人类为何一年比一年焦虑？
中英文 | THE RIGHT VIEW (181)
American psychologist Dr. Jean M. Twenge did a sweeping analysis on 269 studies conducted from 1953 to 1993 measuring the anxiety levels of children and college students. The results of her analysis published in 2000 demonstrated that the anxiety level of an average American child in the 1980s was higher than that of the child psychiatric patients in the 1950s.
美国心理学家琼M·图文齐（Jean M. Twenge）对 1953—1993年间所作的269项研究指标进行了大规模分析，以测定当时儿童和大学生的焦虑程度。2000年公布的分析结果表明，20世纪 80年代，美国儿童的平均焦虑程度高于 20世纪 50年代的儿童精神病患者。
Michael Willmott and William Nelson of the Future Foundation wrote in their acclaimed book Complicated Lives that the accumulation of great material wealth in the past 50 years did not make people much happier. It is a classic example of a paradox of progress. People of this generation are wealthier, healthier, more secured and enjoy more freedom than previous generations, yet their life seems to be more depressing.
英国未来基金会的迈克尔·威尔莫特和威廉·纳尔逊在《复杂的生活》一书中指出：“在过去50年里，物质财富的极大丰富并没有使人们增加多少快乐。这是进步的悖论。今天的一代人比以前更富裕、更健康、更安全，享有更多的自由，但他们的生活却似乎更压抑……”
A study done by an American social psychologist a few years back concluded that for the past 40 years the number of Americans who described themselves as being “very happy” had been steadily going down. According to another survey, from 1960 to 2000, with price being the same, the per capita income of the United States had tripled while the proportion of people who felt very happy had dropped from 40% to around 30%. While in the more advanced economies such as France, UK and the US, the number of people who suffered mental depression had been growing steadily in the last ten years or so. The study explained that the relationship between income level and happiness is not linear but skewed. That is, before income has reached a certain level, rising income will increase the level of happiness. But when annual income passes beyond the so-called magic level of US$75000, earning more seems unable to produce more happiness.
美国社会心理学家莱恩博士经过研究得出：在最近40年间，自认“非常幸福”的美国人一直呈下降趋势。一项最新统计还显示：在1960—2000年期间，按不变价格计算，美国人均收入翻了三番，但认为自己“非常幸福”的人却从 40%下降到30%左右。在法国、英国和美国等经济发展较快的欧美发达国家，最近十几年间，精神抑郁的人数与年俱增。对此莱恩解释说：收入水平与幸福之间并不是直线关系，而是曲线关系。在收入水平达到一定高度前，收入提高会增加幸福感；但当收入水平超过一定高度时，它的进一步提高未必会明显增加幸福感。
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