too hard on trying to improve their mood rather than letting it lift naturally。

This meant that by the time the film had ended, they often felt angry and cheated by the advice given, putting them in a far worse mood than when they had started watching。

However, results of the study, published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, revealed that the key to true happiness was much more simple: meaningful relationships with friends and family members。

Study co-author Professor June Gruber, from the department of psychology at Yale University in the United States, said of people who actively tried to be happy: 'When you're doing it with the motivation or expectation that these things ought to make you happy, that can lead to disappointment and decreased happiness。

'The strongest predictor of happiness is not money, or external recognition through success or fame. It's having meaningful social relationships.'

She added: 'That means the best way to increase your happiness is to stop worrying about being happy and instead divert your energy to nurturing the social bonds you have with other people.'

新研究称，太快乐的人比悲观的同龄人死得早。

一项跟踪调查20世纪20年代的小孩的研究显示，那些在学校被老师评价为“非常开朗”的人比其他较内向的同学死得更早。

这是因为太快乐的人更可能遭受两极情感障碍等精神疾病的困扰，他们比较不容易恐惧或担心，更爱去冒险，因而发生致命意外事故的几率也增加了。

一个人如果表现得太开心——特别是在不合时宜的时候——还会激怒他人，从而增加被伤害的风险。

来自世界范围内多所大学的研究人员还发现，通常情况下，一个人如果过于努力地想使自己快乐起来，结果反而会感觉更郁闷。因为努力改善情绪的结果经常会让人有受骗的感觉。

研究人员还认为那些介绍如何让人快乐的杂志文章也会让人更加抑郁。

一项研究让参与者阅读一篇关于如何改善情绪，然后让他们遵从其中一条建议，看这种建议的效果如何。

于是参与者采纳了文中的建议，比如去看一场欢快的电影，结果参与者往往过于集中注意力去改善情绪，而不是让自己的心情自然地好起来。

这意味着，在电影结束时，他们大多会因听取建议而感到愤怒，而且会有受骗的感觉。这让他们的心情比看电影前更糟了。

然而，这一发表在《心理科学展望》杂志上的研究揭示，通往真正幸福的秘诀要简单得多：就是和朋友、家人建立深厚的关系。

该研究报告的作者之一朱恩•格鲁伯告诉那些努力想使自己快乐起来的人说：“当你期待你所做的事让自己快乐起来时，结果会让你失望，并让你更不开心。”格鲁伯是美国耶鲁大学心理学系的教授。

“决定幸福与否最有力的因素不是金钱，也不是成功或名气带来的外界的认可。获得幸福的关键是拥有有意义的社会关系。”

她说道：“这意味着让自己更快乐的最佳方法就是不再为是否快乐而烦恼，转而将精力投入到增强和他人的社会纽带上。”