来源：《今日心理学》
原文刊登日期：2020年11月3日
本文适合做完型填空的选文
We engage with strangers online for myriad reasons. Whether you're asking for cash to support a cause or a candidate or fishing for follows and retweets, many virtual interactions are surface level or self-serving. But if this is a sign that being impersonal has become endemic, then seeking comfort from strangers should be unusual in the extreme. Right?
我们在网上与陌生人交流的原因有很多。无论你是为了支持一项事业或一位候选人而要钱，还是为了获得关注和转发，许多虚拟互动都是表面的或自私自利的。但是，如果这是一种迹象，表明冷漠已经变得流行，那么从陌生人那里寻求安慰应该是极端不寻常的。对吗？
Not necessarily, according to a study by researchers at the University of Würzburg in Germany. They found that in a stressful or scary situation, the company of anyone, including people you don’t know, provides a level of solace, even when they don’t actually do anything to help.
根据德国Würzburg大学的研究人员的一项研究，不一定。他们发现，在压力或恐惧的情况下，任何人的陪伴，包括你不认识的人，都能提供一定程度的安慰，即使他们实际上并没有做任何帮助。
In the study, researchers measured female test subjects’ skin resistance, which changes according to anxiety levels, as the women listened to a variety of sounds that were either neutral or fear-inducing while another random person was present in the room. Even though this person did not interact with the subjects in any way, the results found that “fear and the resulting physiological tension were reduced by the mere presence of another person.” Just knowing that another warm body was nearby was enough to provide a sense of comfort.
在这项研究中，研究人员测量了女性受试者的皮肤电阻，皮肤电阻会随着焦虑程度的变化而变化。研究人员让女性听不同的声音，这些声音要么是中性的，要么是令人恐惧的，而另一个随机的人也在房间里。即使这个人没有以任何方式与受试者互动，结果发现“恐惧和由此产生的生理紧张会因为另一个人的存在而减少。”只要知道附近有另一个活人，就足以让人感到慰藉。
One interesting information from the study: The more different a stranger seemed, the more a subject’s anxiety was put at ease. This likely occurred, the authors suggested, because the subject “assumed that the other person, unlike themselves, was not afraid.”
这项研究提供了一个有趣的信息：陌生人看起来越不同，被试者的焦虑就越缓解。作者认为，这可能是因为受试者“假设另一个人不像他们自己，并不害怕”。
Psychological research has long found evidence of the impact strangers have on us. For the most part, these findings support the same principle: Interacting with, and even trusting, strangers might actually be good for us.
心理学研究早已发现陌生人对我们影响的证据。在很大程度上，这些发现支持同样的原则：与陌生人互动，甚至信任陌生人，实际上可能对我们有好处。