没结婚没孩子的女性更幸福

We may have suspected it already, but now the science backs it up: unmarried and childless women are the happiest subgroup in the population. And they are more likely to live longer than their married and child-rearing peers, according to a leading expert in happiness.

Speaking at the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, Paul Dolan, a professor of behavioral science at the London School of Economics, said the latest evidence showed that the traditional markers used to measure success did not correlate with happiness — particularly marriage and raising children.

“Married people are happier than other population subgroups, but only when their spouse is in the room when they’re asked how happy they are. When the spouse is not present: f**king miserable,” he said.

“We do have some good longitudinal data following the same people over time, but I am going to do a massive disservice to that science and just say: if you’re a man, you should probably get married; if you’re a woman, don’t bother.”

Men benefit from marriage because they “calm down,” he said. “You take less risks, you earn more money at work, and you live a little longer. She, on the other hand, has to put up with that, and dies sooner than if she never married. The healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children,” he said.

Dolan’s latest book, “Happy Ever After,” cites evidence from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which compared levels of pleasure and misery in unmarried, married, divorced, separated and widowed individuals.

Other studies have measured some financial and health benefits in being married for both men and women on average, which Dolan said could be attributed to higher incomes and emotional support, allowing married people to take risks and seek medical help.

However, Dolan said men showed more health benefits from tying the knot, as they took fewer risks. Women’s health was mostly unaffected by marriage, with middle-aged married women even being at higher risk of physical and mental conditions than their single counterparts.

Despite the benefits of a single, childless lifestyle for women, Dolan said that the existing narrative that marriage and children were signs of success meant that the stigma could lead some single women to feel unhappy.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【结婚】jiéhūn

tie the knot get married

【忍受】rěnshòu

put up with to abide or endure someone or something that one finds unpleasant, inconvenient, or annoying

可能早已有人开始怀疑，但如今有了科学依据：未婚和没有孩子的女性是最幸福的人群。而且，据幸福研究权威专家称，这部分女性比那些已婚有孩子的女性更长寿。

伦敦经济学院行为科学教授保罗·多兰在海伊文化艺术节上说，最新的证据显示，用于衡量成功的传统标志——尤其是婚姻和养小孩——和幸福无关。

他说：“已婚人群比其他人群幸福，那是在配偶在场的时候被问及是否幸福，人们才这么说。当配偶不在的时候，人们的回答是：太悲惨了。”

“我们确实在一段时间内跟踪调查了同一批人并收集了优质的纵向数据，但我想把这种科学方法甩到一边，直接得出结论说：如果你是男性，你应该结婚；如果你是女性，还是别结了。”

他说，男性从婚姻中受益是因为他们“平静了下来”。“结婚后，男性承担的风险更少，挣的钱更多，寿命也能长一点。与此同时，女性不得不忍受婚姻生活，而且死得也比终身未婚的女性更早。最健康最快乐的人群是一辈子不结婚或不生养孩子的女性。”

多兰的新书《从此永远幸福快乐》援引了美国时间使用调查报告的证据，该调查对比了未婚、已婚、离异、分居和鳏寡人群的快乐和痛苦的水平。

其他研究衡量了婚姻给男性和女性带来的平均经济和健康效益，多兰说，这些效益源于更高水平的收入和情感支持，让已婚人群可以承担风险和寻求医疗帮助。

但是，多兰表示，男性显然从婚姻中获得了更多健康效益，因为他们承担的风险更少。女性的健康基本不会因婚姻而改善，已婚中年妇女身心受损的风险比单身女性更高。

尽管单身、没有孩子的生活方式对女性有好处，但多兰指出，社会舆论认为，婚姻和孩子是成功的标志，这意味着一些单身女性会因耻辱感而感到不快乐。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)