[試譯] 專題報導_Not Just Another Pretty Face

Not Just Another Pretty Face / 不只是花瓶

(subtitle)A new study claims men focus on women’s bodies when they’re seeking a quick hookup, but look above the neckline for a long-term mate. It may ring true, but is it Stone Age psychology at work?

一項新的研究顯示，男人只想找個對象發生性關係時，目光會著重在對方的身材；而想尋找長期伴侶時，關注的焦點則會放在頸部以上。聽起來很可能是真的，但這個論點是否只適用於石器時代？

Women seeking a one-night stand might consider wearing a push-up bra and high heels to a bar, but those searching for a spouse might want to focus on applying eyeliner and lipstick. At least, that seems to be part of the takeaway from a new study that found that men look for good bodies in short-term mates but pretty faces in long-term partners. As for men, maybe weightlifting shouldn’t be a priority. According to the study, women care more about faces than bodies for both short- and long-term relationships.

女人想找一夜情時，通常會穿上集中型胸罩和高跟鞋去夜店，但想尋找穩定伴侶的人，則會加強眼線和唇膏的妝容。至少印證這則研究一部分的論點－男人想找玩玩的對象時，通常只在乎對方身材好不好；而想長期發展關係時，臉蛋好不好看才是擇偶重點。反觀女人看男人，是否有健身習慣就不是那麼重要了。根據一項研究，無論對於穩定關係或只是玩玩的對象，女人都比較在乎男人的長相而非身材。

The fact that men (and, in this particular study, college men) were more interested in seeing a woman’s body for a one-time hookup isn’t too shocking. The question is whether natural selection really shaped that preference, as the study claims. According to the psychologists at the University of Texas at Austin who conducted the study, a woman’s body generally provides information about her current state of fertility. “There are some cues that can only be conveyed by a woman’s body, like her pregnancy status,” says Jaime Confer, who coauthored the study with graduate student Carin Perilloux and Prof. David Buss. “Men’s psychology is designed to attend to that.” In other words, men are wired to choose to view a woman’s body for a one-night stand because, back in the Stone Age, they needed to make sure that a potential sex partner didn’t already have a bump in her belly.

事實上，男性（在這則研究，尤指大學男性）尋覓一夜情對象，較在乎對方的身材也不是什麼新鮮事。研究的重點在於，物競天擇論仍舊影響人的偏好。德克薩斯州大學奧斯汀分校的心理學家蒐集研究結果，一般來說，女人的身形能夠反映她現在的生育能力。潔米‧康弗，與研究生卡林‧佩米洛及大衛‧巴斯教授共同研究，並表示：「有一些線索，只能透過女人身材來傳遞，比如生育力。」「男人與生俱來就有這種天性。」也就是說，男人選擇一夜情對象的思考模式，可追溯回石器時代，他們必須確保可能的伴侶是適合受孕的。

Why might men be more interested in seeing a woman’s face when marriage is an option? While 49 percent of men chose to look at a woman’s face for a one-night stand, 75 percent opted to view her face for a long-term relationship. “One possibility is that we judge people’s characters from their faces—whether they are honest, kind, and smart,” says Steven Pinker, a cognitive scientist at Harvard. “These matter a lot more when you’re married to someone than if you’re just having a one-night stand.”

男人尋找終身伴侶，為什麼會把長相視為較重要的考量？49% 的男人在尋找一夜情時，會在意對方的長相，但75% 的男人在挑選穩定對象時，會把對方的臉蛋也加入評分標準。哈佛大學認知科學家史堤芬‧品客認為：「一個可能的解釋是，我們習慣靠外表來評斷這個人的個性－無論是否忠誠、友善或者聰明。」「比起一夜情，上述這些條件在尋找結婚對象時就重要多了。」

While participants in the study had the option of looking only at either head or body—but not both—the real world offers us a more complete picture of people, of course. The bottom line? “Don’t neglect your face or your body,” Confer says. “It all still matters.” Being nice probably won’t hurt either.

這項研究的受測者，只能從身材或長相選擇其中一項。然而重要的是，我們在真實世界中往往有更多選擇。康弗表示：「身材或長相都不能忽略、都是異性擇偶的條件。」