燕山大学 刘立军 编写
TRANSCRIPT
This is Scientific American - 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
Are you an agreeable person - you know, a nice guy? If so, a logical follow-up might be: how are your finances? And here's why: "Agreeable people have lower savings, they have higher debt, and they're also more likely to go bankrupt or default on their loans."
Sandra Matz is a computational social scientist at the Columbia Business School in New York City. And using a combination of questionnaires and bank data, she and her colleague Joe Gladstone found that people who score as more agreeable on personality tests have a better chance of ending up in dire financial straits - especially if they are low-income to begin with.
The researchers also combined personality data on millions of people in the U.S. and the U.K. with regional data on how many people were unable to pay their debts. And they found, again, that the nicer a county or local area's people on average, the worse their finances.
Matz thinks a factor could be that agreeable people just don't care much about money. Maybe they pick up the tab more often, or loan money when they can't afford to. They're generous to a fault.
So how do you get them to wise up?
"So one way we could reframe this is saying, don't care about money just for yourself, but care about it for your family, care about it for the people you love. Because if you mismanage your money it's not just going to affect you, but it's also going to affect all the people you care about, and that you love deeply."
Which might translate agreeable people's superpower - caring about other people - into better financial sense. The results are in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
So if Matz does succeed in teaching nice people to be more stingy, who then will pick up the tab? "Then it's a matter of negotiating, right? Then it should be more equally distributed. So if the agreeable person says I can't pay all the time, I only want to do that once in a while, but I also want you to give something back, because that's what makes a relationship a relationship, and not a one way street."
Which might mean agreeable people need to get a little more comfortable having disagreeable conversations.
Thanks for listening for Scientific American - 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
Adapted from http://www.kekenet.com/broadcast/201905/586144.shtml
VOCABULARY
1. go bankrupt 破产
2. default v. default (on sth.) to fail to do sth. that you legally have to do, especially by not paying a debt 违约；不履行义务（尤指不偿还债务）。例如：
to default on a loan / debt拖欠借款 / 债务
defaulting borrowers / tenants不偿还债务的借款人；拖欠租金的承租人
3. end up: to find yourself in a place or situation that you did not intend or expect to be in 最终成为；最后处于。例如：If you go on like this you'll end up in prison. 如果你继续这样，早晚得进监狱。用法：
(+ -ing 短语) 例如：I ended up doing all the work myself. 结果所有的活儿都是我一个人干了。
(+ 形容词) 例如：If he carries on driving like that, he'll end up dead. 如果他继续这样开车，总有一天会把命都丢掉。
4. strait n. straits (复数) a very difficult situation especially because of lack of money （尤指经济拮据引起的）困境，境况窘迫。例如：
The factory is in dire straits. 工厂岌岌可危。
She found herself in desperate financial straits. 她发觉自己经济状况极为窘迫。
5. tab n. a bill for goods you receive but pay for later, especially for food or drinks in a restaurant or bar; the price or cost of sth.（待付的）账单，账款；费用；（尤指）餐厅账单。例如：
a bar tab酒吧账单
Can I put it on my tab? 我可以记账吗？
The tab for the meeting could be $3000. 这次会议的费用可能是3000元。
6. stingy adj. (informal) not given or giving willingly; not generous, especially with money 小气的；吝啬的。(同) mean 例如：
You're stingy! (= not willing to spend money) 你真小气！
Don't be so stingy with the cream! 别那么舍不得放奶油！
QUESTIONS
Read the statements. Then listen to the news and check the true (√) or false (×) statements.
1. Agreeable people have higher savings, and they're also more likely to go bankrupt on their loans.
2. The researchers found that the nicer a county or local area's people on average, the worse their finances.
3. Matz thinks a factor could be that agreeable people just care too much about money.
4. Agreeable people pick up the tab more often, or loan money when they can't afford to.
5. If you mismanage your money, it's not just going to affect you, but it's also going to affect all the people you care about, and that you love deeply.
KEY
Read the statements. Then listen to the news and check the true (√) or false (×) statements.
×1. Agreeable people have higher savings, and they're also more likely to go bankrupt on their loans. (正确表达) Agreeable people have lower savings, and they're also more likely to go bankrupt on their loans.
√2. The researchers found that the nicer a county or local area's people on average, the worse their finances.
×3. Matz thinks a factor could be that agreeable people just care too much about money. (正确表达) Matz thinks a factor could be that agreeable people just don't care much about money.
√4. Agreeable people pick up the tab more often, or loan money when they can't afford to.
√5. If you mismanage your money, it's not just going to affect you, but it's also going to affect all the people you care about, and that you love deeply.