新研究：消极词语真的会让你的人生变糟！_公共英语阅读理解

新研究：消极词语真的会让你的人生变糟！

Past studies have found that people have a tendency to use more positive-inflected words than negative ones ― "fantastic" rather than "awful," for example ― a trend that linguists refer to as "positive linguistic bias." Does our proportion of optimistic versus pessimistic verbiage actually change as our circumstances change, or are we set in our ways?

以往的研究表明，相比消极性的词汇，人们倾向于使用更具积极意味的词汇。比如，更喜欢用“美妙的（fantastic）”而非“糟糕的（awful）”。语言学家将这种倾向称作“积极语言偏向（positive linguistic bias）”。那么，在周遭环境改变时，我们的“乐观用语”和“悲观用语”所占比例是否真的会发生变化呢?还是说，我们的措词风格是一成不变的呢？

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that awful circumstances arising may lead people to use more negative words than before.

《美国国家科学院院刊》上发表了一篇新研究，暗示当环境变糟时，人们会比从前使用更多消极性词汇。

新研究：消极词语真的会让你的人生变糟！1

The study found that throughout the time span covered by the study, positive linguistic bias showed fluctuations "predicted by changes in objective environment, i.e., war and economic hardships, and by changes in national subjective happiness."