研究:說"謝謝"有助於增進人際關係

Simply saying "thank you" may benefit both the recipient and the person who express gratitude, according to the results of studies conducted by researchers at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

The studies, published in the latest issue of Psychological Science, found that saying "thank you" strengthens relationships by causing the person expressing thanks to feel more responsible for the recipient's welfare.

To understand how expressing gratitude helps strengthen relationships, the researchers conducted three different studies.

In one study, 137 college students completed a survey regarding how often they expressed gratitude to a friend or partner. Results showed that gratitude was positively linked with the person's perception of the "communal" strength.

In another study involving 218 college students, expressing gratitude found the expresser's perception of the relationship's strength over time was boosted.

In the third study, 75 men and women were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Over a three-week period, one group expressed gratitude to a friend; another thought grateful thoughts about a friend, while a third thought about daily activities and a fourth had positive interactions with a friend.

Those who expressed gratitude reported stronger relationships at the end of study than those in the other groups.

Gratitude, when expressed, boosted communal strength, according to the study's lead author, Nathaniel Lambert, a research associate at the University.

He said the findings make sense because "when you express gratitude to someone, you are focusing on the good things that person has done for you," he said. "It makes you see them in a more positive light and helps you to focus on their good traits."

Lambert said his research team tested the idea that: "The person doing the thanking comes to perceive the relationship as more communal, to see the person as more worthwhile to make a sacrifice for, to go the extra mile to help out".

Although the studies only looked at the people expressing gratitude, Lambert speculated that, "those who are being thanked will often feel an urge to reciprocate. They will want to express their gratitude back. It can become kind of an upward spiral."

美國塔拉哈西佛羅里達州立大學的研究人員開展的一系列研究表明，簡單的一聲“謝謝”對致謝人和被感謝的人都有好處。

這些在最新一期《心理科學》上發表的研究發現，說“謝謝”能讓表達感謝的人覺得自己考慮到了對方的感受，進而能夠增進人際關係。

爲了弄清表達感謝究竟是如何促進人際關係的問題，研究人員開展了三項不同的研究。

在一項研究中，研究人員對137名大學生開展了一項關於他們對朋友或情侶表達感謝的頻率的調查。結果顯示，說“謝謝”能讓致謝人更進一步地看待相互間的關係。

在另一項對218名大學生開展的研究中，表達感謝讓致謝人感到雙方的關係更“鐵”了。

在第三項研究中，研究人員將75名男性和女性隨機分爲四個小組。在三個星期的時間內，一個小組向朋友表達感謝，另一個小組對朋友心懷感激，第三個小組只考慮日常活動，第四個小組與朋友進行積極互動。

在研究結束時，說“謝謝”小組相比於其它小組而言，成員之間的關係更爲牢固。

研究報告主要撰寫人、佛羅里達州立大學的研究員納撒尼爾•蘭伯特說，表達感激能增進人與人之間的關係。

他說，這些發現很有道理，因爲“當你表達對某人的感激之情時，你會注重這個人爲你所做的好事。這讓你從一個更爲積極的角度來看待他們，讓你更多關注他們的好品質。”

蘭伯特說，他的研究小組證明了這一觀點：“表達感謝的人會更一步看待兩人間的關係，認爲值得爲對方做出犧牲，值得對其鼎力相助。”

儘管這些研究只分析了那些表達感激的人，但蘭伯特分析稱，“那些受到感謝的人通常會產生回報的想法。他們也會想向對方表達感激，從而形成一種良性循環。”

Vocabulary:

go the extra mile: 多付出代價；多努力一點

reciprocate: to behave or feel towards somebody in the same way as they behave or feel towards you 回報；迴應