老年人看年輕人負面新聞能增強自信

Older people like reading negative news stories about their younger counterparts because it boosts their own self-esteem, according to a new study.

German researchers said older people tend to be portrayed negatively in society. Although they are often described as wise, they are also be shown as being slow and forgetful.

"Living in a youth centered culture, they may appreciate a boost in self-esteem. That's why they prefer the negative stories about younger people, who are seen as having a higher status in our society," said Dr. Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, of Ohio State University.

Knoblock-Westerwick and her co-author Matthias Hastall, of Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, Germany, studied 276 German adults, including 178 aged 18 to 30 and 98 between 55 and 60. Their findings are published in the Journal of Communication.

All the adults in the study were shown what they were led to believe was a test version of a new online news magazine. They were also given a limited time to look over either a negative and positive version of 10 pre-selected articles.

Each story was also paired with a photograph depicting someone of either the younger or the older age group.

The researchers found that older people were more likely to choose to read negative articles about those younger than themselves. They also tended to show less interest in articles about older people, whether negative or positive.

But younger people preferred to read positive articles about other young people.

According to Knobloch-Westerwick, older people's preference for negative news about their younger counterparts can be explained by their place in society.

"Everybody likes a self-esteem boost. For young people though, it's almost automatic. Youth is considered important in society," she said.

After perusing the articles, the participants completed a questionnaire designed to measure levels of self-esteem. Unlike their younger counterparts, the self-esteem of older people rose after they read a negative article about younger people.

根據一項新研究，老年人喜歡閱讀有關年輕人的負面新聞，因爲這能增強他們的自信。

德國研究者說，社會傾向於描繪老年人的負面形象。儘管老年人通常被認爲是明智的，但是他們也經常被貼上遲鈍、健忘的標籤。

俄亥俄州立大學的西爾維婭•諾布羅克-維斯特維克博士說：“年輕人在我們的社會中地位更高。生活在以年輕人爲中心的文化中，老年人也許希望能增強自信心。這就是爲什麼他們更喜歡閱讀有關年輕人的負面新聞。”

諾布羅克-維斯特維克和合著者馬提亞斯•哈斯塔爾研究了276位德國成年人，其中178人年齡在18歲到30歲之間，98人的年齡在55歲到60歲之間。哈斯塔爾來自德國腓德烈港的澤佩林大學。他們的研究刊登在《交流》期刊中。

研究者讓所有參與研究的成年人看一個所謂的網上新聞雜誌的測試版，還要求他們在限定時間內讀完10篇預先選定的文章的負面和正面版本。

每個故事還配有一張年輕人或老人的圖片。

研究者發現，老年人更傾向於選擇閱讀有關年輕人的負面新聞。他們對有關老年人的文章也不怎麼感興趣，不管是負面還是正面新聞。

然而年輕人更喜歡閱讀有關其他年輕人的正面文章。

諾布羅克-維斯特維克稱，老年人對有關年輕人的負面新聞的喜好可以用他們在社會中的地位來解釋。

她說：“每個人都喜歡增強自信心。對於年輕人而言，這幾乎可以自發產生。青春在社會看來很重要。”

在仔細閱讀完文章後，參與者要完成一張測量自信心水平的問卷。和年輕參與者不同的是，在讀完有關年輕人的負面文章後，老年人的自信心會有所上升。

Vocabulary:

look over: 細看

peruse: to read something, especially in a careful way（細讀；研讀）