使用手機也會傳染？你發短信我就刷微博！

If has become the modern equivalent of glancing at your watch - the furtive look at a phone screen to check for new messages or have a quick look at Facebook. Researchers have now found why we often feel such a strong urge to glance at our handset. Using your mobile, they say, is contagious.
像以前人們總愛看錶一樣，現代人動不動就要偷偷拿出手機，看看有沒有新短信或是社交網的更新內容。最近研究人員發現，使用手機具有傳染性，因此我們總有翻看手機的衝動。

A University of Michigan team say people are twice as likely to pull out their phones to check their text messages or email if they're with someone who has just done the same. It also found that females were more likely to use their mobile than men because it was more 'integrated into the daily lives of women'.
來自密歇根大學的一個科研小組稱，當週圍有人用手機時，即便你沒事也要檢查手機短信或郵件的可能性會增加一倍。他們還發現，同男性相比，女性會更頻繁地使用手機，因爲她們更需要“融入到女性的日常生活圈”。

The team watched students in dining halls and coffee shops around campus , observing pairs of students sitting at tables for as long as 20 minutes and documented their cellphone use at 10-second intervals.
這個小組的研究人員密切觀察學生們在食堂、咖啡廳、校園周邊等地的活動，他們觀察着坐在桌子邊成對的學生，以10秒間隔觀察他們在20分鐘內使用手機的情況。

'What we found most interesting was just how often people were using their mobile phones,'Dr Daniel Kruger, the study’s co-author, said. 'Every person we observed used his/her phone at least once while one woman was on hers about half of the time. Individuals may see others checking their incoming messages and be prompted to check their own.'
丹尼爾克魯格博士是本次研究的共同作者之一，他表示說：“我們從沒想到人們會如此頻繁地使用手機，這個的確很有意思。我們觀察的每一個人，至少有一次在對方使用手機剛5秒時就開始看自己的手機。當有人看到別人收發短信時，他們也會不自覺地掏出手機。”

Overall, the students used their cellphones in an average of 24 percent, the researchers found. But they were significantly more likely to use their phones (39.5 percent) when their companion had just done so in the previous 10-second interval than without the social cue, the researchers said, adding that this behavior was often repeated.
研究者發現，一般情況下學生使用手機的頻率是24%，但若旁邊有同伴在未收到任何社交信號的情況下，在上一個10秒間隔用手機的話，那另外一人使用手機的頻率則會大幅增加到39.5%。研究人員還表示，這種行爲會多次重複。

'Cell phones create an alternative outlet for one’s attention and may both promote and interfere with live social interaction,' the researchers wrote.
他們在報告中寫道：“手機爲我們的生活打開了另一扇認識世界的門，對現實的社交活動起到了既推動又阻礙的矛盾作用。”

Kruger believes this pattern could be related to the effects of social inclusion and exclusion. If one person in a pair engages in an external conversation through their phone, his or her companion may feel excluded. That companion then might be compelled to connect with others externally so as not to feel left out.
克魯格認爲這種現象可能與社會融入和社會排斥這兩種作用相關。如果兩個人在一起，其中一個在打電話，說的是和同伴無關的內容，那麼同伴就會感到自己被排斥了，爲了自己不遭冷落，他就會強迫自己掏出手機與別人聯絡。

The researchers note that they might not observe the same results in a study of different demographics — for example, in older adults, who may not use cellphones as habitually.
研究人員還指出，對不同的人羣觀測結果也會不一樣，比如說在老年人羣體中，就不會出現習慣性使用手機的情況。