A couple cuddle in the sunshine on the final day of the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, June 29, 2003. |
Contrary to conventional wisdom, cuddling and caressing are more important to men than women in a long-term relationship, according to a new international study. Researchers, who studied responses from adults in the United States, Brazil, Germany, Japan and Spain, also discovered that men were more likely to be happy in their relationship and that frequent kissing or cuddling was an accurate predictor of happiness for men. "I was a little surprised," said Julia Heiman, the director of Indiana University's Kinsey Institute, which conducted the study that will be published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior journal. "Some of the stereotypes we have are borne out of what we feel comfortable believing -- that men prefer sex, or women prefer intimacy over sex, for example," she added. The researchers examined more than 1,000 couples aged 40 to 70 from the five countries who had been together for an average of 25 years. Unlike men, women were happier as time went on, according to the findings. If they had been with their partner less than 15 years they were also less likely to be sexually satisfied but that percentage rose significantly after the 15-year mark. "Possibly, women become more satisfied over time because their expectations change, or life changes with the children grown," Heiman said. "On the other hand, those who weren't so sexually happy might not be married so long." Japanese men and women were significantly happier in their relationships than Americans, who were more content than Brazilians and Spaniards. Japanese men in particular were more than twice as sexually satisfied in their relationships than other nationalities. "I honestly don't know why this is," Heiman said in an interview. "Japanese couples may interpret the survey questions slightly different. Maybe Americans interpret this in a much more critical way." Japanese and Brazilian women were also more likely than American women to be happy with their sex lives. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
一项新的跨国研究发现,在长期感情关系中,男人比女人更喜欢拥抱和爱抚,这和传统的观点大相径庭。 研究人员调查分析了美国、巴西、德国、日本和西班牙五国的成年人后还发现,男人一般在感情关系中更快乐,经常亲吻或拥抱说明男人确实感到很快乐。 该研究是由印地安那大学金赛研究所开展的,研究结果将发表在期刊《性行为纪要》上。金赛研究所的主任茱莉亚•海曼说:“我有点吃惊。” 她说,“我们所持有的一些成见是因为我们觉得这样想更舒服,举例而言,我们愿意认为男人更喜欢性交,或是女人更喜欢亲昵的行为。” 研究人员调查了五个国家的1000多对夫妻,他们的年龄在40至70岁之间,在一起的平均时间为25年。 研究结果显示,随着时间的流逝,女人会更快乐,而男人却不会。如果女性和伴侣在一起的时间不到15年,她们对性生活的满意度不会像男性那么高,但是过了15年这一关口后,对性生活感到满意的女性比例则会显著上升。 海曼说,“随着时间的推移,女性对性生活会越来越满意,这可能是因为她们的期望值发生了改变,也可能是因为孩子长大后生活发生了变化。此外,那些对性生活感到不满的女性大概也不会维持这么长时间的婚姻。” 日本的男性和女性对感情的满意度要比美国人高得多,而美国人则比巴西人和西班牙人更满意。 特别是日本男人,他们对性生活的满意度要比其他国家的男人高出两倍多。 海曼在一次访谈中表示:“说实话,我也不知道这是为什么。也许日本人对于调查问题的解读略有不同吧。美国人对这些问题的理解可能更具批判性。” 此外,日本和巴西女性对性生活的满意度也高于美国女性。 相关阅读 (中国日报网英语点津 实习生高美 编辑:陈丹妮) |
Vocabulary: cuddle: to hold somebody/something close in your arms to show love or affection(拥抱;搂抱) caress: touch or stroke lightly in a loving or endearing manner(爱抚) |