青少年爲何有時不會換位思考
The teen years are often fraught with door-slamming, eye-rolling and seeming insensitivity, even by kids who behaved kindly before. Some parents worry that they're doing something wrong, or that their children will never think of anyone but themselves.
十幾歲的孩子常常會摔門、翻白眼，還會顯出一副冷冰冰的樣子，甚至連之前表現友善的孩子也是這樣。一些家長會擔心自己做錯了什麼，或者擔心孩子會永遠不考慮別人而只考慮自己。
New research shows that biology, not parenting, is to blame.
新的研究顯示，這種現象歸咎於生理，而不是家庭教育。
In adolescence, critical social skills that are needed to feel concern for other people and understand how they think are undergoing major changes. Adolescence has long been known as prime time for developing cognitive skills for self-control, or executive function.
在青春期，關心別人以及理解他人想法所需的關鍵社交能力發生着重大變化。長久以來，青春期一直被視爲賴以自制或執行的認知能力形成的黃金時期。
'Cognitive empathy,' or the mental ability to take others' perspective, begins rising steadily in girls at age 13, according to a six-year study published recently in Developmental Psychology. But boys don't begin until age 15 to show gains in perspective-taking, which helps in problem-solving and avoiding conflict.
近期刊登在《發展心理學》(Developmental Psychology)上一項爲期六年的研究顯示，女孩的“認知同理心”（即站在他人立場思考的心理能力）從13歲開始穩步增強。但這種有助於解決問題和避免衝突的換位思考能力，在男孩身上要到15歲纔會開始增強。
Adolescent males actually show a temporary decline, between ages 13 and 16, in a related skill-affective empathy, or the ability to recognize and respond to others' feelings, according to the study, co-authored by Jolien van der Graaff, a doctoral candidate in the Research Centre Adolescent Development at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Fortunately, the boys' sensitivity recovers in the late teens. Girls' affective empathy remains relatively high and stable through adolescence.
荷蘭烏特勒支大學(Utrecht University)青少年發展研究中心(Research Centre Adolescent Development)博士生、此項研究作者之一若利恩?範德赫拉夫(Jolien van der Graaff)稱，青春期男性在13到16歲之間一種相關的能力──“情感同理心”（即識別他人的感受並對此做出反應的能力）實際上會暫時減弱。幸運的是，男孩體恤他人感情的能力會在青春期後期恢復。女孩的情感同理心在整個青春期都會穩定在較高的水平。
The riptides are often noticeable to parents. Susan Burkinshaw has tried to cultivate empathy in her two teenage sons, 16 and 18, since they were toddlers, encouraging them to think about others' feelings. Yet one 'went through a period in eighth grade where he was just a bear to deal with. He always had an attitude,' says Ms. Burkinshaw, of Germantown, Md. 'Then as quickly as it came on, it turned back off again.'
家長們通常能注意到這種劇變。馬里蘭州日耳曼敦(Germantown)的蘇珊?布爾金肖(Susan Burkinshaw)的兩個兒子一個16歲，一個18歲，她從兒子蹣跚學步時就開始努力培養他們的同理心，鼓勵他們考慮他人的感受。但布爾金肖說，“一個兒子上八年級時有段時間很難相處。他總是個性特別強。不過這種狀況來得快去得也快，之後他又恢復常態了。”
The findings reflect a major expansion in researchers' understanding of cognitive growth during adolescence, according to a 2012 research review co-authored by Ronald Dahl, a professor of public health at the University of California at Berkeley. Researchers used to believe that both forms of empathy were fully formed during childhood.
加州大學伯克利分校(University of California at Berkeley)的公共健康教授羅納德?達爾(Ronald Dahl) 2012年與他人共同撰寫的一篇研究綜述顯示，相關發現反映出研究者對青春期認知發展的理解有了重大拓展。研究人員曾認爲，這兩種形式的同理心都完全形成於兒童時期。
Now, it's clear that 'the brain regions that support social cognition, which helps us understand and interact with others successfully, continue to change dramatically' in the teens, says Jennifer Pfeifer, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Preliminary research in her lab also suggests cognitive empathy rises in teens. The discoveries serve as a new lens for exploring such teen behaviors as bullying and drug abuse.
