说出你的名字，我就能猜出你长什么样。听上去和算命一样？

但这是有科学根据的。研究人员发现，你的名字所附带的社会成见会影响并逐渐改变你的容貌。所以给孩子取名字，还是要走点心呀！

Choosing a name for a child is often a headache for parents, but new research shows that picking well could be more crucial than previously thought.

为孩子取名字对于父母而言通常都是件头疼事，但是新研究发现，取个好名字比你原想的还要重要。

Academics have found that your first name actually changes the way you look, a phenomenon dubbed ‘The Dorian Gray’ effect, after Oscar Wilde’s eponymous hero.

学者们发现，事实上你的名字能改变你的长相，这一现象被称为“道林·格雷效应”，得名于奥斯卡·王尔德笔下的小说人物道林·格雷。

生词积累

dub [dʌb] vt. 配音；轻点；打击；授予称号n. 笨蛋；鼓声

eponymous [ɪ’pɑnɪməs] adj. 使得名的，齐名的

图片来源：电影《道林·格雷的画像》

Just as Gray’s wicked deeds were etched onto the facial features of his portrait, so the cultural stereotypes linked to a name come to be written on the faces of their bearers.

正如格雷的桩桩恶行反映在了他的肖像中，和一个名字相关的文化成见也会表现在名字主人的脸上。

For example, someone called ‘Bob’ is expected by society to have a rounder more jovial face than a man called ‘Tim’. That expectation eventually leads ‘Bobs’ to become more gregarious and jolly, while ‘Tims’ may appear more pinched and reserved.

例如，社会期待一个名叫“鲍勃”的人比名叫“蒂姆”的人脸更圆更乐呵。这一期待最终会导致叫“鲍勃”的人更合群更快活，而叫“蒂姆”的人显得更缩头缩脑、更保守。

生词积累

jovial [‘dʒovɪəl]adj. 天性快活的；主神朱庇特的

gregarious [grɪ’gɛrɪəs] adj. 社交的；群居的

pinched [grɪ’gɛrɪəs]adj. 社交的；群居的pinched [pɪntʃt]

adj. 压紧的；痛苦的；困难的；收缩的

The connection may be linked to the ’bouba-kiki’ effect which suggests that across languages, more bulbous smoother objects are labeled with rounded ‘bouba’ sounds, while thinner spikier objects have ‘kiki’ sounds.

这一联系可能和bouba-kiki效应有关，根据该效应，各种语言中更圆更光滑的东西的名字的发音都更“圆”，与bouba的音相近，而更细长更尖的东西名字发音和kiki的音相近。

** Bouba/Kiki效应是指脑会在词语和形状之间建立联系。

生词积累

bulbous [‘bʌlbəs] adj. 球根的；球根状的；由球根生长的

spikier adj. 大钉一般的；装有大钉的；尖刻的；易怒的；有穗的

Likewise, ‘Winstons’ are perceived as fairly glum, while ‘Marys’ are considered to be moral, both traits which may alter countenance, and over time, change face shape.

同样，名叫温斯顿的人会被认为是一个忧郁的人，而名叫“玛丽”的人则被看作是道德高尚的人，这两种品质会改变一个人的容貌，时长久了，还会改变脸型。

And a woman named ‘Katherine’ is considered to be more serious and dependable than a girl named ‘Bonnie’. Such cultural expectations may encourage ‘Katherines’ to be more studious and academic, which could gradually influence the development of facial muscles, perhaps through increased concentration.

而一个名叫“凯瑟琳”的女人则被认为比名叫“邦妮”的人更认真更可靠。这样的文化期待会鼓励名叫“凯瑟琳”的人更勤奋、更热衷学术，并会逐渐影响脸部肌肉的发育，这也许是长时长集中注意力的缘故。

“Prior research has shown there are cultural stereotypes attached to names, including how someone should look,” said lead author Dr Yonat Zwebner, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

该研究的首席作者、来自耶路撒冷希伯莱大学的约拿.齐维布纳博士说：“先前的研究显示，和名字相关的文化成见一直存在，这其中就包括叫某个名字的人应该长什么样。”

“For instance, people are more likely to imagine a person named Bob to have a rounder face than a person named Tim. We believe these stereotypes can, over time, affect people’s facial appearance.”

“例如，在大多数人的想象中，名叫鲍勃的人比名叫蒂姆的人脸长得更圆。我们相信，时长久了，这些成见会改变人的面容。”

To find out if face shape was linked to name, researchers conducted eight studies to see it was possible for strangers to correctly identify the names of people simply by looking at their faces.

为了弄清楚脸型是否和名字有关联，研究人员开展了8项研究，看陌生人能否只靠看脸就能准确把脸和名字对上号。

In every experiment, the participants were significantly better (up to 40 percent accurate) at matching the name to the face than random chance (20 – 25 percent accurate) even when ethnicity, age and other socioeconomic variables were controlled for.

在每个实验中，即便是在种族、年龄和其他社会经济变量可控制的情况下，参与者的配对准确率（40%）比随机配对的准确率（20-25%）明显更高。

词组积累

link to 链接到；把…和…连接；把…和…联系起来

attach to vt. 依附，附属；加入；使依恋；把…放在

look at v. 看；考虑；着眼于

“Together, these findings suggest that facial appearance represents social expectations of how a person with a particular name should look. In this way, a social tag may influence one’s facial appearance,” said co-author Dr Ruth Mayo.

共同作者露丝.马由博士说：“总而言之，这些发现告诉我们，容貌可以代表社会对某些特定名字人的期待。通过这种方式，社会标签可能会对一个人的容貌造成影响。”

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