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Is TV Causing Our Reactions to Boil Over? 人们反应过度，电视才是元凶？

（译注：直译为电视造成人们怒不可抑反应过度？）

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Some experts think there may be a link between TV and our emotional responses  有些专家认为，电视可能与人们的情绪反应有关

Marcie Fenster knows the reality TV shows she watches are purely for entertainment. She doesn’t take them seriously and knows they’re not that real.

玛西．范丝特知道，她看的实境电视节目纯粹是为了娱乐效果，不是那么真实，她并没有认真看待这些节目。

She also knows the political pundits on cable TV, and even Sunday morning news programs, can get agitated. She’s well aware that some of the ranting she sees is purely theatrical.

玛西也晓得，有线电视上的政治名嘴、甚至周日晨间新闻，可能都会有激动演出。玛西很清楚，眼前所见的大声咆哮，有些只是为了戏剧效果。

“My thought is probably the producers are encouraging the real highs and the real lows so the viewership will stay,” says Fenster, 57, of Maryland. “I think most people I come in contact with – they know this isn’t the way to behave.”

「我认为，也许制作人努力洒狗血，是为了要维持收视群。」五十七岁、住在马里兰的范丝特表示，「我认为，我接触到的大多数人，都知道这不是正常的行为模式。」

Like Fenster, most of us know the “out-there” reactions we see on reality and cable TV are largely for effect. But behavioral researchers say we may be more affected than we realize.

我们大多数都和范丝特一样，晓得在实境节目及有线电视上看到的「夸张」反应，主要是为了效果，但是行为研究学家却指出，我们实际受到的影响可能远比自己所以为的更深。

The fact that there’s much more exposure to all kinds of media today just may alter our sense of emotional norms so exaggerated responses seem normal, some experts say.

有些专家表示，我们现在接触到各种媒体的机会大增，这可能改变我们对正常情绪反应的判断力，以至于将夸张的反应视为正常。

“People can be seduced into thinking that’s the most common way of reacting to life, when it’s not,” says Roderick Hart, a professor of communication studies and government at the University of Texas-Austin. Because of this “tutoring” of emotions, Hart says, people are becoming culturally conditioned to think “it’s OK to be more overreactive.”

德州大学奥斯汀分校的传播研究及政府学教授罗德里克．哈特指出，「这会诱导人们以为那是对人生最常见的反应方式，其实不然。」这种情绪上耳濡目染的「指导」，让人们习于受到文化制约，认为即使「更加过度反应也没关系」。

“Reality television has hyped all the emotions. You can’t just be happy. You have to be ecstatic. You can’t be upset. You have to be violently angry,” he says.

哈特表示，「实境电视把各种情绪炒作到极点，光是高兴还不够，你必须是狂喜；光是难过还不够，你必须暴怒。」

One example is the flak President Barack Obama took for not displaying enough anger at BP’s failure to stop the gushing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He has been called “No Drama Obama,” and a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed his job approval ratings down.

举例来说，英国石油公司未能封堵墨西哥湾的严重漏油，欧巴马总统因为对此事件表现得不够生气，以至于遭到猛烈抨击，还被取了个绰号「不麻不辣的欧巴马」。美国的国家广播公司及《华尔街日报》最近所做的民调，也显示民众对欧巴马的满意度下降。

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boil over 【口】非常恼火 to lose one's temper

theatrical [θɪˋætrɪk!] adj. 戏剧性的；夸张的

viewership [ˋvjuɚˌʃɪp] n.（总称）电视观众 collectively, the viewers of a television program

out-there [ˋaʊtˋðɛr] adj. 极端的；异乎寻常的 unconventional or eccentric

norm [nɔrm] n. 标准; 准则; 规范

seduce [sɪˋdjus] v. 诱惑；引诱

tutor [ˋtjutɚ] v. 辅导；指导 to be instructed by a tutor; study under a tutor

conditioned  [kənˋdɪʃənd] adj. 受制约的

hype [haɪp] v. 人为地刺激；使增加；大肆宣传 to publicize or promote, especially by extravagant, inflated, or misleading claims

gushing [ˋgʌʃɪŋ] adj. 迸出的，喷出的

approval ratings 支持率

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A lost virtue?  一种失落的美德？

Staying calm under pressure used to be considered a virtue, but Obama’s unflappable demeanor has become a public relations debate. When Gen. Stanley McChrystal criticized the Obama administration in Rolling Stone magazine, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs even made a point of telling reporters the president was angry.

过去将处变不惊、临危不乱视为一项美德，但是欧巴马的从容镇定却引发一场公关辩论。当史丹利．麦可克里斯托将军在《滚石杂志》上抨击欧巴马政府时，白宫发言人罗伯特．吉布斯甚至特别向记者强调，欧巴马总统很生气。

But why this need to see angry displays?

