單身人士與心儀伴侶用餐時會選擇更健康的食物
Single young people order healthier food if they're on a date with somebody good-looking, a study has revealed.
一項研究發現，單身人士與一位有魅力的同伴用餐時會選擇更健康的食物。Researchers at East Carolina University studied 639 heterosexual students with an average age of 18 to find out how a good-looking dining companion would affect what they ate.
美國東卡羅來納大學的研究人員對639名平均年齡在18歲的異性戀學生進行了研究，以瞭解與長相有魅力人的一起進餐會如何影響他們的飲食。Women may eat healthier because thinness is seen as more attractive, while men want to portray themselves as fit and healthy, the researchers suggest.
研究人員稱，女性可能會吃得更健康，因爲瘦被認爲更有吸引力，而男性則希望塑造健康的形象。
In the study, each of the participants were told to pick an item from a restaurant menu after being shown a photo of who they would be eating with, The Times reported.
據《泰晤士報》報道，這項研究要求每位參與者在看過午餐同伴的大頭照後選擇一道菜。The scientists had already rated people's attractiveness beforehand, and found the most attractive people inspired their partners to eat healthily.
科學家們事先已經對照片上人們的吸引力分了等級，發現最具魅力的人會促使他們的伴侶做出更健康的選擇。
'Perhaps because society portrays thinner women as more desirable,' the authors wrote, 'women may be especially motivated to appear thin or at least to engage in behaviors that promote thinness when in the presence of others.'
研究報告的作者寫道：“也許是因爲社會認爲苗條的女性更有魅力，所以女性特別願意在別人面前顯得更苗條，或者至少會做出一些讓自己看起來更苗條的舉動。”They added: 'Smaller meals are generally considered to be more neat and feminine... and women tend to be rated as more attractive when their meals contain lower fat content.'
他們補充說：“較小份的食物通常被認爲更優雅、更有女人味。如果女性食物中的脂肪含量較低，則容易被認爲更有魅力。”But their theory about men was wrong -- they thought men would eat more calories in a bid to seem more muscular and strong.
但他們關於男性的理論是錯誤的--他們認爲男性會攝入更多的卡路里，以顯得身體更健碩。This theory appears to have been based on past research claiming men eat bigger portions in the presence of women in an attempt to seem more powerful.
這一理論似乎是基於過去的一項研究，即男性在女性面前吃得更多，是爲了顯得更有男子漢氣概。However, if that was ever true it doesn't apply to 21st century young men, who are more likely to want to be seen as health-conscious.
然而，如果這是真的，卻並不適用於21世紀的年輕男性，他們更有可能希望被視爲注重健康。'Individuals who consume healthier foods tend to be rated as more fit, attractive, and likeable,' the scientists said to explain the men's behaviour.
研究人員在解釋男性的行爲時說：“吃健康食品的人往往被認爲更健康、更有魅力、更討人喜歡。”
