把握青春! 研究稱25歲開始你的朋友會變少!

Are you younger than 25 years old? You may want to appreciate this moment in life when your social circle is at its greatest. If you're older, you may relate to what you read next.

你現在不到25歲嗎？你可能會想感謝生命中這個時刻，你的社交圈是最棒的。如果你年紀再大點，你可能會接觸到你接下來將要讀到的情況了。

Soon after your mid-20s, your social circle shrinks, according to a recent study by scientists from Aalto University in Finland and the University of Oxford in England.

根據來自芬蘭阿爾託大學和英國牛津大學科學家的最新研究成果顯示，20來歲後不久，你的社交圈會開始縮小。

The teams analyzed data from 3 million mobile phone users to identify the frequency and patterns of whom they contacted and when, as well as overall activity within their networks.

該團隊分析了來自300萬個手機用戶的數據，以此判定他們聯繫的頻率和模式，以及在網絡上的整體活躍度。

Men and women were found to be socially promiscuous -- making more and more friends and social contacts -- until the age of 25, after which point they started losing them rapidly, with women losing them at an initially faster rate than men. The average 25-year-old woman contacts about 17.5 people per month, while a man contacts 19 people.

男性和女性在25歲之前不斷交友，社交聯繫頻繁，處於泛交狀態。之後他們會開始迅速失去朋友，最初女性失去朋友的速度快於男性。25歲的女性每月聯繫17.5個人，而25歲的男性每月聯繫19個人。

This decline continues for the rest of your life, or at least until retirement.

在餘生中，朋友的數量會繼續下降，至少退休之前是這樣的。

The theory is that around this age, people begin to decide who is most important -- and valuable -- in their life and make a greater effort to hold on to those friends.

在25歲這個階段，人們開始決定人生中哪些人是最重要和最有價值的朋友，並且爲了保住這些朋友付出更多努力。

"People become more focused on certain relationships and maintain those relationships," said Kunal Bhattacharya, a postdoctoral researcher at Aalto University who co-authored the study. "You have new family contacts developing, but your casual circle shrinks."

研究共同執筆人、阿爾託大學博士後昆瑙·巴塔查雅表示：“人們開始更注重並努力維繫某些關係，建立了新的家庭關係，日常生活圈卻縮小了。”

This applies to both partners and friends, and it stems largely from people wanting to settle down and raise a family.

這同時適用於伴侶和朋友，主要源自於人們想安定下來建立家庭。

"At the beginning of this age range, women are more focused," Bhattacharya said, meaning women are more intent on finding the correct partner. Once they believe they have, they invest more time in nurturing that relationship and lose others of less value.

巴塔查雅表示：“在這個年齡層初期，女性更加註重這方面”，意味女性更加傾向於尋找合適的伴侶。一旦認爲找到了，就會投入更多時間培養這段關係，並捨棄其他較不具有價值的人。

"Once you've made decisions and found the appropriate people, you can be much less socially promiscuous and invest your time in these people," added Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford who co-authored the paper. "But they can't be just anybody," he added.

牛津大學進化心理學教授、該論文的共同作者羅賓·鄧巴補充說道：“一旦你做出了決定並找到了合適的人，社交會更慎重，你會把時間投入到選擇的人身上，而不是隨意的任何人。”

Trends were seen to change slightly in people's late 30s: Men begin losing buddies at a faster rate. By the age of 39, the average man was contacting 12 people, while women were calling 15 people each month.

人們30歲以後，這一趨勢看起來有輕微的改變：男性開始以更快的速度失去夥伴。到39歲時，男性平均每月聯繫12個人，而女性每月聯繫15個人。

Though the team emphasized that the rapid loss of friends happens in both men and women, experts generally consider this formation of an "inner circle" to be more important to women, mainly due to them having children.

儘管研究團隊強調朋友快速流失同時出現在男性和女性身上，專家一般認爲，“核心圈”模式對女性而言更重要，主要就是因爲有了孩子。

"You make the effort in return for some benefits," said Dunbar, who believes that at this point, people will prioritize those who are more useful to them.

鄧巴表示：“你會爲了某些回報付出努力”。他認爲，人們在這個階段，會把“較有利用價值的人”放在優先位置。

At this point, contacts such as mothers, mothers-in-law, close friends and family come into play as they help people raise their children, known as the grandmother effect.

在這一階段，與母親、伴侶的母親、親近的朋友和家人連繫，有助人們養育孩子，稱作祖母效應。

"It's the 'tend and befriend' idea, meaning relationships become more important when you have children," said Michael Price, director of the Center for Culture and Evolution at Brunel University London who was not involved in the study. "You're now investing in offspring for the rest of your lives."

“這種'照料與結盟'理念，意味着當你有孩子以後關係會變得更加重要，” 並未參與這項研究的英國布魯內爾大學文化演變中心主任麥克爾·普里斯說道，“你正在爲你以後的生活投資後代。”

Price believes that men instead value more individualistic criteria, such as their achievements or status, once they have a family. "It's well established that close, personal relationships are more highly valued by women in general, while men value status more," he said.

普里斯認爲，一旦男性擁有家庭後，會更加重視個體標準，如他們的成就或地位。他說：“經證實，通常來說女性更重視親密私人的關係，而男性更重視社會地位。”