为什么非得看到怒气的展现呢？

“At some level, banging on a table or being excessively angry is not going to solve the problem,” says Scott Schieman, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto, Canada. “But there’s definitely research that suggests when people display angry and it’s perceived as appropriate, the person is perceived as more competent and more in charge.”

「在某种程度上，捶打桌子或暴跳如雷并不能解决问题，」加拿大多伦多大学社会学教授史考特．西曼表示，「但是确实有研究指出，当人们表现怒气，而且被视为合宜反应时，大家会认为生气的人比较能干、比较有掌控权。」

Schieman’s newest research on anger found that the well-educated are less likely to experience anger, and when they do, they are more likely to act proactively and try to change the situation.

西曼对愤怒的最新研究发现，受过良好教育的人比较少发怒，而他们在发怒的时候，比较会抓取先发制人的行动，想办法改变处境。

Understanding the difference  了解其中差异

There is an audience for overreactive responses, says Michael Nichols, a psychology professor at The College of William & Mary in Virginia, and author of The Lost Art of Listening.

维吉尼亚州威廉玛莉学院的心理学教授麦克．尼可斯，是《失落的聆听艺术》（暂译）一书作者，他指出，过度反应的行为有其观众群。

“I may be a meek person in my own life. People may push me around. I may wish I could fight back and don’t. Yet I can listen to a blowhard denounce this person and I can enjoy that vicariously,” he says.

尼可斯表示，「也许某人在真实人生中是个弱者，被其他人呼来唤去，此人可能希望自己能够回击，但却做不到，然而这人可以听一个吹牛大王喝斥他人，享有感同身受的喜悦。」

“There’s a difference between being emotional, which means being reactive, vs. taking a strong stance, which means taking a forceful yet considered position,” Nichols says.

尼可斯指出，「激动情绪是种立即反应，坚定立场则是经过深思熟虑之后才采取的有力立场，两者并不相同。」

These subtleties are examined in a new book called Stop Overreacting, by Judith Siegel, an associate professor of social work at New York University.

纽约大学社工系副教授茱迪丝．西格尔在新书《别再反应过度》（暂译）中，探讨其中奥妙之处。

“An overreaction is about emotions that are bigger than the immediate situation calls for,” she says. “You may be releasing a lot of frustration, but your response is far greater than what is justified.”

「展现出比当下处境所需更多的情绪，就是过度反应」她表示，「也许这样能发泄许多挫折感，但所表现出来的反应却远远超过应有的反应。」

And that means you may do something you’ll have to apologize for later.

那就意味着，你可能会做出一些以后得为之道歉的事。

－by Sharon Jayson

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unflappable [͵ʌnˋflæpəb!] adj. 不慌张的；镇定的

make a point of 强调 to turn someone or something into an important matter

competent [ˋkɑmpətənt] adj. 有能力的，能干的

meek [mik] adj. 温顺的，柔顺的

push someone around 欺侮; 把...呼来唤去 to threaten to hurt someone who is smaller or weaker

blowhard [ˋblo͵hɑrd] n.【美】【口】吹牛专家

denounce [dɪˋnaʊns] v. 指责，谴责

stance [stæns] n. 立场；态度

considered [kənˋsɪdɚd] adj. 考虑过的；经过深思熟虑的

subtlety [ˋsʌt!tɪ] n. 细微的差别；微妙之处

call for 要求, 需要 to require; demand

justified [ˋdʒʌstəfaɪd] adj. 有正当理由的；情有可原的

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Vocabulary Focus

pundit [ˋpʌndɪt] n.〔经常接受咨询的〕权威﹐专家 a person who knows a lot about a particular subject and is therefore often asked to give an opinion about it

agitated [ˋædʒə͵tetɪd] adj. 激动的 feeling anxious or angry

rant [rænt] v. 怒气冲冲地叫嚷[抱怨] to speak or shout in a loud, uncontrolled or angry way, often saying confused or silly things

ecstatic [ɛkˋstætɪk] adj. 狂喜的﹐ 欣喜若狂的 extremely happy

flak [flæk] n.【非正式】强烈的批评﹐抨击 strong criticism or opposition (informal)

demeanor [dɪˋminɚ] n. 举动，行为；风度 a way of looking and behaving (formal)

proactively [proˋæktɪvlɪ] adv. 前瞻性地；积极地去面对 done in a way that takes action by causing change instead of only reacting to change when it happens

vicariously [vaɪˋkɛrɪəslɪ] adv. 由于共鸣而感受地 something that is experienced as a result of watching, listening to or reading about the activities of other people, rather than by doing the activities oneself

Barack Obama NO Drama

President Obama accepts resignation (fires) General Stanley McChrystal