你也是这样？城市化程度影响我们性选择偏好

 Fancy butch men? Then you probably live in the city: Urban life makes us more attracted to masculine males and feminine women.

当今社会哪种长相对异性更有吸引力呢？是更中性化的长相还是性别特征明显的长相呢？最近有研究发现，这种人类的性选择偏好受城市化程度的影响。生活在工业化、城市化程度高的地区的人更喜欢性别特征明显的异性。

In a world of supermodels and Hollywood heart throbs¹, it's easy to assume many of us want our men to be manly² and our women girlish and womanly.

在这样一个超模、好莱坞影星风靡全球的时代里，我们显然会认为人们都喜欢男人更man，女人更柔。

But new research suggests that, rather than being a sexual selection preference that has evolved over hundreds of years, it's a relatively³ new habit that has only emerged in modern, urbanised societies.

但是一项新的研究表明，与已经进化了上百年的性选择偏好不同，在当今这个现代化、城市化程度颇高的社会中，出现了一种相对较新的性选择偏好。

A team of psychologists found that people in small-scale, more rural societies instead have a preference for more netural, or least ‘sex-typical’ features.

心理学家发现生活在规模较小的乡村地区的人更喜欢长相中性化或是性别特征相对没有那么突出的人。

The researchers, which also included anthropologists and biologists led by Brunel University London, surveyed 12 populations around the world, from the primitive⁴ to the highly developed.

包括伦敦布鲁内尔大学的人类学家、生物学家在内的研究人员，调查了世界范围内从原住民地区到高度发达地区的12个人群。

Surprisingly, only in the most industrialised and urbanised environments did people hold the well-worn opinion that highly feminine women, and highly masculine men are attractive.

令人吃惊的是，结果显示，只有生活在工业化和城市化程度最高的地区的人才认为女性化特征显著的女性和男性化特征显著的男性有吸引力。

Lecturer in psychology⁵ at Brunel University London, Andrew Clark, said: ‘We digitally morphed masculine and feminine faces from photographs of people to find out what choices people from small-scale societies made.

在伦敦布鲁内尔大学的心理学讲座上，安德鲁·克拉克说：“我们利用电子技术变换了人们照片中男性化和女性化的面孔，为的是研究生活在规模较小的地区的人们的选择。”

‘We found that they didn't place the same emphasis on 'sex typicality', that is, on highly feminine women and highly masculine men.

“我们发现他们并没有将选择重点放在‘性别典型性’（即女性更具女性化特征、男性更具男性化特征）上。”

In fact, they often favoured the neutral face, and sometimes the least ‘sex-typical’ one.’

“事实上，他们更喜欢那些中性化的面孔，有时甚至是最不具性别典型性的那张面孔。”

The team also found that the perception that masculine males appear aggressive increased with urbanisation.

该研究团队还发现城市化程度越高，男性化特征显著的男性会被认为越有攻击性。

A total of 962 participants were shown sets of three opposite-sex composite, and digitally-manipulated photos.

研究人员给962名被试呈现几组包括经电脑处理过的三张异性照片。

For each set of photographs, representing different ethnic⁶ groups, participants were asked which face was most attractive and which appeared most aggressive.

各组照片呈现的是不同种族的人群，被试被要求从中选出最有吸引力和看起来最有攻击性的面孔。

‘This data challenges the theory that exaggerated sex-specific traits were important for social and sexual selection in ancestral environments,’ added Dr Clark.

“由此得到的结果对之前的理论提出了质疑，这种理论认为在原始的环境中鲜明、突出的性别特征对社会和性别选择至关重要。”克拉克博士说。

‘Preferences for sex typical faces are a novel phenomenon of modern environments. It's probably not a consistent thread in human history.’

“对性别特征显著的面孔的偏好是现代社会的一个新现象。这可能不是人类历史上始终如一的一种偏好。”

The team suggest that highly developed environments with large, dense⁷ populations may have exposed individuals to a greater range of unfamiliar⁸ faces, providing the opportunity - and perhaps motive⁹ - to discover subtle relationships between facial traits and behaviour.

该研究团队还表示，高度发达、人口稠密的地区可能因为能使人接触到大量的不熟悉面孔，而为人们发现面孔特征和行为之间的微妙关系提供了一种机会或者动机。

The findings are published in the journal PNAS.

该研究结果发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》上。

1 throbs   

体内的跳动( throb的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My finger throbs with the cut. 我的手指因切伤而阵阵抽痛。
• We should count time by heart throbs, in the cause of right. 我们应该在正确的目标下，以心跳的速度来计算时间。

2 manly   

adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地

参考例句：

• The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
• He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务，并希望别人效之。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

5 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

8 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

9 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。