Mon, Dec 06, 2010 page14

• Ovulating women shun fathers, study says 研究發現女性於排卵期刻意避開父親

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  Women instinctively shun their fathers when they are most fertile, even as they seek out the companionship of their mothers, a new study has shown.

  The reason, say the researchers, is evolution. Females in other species have also been observed to give a wide birth to male kin during periods of maximum fertility.

  “The behavior has long been explained as a means of avoiding inbreeding and the negative consequences associated with it,” explained lead author Debra Lieberman, a professor at the University of Miami.

  

  A Vietnamese woman receives a massage as another woman reads poetry in a park in Hanoi on Oct. 26, 2010. 十月二十六日，一位越南女性在河內的公園被另一位女性按摩，同時有另一位女性正在閱讀詩篇。

  Photo: Reuters
  照片：路透

  “But until we conducted our study, nobody knew whether a similar pattern occurred in women.”

  Lieberman and colleagues examined cell phone records of 48 women in their reproductive years, noting the date and duration of all calls with their fathers and, separately, their mothers over the course of a billing period.

  They found that women called their dads less frequently during the days when they were ovulating, and would hang up sooner if the calls came the other way.

  Overall, daughters were half as likely to ring up papa during high fertility days compared to the period of menstruation. What’s more, the conversations that did occur lasted about half as long.

  The subjects weren’t simply trying to evade parental control: even when hormones were working overtime, the women were far more, rather than less, likely to give mom a ring.

  “It makes sense that women would reduce their interactions with male genetic relatives, who are undesirable mates,” Lieberman said.

  The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Psychological Science.(AFP)

  一項新研究顯示，即使女人在排卵時會追求母親的陪伴，下意識還是會避開父親。

  研究人員表示，這種現象代表演化。據發現，其他物種的雌性體在生育性到達高點的期間，也與雄性家族成員保持距離。

  主導這項研究的邁阿密大學教授黛博拉‧利博曼解釋道，「長久以來，這種行為獲解釋成為了避免進親繁殖，以及避開相關的負面後果的方式。」

  「但是直到我們進行研究前，沒有人知道這種模式是否也發生在女人身上。」

  利博曼與同事利用電話帳單來臨的一次週期，研究了四十八位已達生育年齡女性的行動電話紀錄，特別注意分別播打給父親跟母親的通話。

  他們發現於排卵時，打給父親次數少於打給母親的，並且父親打來的話，也比較早掛電話。

  整體而言，女兒在排卵那幾天比起月經來朝時，打給爸爸的機會少了一半。即使有通話，時間也比平常減半。

  這不代表她們想避開父親的管教：即使赫爾蒙效用加長，女性打電話給媽媽的機會也減少了。

  利博曼說，「女性想與相同基因的男性減少互動，這是說得通的，因為這些男性並非適合的伴侶。」

  這項研究刊登於同儕審查的《心理科學》雜誌。

  （法新社／翻譯：吳岱璟）

  Publication Notes

  TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

  1. shun v. 避開 (bi4 kai1) 例: Prices have fallen as buyers continue to shun the market. (消費者持續離開市場，造成價格下降。) 2. fertile adj. 能生育的 (neng2 sheng1 yu4 de5) 例: Scientists estimate that the number of fertile men has decreased. (科學家估計，能生育的男性數量減少了。) 3. evade v. 躲避 (duo3 bi4) 例: The gang is continuing to evade justice. (那一幫鬧事的人繼續逍遙法外。) 4. hormone n. 荷爾蒙 (he4 er3 meng2) 例: Researchers have identified a thyroid hormone that could help diabetics. (研究人員發現可以幫助糖尿病患者的甲狀腺荷爾蒙。)
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