25歲以前是最好的青春時光 Best Time Before 25

If you thought your life was over when you hit 30 or 40, then bad news – it may have happened much earlier.

如果你覺得30歲或者40歲的時候人生就無望了，那麼壞消息來了。這個時間點可能更早一些。

Most people have enjoyed the best memories of their life by the age of 25, according to new research.

根據這項新研究，大多數人在25歲以前就擁有了他們一生中最美好的回憶。

A survey of retired people found the life changing highlights etched on their brains happened before they reached age of 25.

調查發現，退休人羣認爲讓他們印象深刻的人生中至關重要的事情在他們25歲之前就發生了。

It is the first study of its kind to use a ‘naturalistic approach’ by collecting free flowing stories in which participants were asked to narrate their own biographies in just 30 minutes.

這次調查中在同類調查中首次使用“自然主義方法”，也就是隨機收集故事，要求參與者用30分鐘講述他們的個人經歷。

A week later they divided these into self defined ‘chapters’ which revealed a dramatic ‘reminiscence bump’ between 17 and 24-years-old – when many people defined these parts beginning and ending.

一週之後，他們把這些故事劃分成自定義的“篇章”，結果顯示17歲到24歲這個階段形成了明顯的“回憶波峯”。許多人的故事的開頭和結尾都在這個年齡階段內。

Psychologist Kristina Steiner, of the University of New Hampshire in the US, said: ‘When people look back over their lives and recount their most important memories, most divide their life stories into chapters defined by important moments that are universal for many: a physical move, attending college, a first job, marriage, military experience, and having children.’

美國新罕布什爾大學的心理學家克里斯蒂娜·施泰納說：“當人們回顧人生，追憶對他們最重要的事情時，大多數人把他們的人生故事劃分成由許多重要時刻標記的章節：一次身體接觸、上大學、第一份工作、結婚、參軍以及生小孩。這些重要的時刻對許多人來說都是通用的。”

In the study, all the participants were white, and three in four of them had earned at least an undergraduate degree.

在這項調查中，所有的參與者都是白人，其中四分之三的人至少是大學本科畢業。