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The study found people living in Denmark had the longest form of the gene, and as a result were found to be among the happiest nations in the world
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The French are often accused of being grumpy and dismissive. But Britons and Americans are also hardwired to be miserable, scientists claim. Despite stable governments and good economies, those living in the UK and US will never be as happy as people in other nations, because they are simply born more miserable. They are genetically programmed to be less cheerful than the Danes, for example, who top the list of the happiest nation. And scientists at the University of Warwick discovered it all comes down to a gene which regulates levels of the hormone serotonin in the brain. Short forms of the gene inhibit levels of the hormone, which can invoke depression. Meanwhile those with longer forms of the gene are more likely to be happier, as a result of higher levels of serotonin in the body. Researchers discovered people from Denmark have the longest form of the gene, and as such topped the happiness chart. But Professor Andrew Oswald said it could be worse, we could be French - the nation with one of the shortest forms of the gene, which may explain their reputation for being grumpy. Annual tables of national happiness ratings, compiled by organisations across the world, tend to rank Denmark at the top, along with nations including Panama and Vietnam. They use factors ranging from job satisfaction to economic progress, health, wealth and education standards, along with weather, war and political stability to judge nations. Scandinavians do well as their health is good, they are educated to a high standard and they earn more. But warm weather countries can do well too. Some wealthy Western countries fare less well because there are big divides between rich and poor or they have high unemployment rates or less job satisfaction for instance. But according to Professor Oswald, many of these may still be miserable even if they are earning a fortune, basking in sunshine and living to 100. His findings from 131 countries for the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences, found genetics to be the most important factor but not the only one. Those who are either young or old tend to be happiest rather than those who are middle aged. Those who are slim are happiest, with obesity levels in some developed countries making them less happy as nations. And being married, in a job and well educated can also be a contributory factor. Professor Oswald, said: 'Intriguingly, among the nations we studied, Denmark and the Netherlands appeared to have the lowest percentage of people with the short version of the serotonin gene.' He added that many individual Americans were happy but they tended to be descended from immigrants who came from countries like Denmark in the first place. He said: 'There was a direct correlation between the (US) individual's reported happiness, and the levels of happiness in the country their ancestors had come from. 'Our study revealed an unexplained correlation between the happiness today of some nations and the observed happiness of Americans whose ancestors came from these nations.'
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法国人经常被指脾气暴躁、目中无人。 然而科学家称，英国人和美国人天生就注定要比别人过得悲惨。 尽管英美政局稳定、经济繁荣，然而这两国国民却绝不可能过得像其他国家的人民那样幸福，怪只怪他们“命不好”。 基因决定他们天生就比其他人更容易不开心，比如名列最幸福国民榜单首位的丹麦人。 英国华威大学（University of Warwick）的学者研究发现，这都是因为人体内有一种调节脑内血清素水平的基因。 若这种基因较短，则其会抑制这种荷尔蒙的含量，使人心情阴郁。 同时这种基因较长的人体内的血清素水平则更高，从而更容易感觉到幸福。 研究者们发现丹麦人的这种基因最长，而丹麦人也是世界上最幸福的人。 但安德鲁·奥斯瓦德（Andrew Oswald）教授表示，我们不是法国人已经是不幸之万幸了——法国人的这种基因最短，他们出了名的脾气暴躁大概也可以就此找到原因了。 由全球各大组织编制的年度国民幸福指数排行榜都把丹麦排在首位，随后是巴拿马、越南等国家。 他们在排名时考量了一个国家的多个因素，如工作满意度、经济发展、国民健康、财富和教育水平，以及气候、战争、政局稳定性等。 北欧人的排名很高，因为他们国民身体健康，受教育水平高，薪水也高。气候温润的国家排名也不错。 然而一些富裕的西方国家就表现欠佳了，因为这些国家要么贫富悬殊，要么就失业率很高，或者工作满意度很低。 而且奥斯瓦德教授表示，就算这里面的很多人能赚大钱，能悠闲地晒日光浴或者活到100岁，他们也未必就过得幸福。 他的这项研究共调研了131个国家，研究成果参加了ESRC（英国国家经济和社会研究委员会）的社会科学活动周。研究发现，遗传虽是决定幸福感的最重要因素，但并不是唯一一个。 青年人或老年人都可能是最幸福人群，但中年人就不太可能。 身材苗条的人幸福感最强烈，一些发达国家的幸福排名就因国民较高的肥胖水平而下降。 而已婚、有工作、受过高等教育等都可能是有利因素。 奥斯瓦德教授说：“有趣的是，在我们调研过的所有国家之中，丹麦和荷兰国民中血清素相关基因较短的人群比例最低。” 他补充说道，虽然许多美国人过得也很幸福，但他们的祖先可能是从丹麦这样的国家移民过来的。 他说：“美国个人的幸福指数，与他们祖先发源地的国家幸福水平呈正相关关系。 我们的研究显示，当今某些国家的国民幸福水平与祖先是从这些国家迁移过去的美国后代的幸福指数存在着一种无法解释的联系。” （翻译：bupt_liaoshan 编辑：Julie） 扫一扫，关注微博微信
 
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