一詞日曆：新研究，神經質的人養的貓也會變神經
2019.03.20
週三 Wednesday
correlate /'kɔrəleit/
v. 相關聯
We already know that cats can be as neurotic as their owners are, but just how deep are the personality ties between felines and the humans who look after them?
我們已經知道了貓可以和他們的主人一樣神經質，但是主人和寵物之間的性格相關度到底多高呢？
Pretty deep, according to new research from scientists in the UK, who found that personality traits of cat owners correlated with related behaviours exhibited by their pets – suggesting that, to some extent, your cat might be absorbing and mirroring aspects of your own personality.
英國科學家的研究顯示，相當高。他們發現貓主人的性格特徵與寵物表現出的相關行爲是相互關聯的，這表明，在某種程度上，你的貓可能在學習和模仿你自己性格的方方面面。
"Many owners consider their pets as a family member, forming close social bonds with them," animal welfare researcher Lauren Finka from Nottingham Trent University explained to The Telegraph.
諾丁漢特倫特大學的動物福利研究員Lauren Finka向《每日電訊報》解釋說：“許多主人把寵物視爲家庭成員，與它們形成了密切的社會關係。”
"It's therefore very possible that pets could be affected by the way we interact with and manage them, and that both these factors are in turn influenced by our personality differences."
“因此，我們與寵物互動和管理的方式很可能會影響到寵物，而這兩個因素又反過來受到我們性格差異的影響。”
Finka and her team surveyed over 3,000 cat owners, asking a series of questions that measured them on a scale known as the Big Five Inventory (BFI) of personality traits, which assesses people's agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, neuroticism, and openness.
Finka和她的團隊調查了3000多隻貓的主人，提出了一系列的問題，用“大五人格量表”（BIF）來衡量這些問題，評估人們的隨和性、嚴謹性、外向性、神經質和開放性。
What they found was a number of correlations that not only predicted the cat's general welfare, but also its own personality.
她們發現了一些相關度，不僅事關貓貓的整體生活質量，也事關貓貓自身的性格。
For example, higher owner neuroticism was linked with cats cited as having a "behavioural problem", which could be evidenced by aggression, anxiety or fear, or stress-related behaviours – in addition to medical conditions or being overweight.
比如說，主人越是神經質，她們的貓貓就往往也有些行爲異常，不只是健康狀況和過度肥胖，攻擊性、焦慮和恐懼、壓力行爲都能加以佐證。
The researchers also found that cat owners who scored higher on extroversion were more likely to have animals that themselves enjoyed more freedom outside, while participants who came across as agreeable reported being more satisfied with their (perhaps more agreeable) felines.
研究人員還發現外向性這一欄得分越高的貓主人，她們的貓貓也越是享受戶外的自由，還稱測出隨和的參與者也更滿意她們養的（也許也更黏人的）貓貓。
今日詞彙
correlate /'kɔrəleit/
v. 相關聯
Correlate 是前綴 co- 加上 relate
Co- 這個前綴表示“相互”，relate 的意思是“與……有關聯”。
所以 correlate 的意思就是“相互關聯”、“互相之間有聯繫”。
The figures do not seem to correlate.
這些數據似乎毫不相干。
