Having hundreds of friends on Facebook is no
substitute for a handful of close friends in
real life, a study has found.
一项研究发现，在脸书上拥有数百个好友并不能替代现实生活中的几个密友。
Researchers discovered that people with only
a few friends were at least as happy as those
with far more if many of theirs were online.
研究人员发现，只有几个好友的人与那些有更多好友、但很多只在网上交流的人们的幸福感基本相当。
The number of 'peripheral others' someone
connected with online - former classmates
and coworkers, for example – had no bearing
on how satisfied they felt.
在网上联系的老同学和同事等“外围他人”的数量与人们的社交满意度没有任何关系。
Social media, the researchers said, has
encouraged younger people to have larger
but more impersonal networks of 'friends'.
研究人员称，社交媒体鼓励年轻人拥有更大但更没有人情味的“朋友”网络。
But instead of trying to amass friends,
they added, a better cure for loneliness
might be spending time with those you're
closest to.
他们补充说，与其试图广交朋友，不如花点时间和最亲密的人在一起，这可能是避免孤独的更好方法。
Scientists from the University of Leeds
did their study using data from two online
surveys conducted on 1,496 people by a
non-profit research organisation.
利兹大学的科学家们利用一个非盈利研究机构对1496人进行的两项在线调查数据进行了研究。
People taking part in the study revealed
their ages, the make-up of their social
networks, how often they had different types
of social interactions, and their own
feelings of wellbeing.
参与研究的人透露了他们的年龄、社交网络的构成、他们进行不同类型社交互动的频率，以及自身的幸福感。
They included details of how often and
how they interacted with family or neighbours,
and whether they included people who provided
services to them in their networks.
这些信息包括他们与家人或邻居互动的频率和方式，以及他们的朋友中是否包括为他们提供服务的人。
The number of close friends someone had appeared
to be the only thing which influenced how
satisfied they were with their social life.
一个人亲密朋友的数量似乎是影响他们对社交生活满意度的唯一因素。
'Loneliness has less to do with the number of
friends you have, and more to do with how you
feel about your friends,' said Dr Wändi Bruine
de Bruin.
万迪•布鲁因•德布鲁因博士说：“孤独与你拥有的朋友数量关系不大，而与你对朋友的感觉关系很大。”
'It's often the younger adults who admit to having
negative perceptions of their friends. Loneliness
occurs in people of all ages.
“承认自己对朋友有负面看法的往往是年轻人。各个年龄段的人都可能感到孤独。”
'If you feel lonely, it may be more helpful to
make a positive connection with a friend than
to try and seek out new people to meet.'
“如果你感到孤独，与一位朋友建立积极的联系可能比尝试结识新朋友更有帮助。”
In her study Dr Bruine de Bruin found older people
tended to have smaller social networks.
在她的研究中，布鲁因•德布鲁因博士发现年纪大的人社交网络更小。
Younger people's were larger but this was mostly
made up of 'peripheral others' – not true friends,
just people they knew – and did not contribute
to their happiness.
年轻人的社交网络规模更大，但这些人大多是“边缘人”，不是真正的朋友，
只是他们认识的人，对他们的幸福感没有贡献。
Even variations in the number of family members
or neighbours somebody spent time with did not
affect how happy they were with their social life.
即使是家庭成员或经常来往的邻居数量的变化也对社交生活的满意度没有影响。
Dr Bruine de Bruin said her research echoed other
findings showing people reported being happier
if a larger proportion of their online friends
were actually their friends in reality.
布鲁因•德布鲁因博士说，她的研究与其他研究结果相呼应，这些发现表明，
如果网络上交流的朋友中大部分在现实生活中也是朋友，人们会更快乐。
She added: 'Stereotypes of aging tend to paint
older adults in many cultures as sad and lonely.
她补充说：“在很多文化中，人们对老年人的刻板印象往往是悲伤和孤独的。”
'But the research shows that older adults' smaller
networks didn't undermine social satisfaction
and well-being.
“但研究表明，老年人较小的社交网络并不会影响他们的社交满意度和幸福感。”
'In fact, older adults tend to report better
well-being than younger adults.'
“事实上，老年人往往比年轻人更幸福。”
The research was published
in the journal Psychology and Aging.
这项研究发表在《心理学与衰老》杂志上。