《中英對照讀新聞》Gaze： key to facial attraction／ 凝視︰臉部吸引力的關鍵

◎鄭寺音

You can alter your attraction to the opposite sex simply by looking straight at them and smiling, research suggests.

你可以改變你對異性的吸引力，只要直視他們並且微笑，研究顯示。

A study of hundreds of volunteers at Stirling and Aberdeen Universities found averting the eyes even a fraction can make you appear less attractive.

一份在史特靈與亞伯丁大學針對數百名志願者的研究發現，移開眼睛，甚至只是移開一點點，都可能讓你看起來比較沒吸引力。

In the Royal Society’s Proceedings B journal, they say the direction of gaze plays a role alongside a symmetrical face or healthy skin.

他們在皇家協會B學報中說，除了對稱的臉部或健康的膚色，凝視的方向也扮演角色。

An expert said it may stop people wasting energy on pointless courtships.

一名專家說，這可能讓人停止浪費精力在無意義的求愛上。

The study used pictures of male and female faces which had been subtly digitally manipulated.

這份研究使用男性與女性的臉部照片，這些照片都經過數位處理，加以細微的修飾過。

In one picture, a woman might be looking straight at the camera, while in the next, a tiny adjustment meant she would be looking marginally to the left or right.

在其中一張照片，一名女性可能直視鏡頭，下一張經些微調整，她可能稍微看向左邊或右邊。

The difference was so small that it was not immediately obvious to the viewer.

這種差異很細微，觀看者並不能即刻明顯看出。

However, after these pictures were shown to 460 men and women, who were asked to rate them for "attractiveness", it became clear that it was having a pronounced subliminal effect.

不過，這些照片給460位男女看過，請他們對照片的「吸引力」加以評分，結果出現顯著的下意識影響。

新聞辭典

fraction︰原指「小片段、碎片」，此指「些微、一點兒」。例句：The story does not contain a fraction of truth.（這故事沒有一點真實性。）

pronounced︰明顯的，顯著的。例句：He spoke with a pronounced English accent.（他說話帶著濃濃的英國口音。）

來源：自由時報

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