If you're looking for a mate with a good sense of humour, their ability to tell a joke may be less important than you think.
如果你想找一位幽默的伴侶，他們講笑話的能力或許并沒有你想象得那么重要。

For scientists say that whether we laugh or not depends more on how much we like a person than if they really are funny.
因為科學家稱，我們笑還是不笑更多地取決于我們對這個人的喜歡程度，而不是他是否真的風趣。

Sophie Scott, a professor of neuroscience at University College London, said: 'You hear women say, I really fancy him, he really makes me laugh.
英國倫敦大學學院（University College London）的神經科學教授索菲·斯科特（Sophie Scott）表示：“你經常會聽到女人們說我真地很喜歡他，他總讓我開懷大笑。

'What she means is, he's really attractive and I laugh because I fancy him. It's to do with how much they like him.'
“其實她真正想說的是：他太有魅力了，我會笑是因為我喜歡他。這其實和她們喜歡那個人的程度有關。”

She told the British Science Festival in Bradford that laughter seems to have its roots deep in evolution, and remains 'extremely socially important'.
她在布拉德福德（Bradford）舉行的英國科學節（British Science Festival）上說，笑容似乎是起源于進化，并且現在仍然有著“極其重要的社會意義”。

'When you laugh with people you show you agree with them,' she said. 'You are showing you like them – if you didn't you would withhold that laughter.'
她說：“你和別人一起笑證明你認同他們，你在向他們表現你的青睞，否則你將會克制你的笑容。”

Laughter can also diffuse tension in established relationships, with couples who laugh together, staying together.
在已經建立起來的關系中，笑容還可以緩解緊張感，一起歡笑的夫妻感情維系得更好。

The professor’s own research found that laughter, unlike the sweet sigh of contentment or the cheer of triumph, are cross-cultural, with people with remote parts of Africa recognising when a Westerner is amused and vice versa.
斯科特教授的個人研究發現，笑容不同于滿足的甜蜜嘆息和勝利的歡呼。笑容是跨文化的，來自非洲偏遠地區的人們能夠辨認出西方人是否感到開心，反之亦然。

She said: 'It's looking like laughter might be an emotion that is part of our evolutionary history, it's part of our make-up.'
她說：“笑這種情感看來像是我們進化歷史的一部分，也是我們性格的一部分”。

Laughter, it seems, helps us in all sorts of situations.
笑聲似乎能幫助我們融入各種場合。

Professor Scott said: 'It seems to be a socially extremely important emotion.
斯科特教授說：“這似乎是一種極具社會意義的情感。”

'It is an emotion you primarily find in social settings - you are 30 times more likely to laugh if you are with somebody else than if you are on your own.
“在各種社交場合，笑這種情緒是最容易發現的——和別人在一起時你笑的可能性比你一個人待著時高30倍”。

'And you will laugh more if you know them and you will laugh more if you like them.
如果你認識他們，你笑的次數會更多，如果你喜歡他們，你笑的次數也會更多。

'If you ask human beings when do you laugh, they talk about jokes and they talk about comedy and humour.
如果你問別人他們什么時候會笑，他們會談笑話、喜劇和幽默。

'If you look at when they laugh, it's in the interactions that you find the most laughter, which means that in practice that you laugh most during conversations with other people.
如果你們觀察他們笑的時機，你會發現人們在互動的時候笑得最多，也就是說實際上在與他人進行對話的時候人們最可能笑。

'Interestingly, you are still very rarely laughing at jokes.'
“有趣的是，你其實很少因為笑話而笑。”

The professor advises us all to make time to laugh.
斯科特教授建議我們抽出時間多笑一笑。

She said that while some people go to comedy clubs or even do laughter yoga – the term for a self-help group in which people force themselves to laugh – nothing beats having a good giggle with your friends.
她說，有些人會去看喜劇或是做大笑瑜伽（指人們強迫自己歡笑的自助團體），但沒有什么比得上跟朋友一起大笑一場。

Professor Scott said: 'At its heart, the natural place where you find laughter is in interactions, so I would say give yourself as many opportunities to laugh with the people who make you laugh.
斯科特教授說：“從本質上說，互動中自然而然會產生笑聲，所以我覺得你應該盡可能抓住機會，跟能令你開懷的人一起歡笑。”

'Don't think that is time wasted, it is probably one of the best things you can do with your time.'
“別覺得這是在浪費時間，這或許是你能利用時間做的最棒的事情之一。”

Vocabulary

diffuse：緩解，消除

cross-cultural：跨文化的

interaction：互動

英文來源：每日郵報

譯者：黃心喻

審校&編輯：劉明