幸福生活不等于有意义?

 　　What kind of life do you want? Is pursuing happiness the goal of your life? Or would you rather lead a meaningful life? Wait, you say, but aren’t happiness and meaning linked with each other? Surely someone who leads a meaningful life is happy? And we find meaning in the pursuit of happiness?

　　你想要哪种生活？你生活的目标是追求幸福？抑或是想活得更充实？等一下，你是说，幸福与充实之间并无关联吗？充实的人生不都该是幸福的么？我们不都是在追求幸福的过程中才找到人生意义的么？

　　According to a new study, a happy life and a meaningful life are not the same thing. In fact, the single-minded pursuit of happiness can leave people less happy.

　　一项最新研究显示，幸福的人生和有意义的人生完全不是一回事。事实上，一味追求幸福只会让人们的幸福感降低。

　　The study will be published this year in the Journal of Positive Psychology¹. A recent article in The Atlantic provided a summary of the results.

　　这项研究成果年内将刊登在《积极心理学学刊》。近期发表在《大西洋月刊》上的一篇文章也概述了该研究成果。

　　Scientists asked nearly 400 US citizens aged² 18 to 78 whether they thought their lives were meaningful and happy. These people were asked about their attitudes toward meaning, happiness and many other aspects in life, like stress levels, spending patterns, and family life. The researchers found that a meaningful life and a happy life overlap³ in certain ways, but are essentially⁴ different.

　　科学家就是否觉得生活幸福而充实这一问题采访了约400位，年龄介于18-78岁间的美国人。受访者就幸福、充实、以及压力水平、消费模式和家庭生活等生活方方面面的给出了自己的态度。研究人员发现，尽管充实生活与幸福生活在某些方面重合，但本质不同。

　　Leading a happy life, the researchers found, is associated with being a “taker”, while leading a meaningful life corresponds with being a “giver”.

　　研究人员发现，生活幸福的人往往是“索取者”，而生活充实的人则属于“赠予者”。

　　Happiness, the researchers found, is about feeling good and getting what we want. People who are happy tend to think that life is easy. They are in good physical health and able to buy the things that they need and want.

　　研究人员发现，幸福就是感觉良好并如愿以偿。幸福的人往往认为生活简单安逸。他们身体健康，而且买得起自己需要和想要的东西。

1 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。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。