俄勒岡大學尤金分校(University of Oregon in Eugene)的助理心理學教授珍妮弗?普法伊費爾(Jennifer Pfeifer)表示，如今我們已經清楚地認識到，“支持社交認知的大腦區域（幫助我們成功地理解他人並與他人交往）在青春期持續發生戲劇性變化”。她所在實驗室的初步研究還暗示，認知同理心在青春期有所增強。這些發現爲我們探索青少年恃強凌弱和濫用毒品等行爲提供了新的視角。
Kids who develop affective and cognitive empathy form healthy relationships and argue less with their parents, research shows. Perspective-taking continues to be central for adults on the job, helping in designing and selling products and services, building user-friendly devices, and working smoothly with others with diverse viewpoints and backgrounds.
研究顯示，情感同理心和認知同理心發展良好的孩子能夠與父母建立健康的關係，爭執也比較少。換位思考能力在成年人的工作中仍扮演着中心角色，能夠幫助人們設計和銷售產品和服務，開發用戶友好型設備並幫助他們與觀點、背景各異的其他人順利合作。
Affective empathy is grounded in the limbic region of the brain, which regulates emotions. This capacity begins developing in infancy when parents respond sensitively to babies' emotions. Children learn to practice empathy by watching their parents and by experiencing it themselves-being treated well by adults who respond warmly to their feelings, says Anthony Wolf, a Longmeadow, Mass., psychologist, author and speaker.
情感同理心植根於大腦的邊緣區，這一區域的功能是調節情緒。在嬰兒時期，當父母對寶寶的情緒做出體貼入微的迴應時，這種能力就開始發展了。馬薩諸塞州朗梅多(Longmeadow) 的心理學家、作家兼演說家安東尼?沃爾夫(Anthony Wolf)稱，兒童通過觀察父母行爲及親身體驗（受到對他們的感受做出熱情迴應的成年人的關愛）來學習換位思考。
Cognitive empathy arises from a different part of the brain, the medial prefrontal cortex, which continues developing later, through adolescence. But the two are linked; children's affective empathy predicts their level of cognitive empathy as teens, says a forthcoming study by Caspar Van Lissa, a doctoral candidate at Utrecht's adolescent-research center.
認知同理心源自大腦的另一部位──腦內側前額葉皮質，這種能力之後會繼續發展，貫穿整個青春期。但這兩種同理心是有聯繫的；烏特勒支大學青少年研究中心的博士生卡斯帕?範利薩(Caspar Van Lissa)即將發表的一項研究顯示，兒童時期的情感同理心能夠預測青少年時期的認知同理心水平。
Parents can help instill affective empathy by encouraging children to walk in others' shoes. If Ms. Burkinshaw's kids saw a child being teased or treated badly, she asked them, 'If that had been you, what would you have wanted your friends to do to help?'
父母可以通過鼓勵兒童設身處地來培養他們的情感同理心。如果布爾金肖的孩子看到其他孩子被取笑或者受到不友善的對待，她會問他們：“如果是你的話，你希望你的朋友們怎麼幫助你呢？”
Her 12-year-old daughter Alexandra recently told her that several classmates had hurt another girl's feelings by blocking her from following them on Instagram. 'I said, 'What could you do to help her?' ' Ms. Burkinshaw says. Alexandra talked with her friends, and another mother also intervened. The girls apologized and invited the victim back into the group.
她12歲的女兒亞歷山德拉(Alexandra)最近告訴她，有幾個同班同學傷害了另一個女孩的感情，因爲她們阻止她在Instagram上關注她們。布爾金肖表示：“我對女兒說：‘你會做些什麼來幫助她呢？’” 亞歷山德拉與她的朋友談了談，另一位母親也進行了干預。這些女孩最終道了歉，並邀請受傷害的女孩回到她們的圈子裏。
Adolescents' brains work particularly hard on perspective-taking; teens make heavier use than adults of the medial prefrontal cortex, says Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London. That may be because understanding others' viewpoints takes more conscious effort for teens, while it becomes automatic for adults, Dr. Blakemore says. Perspective-taking continues to develop through age 21.
