This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。
Imagine this situation. You pass a group of people. The people are talking to each other. You cannot hear what they are saying. But suddenly they start laughing. What would you think? Would you think they were laughing at something funny that one of them said? Or -- be honest with yourself -- would you think they were laughing at you? Yes, you.
想象一下这种处境。你经过一群人，他们在互相交谈。你听不到他们在说什么。但突然间，他们开始笑了起来。你会怎么认为呢？你会认为他们是在笑其中一人说的好玩的事情吗？或者，老实说，你会认为他们是在笑你吗？
Being laughed at is a common fear. But a major study published in two thousand nine found that this fear is not the same around the world. It differs from culture to culture.
被笑是一种常见的恐惧。但2009年发表的一项重大研究发现，这种恐惧在世界各地根据文化不同而存在差异。
People in Finland were the least likely to believe that people laughing in their presence were making fun of them. Less than ten percent of Finns in the study said they would think that, compared to eighty percent of people in Thailand.
芬兰人最不容易相信在他们面前笑的人是在笑自己。在这次研究中，只有不到10%的芬兰人会这样认为，与此相比，会这么认为的泰国人达到80%。
Some people in the study said they felt unsure of themselves in social situations but hid their feelings of insecurity. Others said they avoided social situations where they had been laughed at before.
一些人在这次研究中表示，他们在社交场合缺乏自信，但会隐藏自己的不安。另一些人表示，他们会避免自己曾被嘲笑过的社交场合。
The study found that people in Turkmenistan and Cambodia were more likely to be in the first group. They would hide their feelings of insecurity if they were around other people's laughter. But people in Iraq, Egypt and Jordan were more likely to try to avoid such situations if they felt they had been laughed at before.
研究发现土库曼斯坦人和柬埔寨人更可能属于第一类人。如果周围都是笑声，他们会隐藏自己的不安。但伊拉克人，埃及人和约旦人如果觉得自己曾被嘲笑，他们更可能会尽量避免这种场合。
Shy people often avoid situations that would force them into close contact with other people. They worry that something they say or do will make other people laugh at them. But some people worry much more than others. They may have a disorder called gelotophobia. Gelos is a Greek word. It means laughter. Phobia means fear. This fear of laughter can be truly sad for those who live with it. It can affect how they lead their lives.
害羞的人通常会避免那些会迫使自己和其他人密切接触的场合。他们担心自己的所言所行会让他人笑话自己。但一些人比这更为严重，他们可能患有被笑恐惧症（gelotophobia）。Gelos是希腊单词，意思是笑声。Phobia意思是恐惧。这种对笑声的恐惧对这些患者来说极其悲惨，它会影响到这些人的生活。
In the study, a team from the University of Zurich led more than ninety researchers from around the world. They wanted to understand the difference between normal shyness and true gelotophobia. Another purpose of the study was to compare the levels of fear of being laughed at in different cultures. The researchers surveyed more than twenty-two thousand people in forty-two different languages. The findings appeared in the scientific journal Humor.
在这项研究中，来自苏黎世大学的一个团队领导了来自世界各地的九十多名研究人员。他们希望了解正常害羞与真正被笑恐惧症之间的差异。研究的另一个目的是比较不同文化对被笑的恐惧水平。研究人员对使用42种不同语言的2.2万多人进行了调查。研究结果发表在科学杂志《幽默》上。
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