你是否也患上了点赞依赖症

How many times do you check your Moments or Facebook page in a day to see whether your latest post has got another "like" or "thumbs up"?

你一天会检查多少次你的朋友圈或脸书，查看你最新发布的状态是否得到了他人的喜欢或点赞呢?

Although you might be embarrassed to admit how many times you do this, don't worry - psychological findings have shown it's completely normal.

也许你可能会不好意思承认自己刷了多少次，其实不用担心，心理学家研究证明，这种情况完全正常。

In fact, the pleasure we derive from getting a "like" is equal to that of eating chocolate or winning money, and we can't help wanting more.

其实，当我们得到一个“赞”时感受到的快乐和我们吃巧克力或者赢钱是一样的，而且我们情不自禁地想要更多。

According to the findings of the UCLA Brain Mapping Center, which observed 32 teens aged between 13 and 18, the feedback circuit in the teens' brains are particularly sensitive, and the "social" and "visual" parts of their brains were activated when they received "likes" on an Instagram-like social network.

根据加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校的大脑图谱中心对32位13到18岁的青少年观察进行研究，结果表明这些年轻人的大脑反馈回路都极为敏感，而且当他们在Instagram这类的社交网站上被点赞时，他们大脑中的社交和视觉部分会活跃起来。

The research also showed that though the thumbs up might come from complete strangers, the good they derive from it worked all the same.

研究还表明，即使点赞来自于完全陌生的人，也能给他们带来相同的愉悦感。

So, does it mean we should try our best to win as many thumbs up as possible?

那么，这是否意味着我们要尽可能获取更多的赞呢?

Not necessarily so if we know the reasons behind our desire for attention.

如果我们知道原因是在于我们渴望被关注，就没有必要了。

In "Why do people crave attention" by M.Farouk Radwan, he explained several cases in which people naturally longed for attention.

在M.法鲁克 拉德温所著的“为什么人渴望被关注”中，他解释了几种人们生来就渴求关注的情形。

Radwan said people who were an only child, who were used to being the center of attention in their house, may try to replicate these conditions. Feeling "overlooked and unappreciated" might also lead you to crave for attention. Other times, the state of being jealous, or wanting to cover your mistakes may also contribute to such longings.

拉德温表示，独生子女们常常是其家庭关注的焦点，所以他们可能会试图复制这种情形。当感到“被忽视或不被欣赏”时也会试图获取他人关注，其他诸如嫉妒，或试图掩盖错误时也会产生这种渴求。

In fact, too much desire for attention can create anxiety, and in turn ruin your happiness even when you get it.

事实上，太过渴求关注会导致焦虑，甚至会在你得到关注的时候反过来破坏你的幸福感。

So what can we do about it? The answer is quite simple.

那么，我们该怎么办呢?答案非常简答。

"If people could adopt goals not focused on their own self-esteem but on something larger than their self, such as what they can create or contribute to others, they would be less susceptible to some of the negative effects of pursuing self-esteem," wrote psychology professor Jennifer Crocker in the Journal of Social Issues.

心理学教授詹妮弗克罗克在《社会问题周刊》上写道，“如果人们能够不只关注自尊，而是将焦点放在比自身更大的目标上，比如能够给别人创造或贡献什么，那么他们就能减少自尊心带来的负面影响。”

Crocker suggests that "it's about having a goal that is bigger than the self."

克罗克建议，“在于有一个大于自身的目标。”

So perhaps the answer to our addiction to "likes" is simply to focus on something larger than ourselves - a tall order, but a worthy one.

所以，若想戒掉我们对于”赞“的上瘾，只需关注比我们自身更重要的事情，一些艰难，却有意义的事。