囧研究：憋尿助你做出更佳抉择

Make the easy and quick choice, your brain is telling you.

快点做出选择吧！你的大脑这么说。

But wait, what's that? Your bladder wants you to think again.

嘿，慢着！再想想看！你的膀胱却这么说。

For better decision-making, perhaps you should hold your urine and ponder some more.

为了做出更好的决定，也许你除了“三思而后行”之外，还应该“三憋而后尿”。

Researchers in the Netherlands have determined important life decisions may be best made while holding your water, as having control over our physical needs seems to, um, splash over onto the wider choices we make.

荷兰的研究者们发现，人们在憋尿的时候能够就人生大事做出更好的决定，这是因为人们为控制生理需求而作出的努力会波及到我们所做出的其他选择。

The unusual research started with too much coffee and a long meeting.

这个不同寻常的研究是由一次冗长的会议和会上喝进的过多咖啡引起的。

Mirjam Tuk, of the University of Twente in the Netherlands, said that she was attending a lecture on self-control when the idea began to build.

荷兰Twente大学的研究员Mirjam Tuk表示，她是在参加一场关于“自我控制”的讲座时想到这个点子的。

"This made me question whether there are conditions under which people can become more controlled," she said. "My full bladder - due to some coffee consumption - provided me with inspiration to answer that question."

“这场讲座让我想到，是否在特定的条件下人们能够更好地控制自己，”她说，“我那由于喝了太多咖啡而发涨的膀胱给了我灵感。”

Her team's experiments, which will be outlined in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, found giving in to our bodily needs opens the floodgates to wanting more fulfilments.

她的研究团队通过实验发现，对生理需求的屈从会促使人们去寻求更多满足。这项研究将发表在心理科学协会的月刊《心理科学》上。

The psychological scientists believe the activation of any number of desires, including sexual excitement, hunger and thirst, can make people look for other instant gratifications.

心理学家们相信，激活人们的任意欲望——包括性兴奋、饥饿或口渴——将驱使人们去寻求满足其他类似的即时欲望。

During testing, subjects were split into two groups. They either drank five cups of water or took a few sips. After 40 minutes - the time it takes liquid to reach the bladder - they were asked to make choices, including getting either $16 tomorrow or $30 in 35 days.

在试验中，受试者被分成两组，一组受试者喝了五杯水，另一组只抿了几口。40分钟后——正是喝下的水抵达膀胱所需的时间——两组受试者都被要求作出一系列选择，包括是愿意明天就拿到16美元还是35天后拿到30美元。

Tuk found those with full bladders were able to hold out for greater rewards.

Tuk发现，那些膀胱发涨的受试者能够做出更有利的选择。

Not only has it become research fodder, she said she's managed to see the advantage of squirming in a chair for a little bit longer.

而这个点子并不仅仅只有实验价值。Tuk说，她已经发现，憋尿憋得更久一点确实有实际的好处。

"I did become aware of the fact that sometimes it is not a bad idea to continue for another 15 minutes with what I am doing, and postpone a toilet visit a little bit."

“我意识到，有时候再继续工作一刻钟，而迟些去上厕所，也并不是一件坏事。”