Optimistsallonsamewavelength,butnotwopessimistsarealike乐观者所见略同,悲观者各有不同"Allhappyfamiliesarealike,"LeoTolstoywroteinAnnaKarenina."Everyunhappyfamilyisunhappyinitsownway."Thesameistrueforoptimistsandpessimists,scientistshavefound.列夫·托尔斯泰在《安娜·卡列尼娜》中写道:“幸福的家庭都是相似的,不幸的家庭各有各的不幸。”科学家发现,乐观者和悲观者的情况亦是如此。Researcherswithexpertiseinsocialpsychologyandcognitiveneurosciencecametogethertorecruit87testsubjectswhohadbeenidentified,throughtesting,ascoveringaspectrumfromsunnyoptimiststohardenedpessimists.具备社会心理学和认知神经科学专业知识的研究人员联合招募了87名受试者,通过测试,这些受试者涵盖了从极度乐观到极度悲观的各个类型。Thestudyfoundthatoptimistsseetheworldinaverysimilarwaytoeachother.Scansshowthattheirbrainstendtolightupinthesamewaywhenaskedtoimagineeventsinthefuture.研究发现,乐观者看待世界的方式彼此极为相似。扫描结果显示,当被要求想象未来事件时,他们的大脑往往会以相同的方式活跃起来。Pessimists,however,aremuchmoreuniqueintheirtendencytofeartheworst,displayingamuchwiderandmorediverserangeofbrainactivitywhenaskedtopicturethefuture.然而,悲观者在担忧最坏情况发生的倾向方面则要独特得多,当被要求想象未来时,他们的大脑活动范围更广、更为多样。KuniakiYanagisawa,theleadresearcherfromKobeUniversityinJapan,amendedtheTolstoyquotationtosay:"Optimisticindividualsareallalike,buteachlessoptimisticindividualimaginesthefutureintheirownway."日本神户大学的首席研究员柳泽邦明修改了托尔斯泰的名言,称:“乐观者皆相似,而每个不那么乐观的人想象未来的方式却各有不同。”Thesubjectswereaskedtopicturearangeofscenariosandthenimaginethemselvesortheirpartnersexperiencingthosescenariosinthefuture.Theseincludedpositiveevents,suchastakingabigtriparoundtheworld,neutralevents,suchassubmittingtheirCVwithajobapplication,andnegativeevents,suchasbeingdiagnosedwithterminalcancer.研究人员让受试者想象一系列场景,然后想象自己或伴侣在未来经历这些场景。这些场景包括积极事件,如进行一次环球大旅行;中性事件,如随求职申请提交简历;以及消极事件,如被诊断出患有晚期癌症。Duringtheexperiment,theirbrainactivitywasrecordedthroughfunctionalmagneticresonanceimaging(fMRI).Theresearchersfoundthatparticipantswhoscoredhighlyforoptimismdisplayedverysimilarpatternsofneuralactivityinapartofthebraincalledthemedialprefrontalcortex,aregionassociatedwiththinkingabouttheselfandaboutthefuture.实验期间,通过功能性磁共振成像记录他们的大脑活动。研究人员发现,乐观程度高的受试者,在大脑一个名为内侧前额叶皮层的区域显示出非常相似的神经活动模式,该区域与自我思考和未来思考相关。"Optimisticindividualsconsistentlyexhibitconvergentneuralrepresentations,reflectingsharedpatternsofepisodicfuturethinking,whereaslessoptimisticindividualsdemonstrateincreasedvariability,"thestudyreported,whereaspessimistsshowedmoreindividualor"idiosyncratic"patterns.研究报告称:“乐观者始终表现出趋同的神经表征,反映出情景未来思维的共同模式,而不太乐观者则表现出更大的变异性。”相比之下,悲观者则呈现出更多个体化或“特异”的模式。Itsuggeststhatpessimistsmaybeabletoenvisageawiderrangeofthingsthatcouldgodisastrouslywronginaworst-casescenario,whereasoptimistsaremorelikelytoagreeonabest-casescenario.这表明,悲观者或许能够设想在最坏情况下可能出现的更多灾难性状况,而乐观者则更有可能就最佳情况达成共识。Italsosuggeststhatwhenfacedwithnegativefuturescenarios,optimistsaremorelikelytoseetheseinan"abstractandpsychologicallydistant"way,ratherthanfearingthattheywillcometopass.这也表明,当面对未来消极场景时,乐观者更可能以一种“抽象且心理上保持距离”的方式看待这些场景,而非担心它们会真的发生。Thissharedwayofseeingtheworldmightbeanevolutionarytoolthatbondsoptimiststogetherandmakesthempopularwithinasocialgroup,thestudysuggested.研究还提出,这种看待世界的共同方式可能是一种进化工具,它将乐观者凝聚在一起,使他们在社交群体中更受欢迎。"Wespeculatethattheobservedsharedcognitivestructurepositivelyimpactssocialrelationships,"thereportsaid."Previousstudieshavedemonstratedthat,relativetopessimism,optimismislinkedtolargersocialnetworks,higherrelationshipsatisfaction,andincreasedperceivedsocialsupport.Moreover,optimistsareperceivedasmorelikeableandattractivethanpessimistsandmorelikelytobeacceptedbytheirpeergroup."报告称:“我们推测,观察到的这种共同认知结构对社会关系具有积极影响。”“先前的研究表明,与悲观主义相比,乐观主义与更大的社交网络、更高的关系满意度以及更强的感知社会支持相关。此外,乐观者被认为比悲观者更讨人喜欢、更有吸引力,也更有可能被同龄群体所接受。”Yanagisawasaid:"Theeverydayfeelingof'beingonthesamewavelength'isnotjustametaphor.Thebrainsofoptimistsmayinaveryphysicalsenseshareacommonconceptofthefuture.Butthisraisesnewquestions.Isthissharedmechanismsomethingtheyarebornwithorisitwoveninlater,forexamplethroughexperienceanddialogue?"柳泽邦明说:“‘与某人合拍’这种日常感受并非仅仅是比喻。从非常实际的意义上讲,乐观者的大脑可能对未来有着共同的概念。但这引发了新的问题。这种共同机制是他们与生俱来的,还是后来通过经验和对话等形成的呢?”
