Why do people take "selfies?"
为什么人们爱自拍？
Researchers at Syracuse University in New York tried to answer that question.
纽约雪城大学的研究人员试图找出个中缘由。
They came up with some surprising answers.
他们得出了一些令人惊讶的结果。
People who post selfies and use editing software to make themselves look better show behavior connected to narcissism, the Syracuse researchers said.
雪城大学的研究人员称，那些发自拍并使用美图软件修图的人表现出了与自恋相关的行为。
Narcissists are people who think very highly of themselves, especially how they look.
自恋者是指对自己有着高度评价的人，尤其是对外貌方面。
Ji Won Kim, a doctoral student at the university's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, worked on the study.
雪城大学萨缪尔·纽豪斯公共传播学院的博士生金智媛（Ji Won Kim）参与了这项研究。
She said because social media can be superficial, it is a good place for people to "work towards satisfying their own vanity."
她表示，因为社交媒体是肤浅的，也是人们“尽力满足自己虚荣心”的平台。
By superficial, she means social media is mostly used by people to share unimportant information about their lives -- not deeply personal issues.
这里的“肤浅”是指人们多用社交媒体分享生活中一些不重要的信息，而不是深度的个人问题。
There are other reasons, besides narcissism, that people post selfies.
除了自恋的因素外，人们发自拍还有其它原因。
People who post group selfies show a need for popularity and a need to belong to a group, the Syracuse University research found.
雪城大学的这一研究发现，发集体自拍的人表现出了对人气的需求以及对某个团队的归属需求。
Other findings from the study include:
该研究获得的其它研究结果还包括：
There are no major differences on how often men and women post selfies and how often they use editing software.
男性和女性发自拍及使用美图软件的频率并没有太大的区别。
But men who post selfies showed more of a need to be seen as popular than women who posted selfies.
然而，发自拍的男性比女性更想表现出自己受欢迎。
The Newhouse School's Associate Professor Makana Chock worked on the study.
纽豪斯公共传播学院的副教授马卡那（Makana Chock）从事了这项研究。
She said selfies should not be seen as completely negative.
她说，自拍不应该被完全否定。
She said some people feel "peer pressure" to post selfies.
她说，有些人迫于“同伴压力”才发自拍。
And some follow the popular belief that if there is no picture of an event or experience, it did not really happen.
还有的人跟风一种流行观点——正所谓“无图无真相”。
Chock said posting selfies on social media is not all that different from what people have done for many years.
马卡那表示，在社交媒体上发自拍与人们多年来的日常行为并无区别。
On trips and special events, our parents and grandparents used cameras instead of phones to take photos.
在旅行过程或某一特殊活动中，父母和祖父母们拍照会使用相机而不是手机。
Before social media, people would bring back photos to show friends and family.
在社交媒体诞生前，人们会把照片向亲友展示。
You had no choice but to look at them.
除了欣赏照片，你别无他选。
If you are a nice person, you commented about how nice everyone in the photos looked, especially children and the person showing the photos.
如果你心地友善，你会挨个儿夸一下照片里的人，尤其是儿童和展示照片的人。
That was the old way of "clicking" like.
这就是那个时代的“点赞”。
On social media, it is a different experience.
而社交媒体时代带来的是一种全新的体验。
People can decide not to look at photos of their friends and family -- even if they click "like" or even "love" under the Facebook selfie.
人们可以选择不看亲友的照片，即使他们在Facebook的照片下方点了“喜欢”甚至“超爱”。
Using social media to post photos is pretty new.
利用社交媒体“晒照”十分新潮。
Facebook did not start until 2004. Instagram started in 2010.
2004年，Facebook才成立，2010年，Instagram才成立。
It was not until 2013 that the Oxford English language dictionary added the term "selfies." It defined selfie as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself."
2013年，牛津英语词典添加了“自拍”一词，并给出释义“为自己拍的照片。”
Here is how the Syracuse researchers did their study.
下面是雪城大学研究人员的研究过程。
They questioned 260 people, aged 18 to 65, and almost evenly divided between men and women.
他们调查了260位年龄在18岁到65岁的人士，并且男女人数几乎持平。
To determine narcissism, people were asked if they agreed with personality traits connected to narcissism.
为了确定自恋，人们会被问及是否认同一些与自恋相关的人格特点。
For example, people were asked if they agreed with statements such as, "I like to be the center of attention" and "I like having authority over people."
例如，人们被问及是否认同类似“我喜欢成为众人焦点”或“我喜欢享有权威”这类表达。
To determine if those in the study had a need to be seen as popular, people were asked if they agreed with these statements:
为了确定调查对象是否想表现出自己受欢迎，研究人员会问他们是否认可这类表达：
"It's important that people think I'm popular" and "I often do things just to be popular with people at school."
“让他人觉得我受欢迎很重要”以及“我做的事情只是为了在学校受欢迎。”
I'm Bruce Alpert.
布鲁斯·阿尔珀特为您播报。
【词汇解析】
1.personality trait 人格特征
Chronic worrying, anxiety and being prone to depression are key aspects of the personality trait of neuroticism.
长期烦恼、焦虑以及易于消沉是神经质性人格特点的关键。
2.belong to 属于
Earls, princes, and kings belong to the nobility.
伯爵、亲王和国王属于贵族。
3.social media 社交媒体
We have all witnessed the power of social media.
我们见证了社交媒体的实力。
4.bring back 带回；取回
Your article brought back sad memories for me.
你的文章使我想起了伤心的往事。
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