倫敦大學學院(University College London)的認知神經學教授薩拉-傑恩?布萊克莫爾(Sarah-Jayne Blakemore)說，青少年的大腦要費很大功夫來換位思考；他們對腦內側前額葉皮質的使用得比成年人多。布萊克莫爾博士稱，這可能是因爲青少年理解他人的觀點需要更多有意識的努力，而成年人則無須刻意努力。換位思考能力的發展會持續到21歲。
The decline in affective empathy among young teenage boys may spring at least partly from a spurt during puberty in testosterone, sparking a desire for dominance and power, says the study in Developmental Psychology. Boys who were more mature physically showed less empathy than others.
這項刊登在《發展心理學》上的研究稱，青春期前期的男孩情感同理心減弱可能至少在一定程度上是由於青春期睾丸素激增，從而激發了控制慾和權力慾。生理上更成熟的男孩比其他男孩的同理心要弱。
Boys also feel pressure from peers and some adults to 'act like a man,' which they often define as being detached, tough, funny and strong, says Rosalind Wiseman, Boulder, Colo., author of 'Masterminds and Wingmen,' a new book about teen boys. They may suppress feelings of empathy so they can join in joking and teasing with peers, she says. 'Humor is the social glue among boys, and empathy would be a brake on what they can and cannot joke about.' So some kids 'stop listening to their gut.'
科羅拉多州博爾德(Boulder)的羅莎琳德?懷斯曼(Rosalind Wiseman)是《策劃者和幕僚》(Masterminds and Wingmen)一書作者，這是一本關於青春期男孩的新書。懷斯曼表示，男孩還會從同齡人和一些成年人處感受到“要表現得像男人”的壓力，他們通常理解爲要表現出冷漠、強硬、風趣和強壯。她說，他們可能會壓抑想要換位思考的衝動，這樣才能和同齡人一起開玩笑和調侃。她說：“幽默是男孩的社交粘合劑，而同理心是區別他們能開什麼玩笑，不能開什麼玩笑的制動器。”這樣一來，一些孩子就“不再傾聽他們內心的聲音了”。
Also, some teens may appear insensitive because they're actually struggling to avoid being overwhelmed by their own feelings of empathy, says Brad Sachs, Columbia, Md., a psychologist, author and speaker. 'Teens who seem aloof, hard-hearted or unkind may in reality be quite the opposite.'
此外，馬里蘭州哥倫比亞(Columbia)的心理學家、作家和演說家布拉德?薩克斯(Brad Sachs)表示，一些青少年顯出一副冷漠的樣子，其實可能是因爲他們在努力避免被自己的同理心征服。他說：“看起來孤索離羣、鐵石心腸或者不友好的青少年其實可能恰好相反。”
Fathers seem to play a special role. Teens whose fathers are supportive, who say they feel better after talking over their worries with their dads, are more skilled at perspective-taking, says a 2011 study of 15- to 18-year-old boys in Developmental Psychology.
父親似乎扮演着特殊的角色。《發展心理學》 2011年一項針對15-18歲男孩的研究顯示，那些能得到父親熱情相助、宣稱與父親傾訴心中煩惱後情緒好轉的青少年，更善於換位思考。
Yu Oen of Princeton Junction, N.J., encourages his sons Grant, 19, and Sean, 15, to take others' perspective by discussing current events with them-including how the people involved must have felt. After the Boston Marathon bombing, they talked about how a runner who lost her legs must have felt when entering a restaurant where everyone else was wearing shorts.
新澤西州普林斯頓章克申(Princeton Junction)的友?溫(Yu Oen)的兒子格蘭特(Grant)和肖恩(Sean)一個19歲，一個15歲，他通過與兩個兒子討論近期發生的事件（包括討論捲入其中的人會有什麼感覺）來鼓勵他們換位思考。波士頓馬拉松爆炸事件發生後，他們討論了一位失去雙腿的跑步選手走進一家人人都穿短褲的餐館時會有什麼感覺。
'You can see their reaction: 'Wow, that is really tough,' ' Mr. Oen says. 'They feel it: 'What if that had been me?' ' Mr. Oen and his wife Shirley 'feel it too,' he says. 'And we take time to talk about these things.'
溫說：“你能看到他們的反應：‘哇，那真的很不好受。’他們感覺到：‘要是這件事發生在我身上會怎樣？’”他說，他自己和妻子雪莉(Shirley)“也有同感”。他還表示：“然後我們花了些時間來談這些問題。”
