Why Jerks Get Ahead
As much as we’d rather not admit it, jerks often get ahead in our world — usually at the expense of a lot of other people along the way. Psychological research over the past few years is revealing why. As it turns out, acting like a jerk isn’t the secret to reaping the rewards of jerkiness. The real secret is simply letting others place you on a pedestal.不管我们多么不愿意承认，混蛋在我们这个世界里经常能获得成功，而在这个过程中，通常会有很多其他的人为此付出代价。过去几年来的心理研究揭示了原因所在。研究结果显示，像混蛋那样行事并非成功的秘诀，真正的秘诀在于让其他人把你当作偶像崇拜。
The most recent study illustrating this point was covered in the Wall Street Journal in a piece entitled, “Why Are We Overconfident?” The study wanted to uncover what adaptive advantage overconfidence could possibly convey, since it so often leads to errors that don’t benefit us. The short answer is that even if overconfidence produces subpar results, others still perceive it positively. Quoting from the article:
《华尔街日报》一篇名为《我们为什么过于自信？》（Why Are We Overconfident?）的文章报道了这个研究结果。该研究旨在揭示过于自信可能产生哪种适应性优势，因为过于自信经常会导致对我们不利的错误。简而言之，答案就是即使过于自信会带来不好的结果，但其他人仍然从正面来看待它。以下摘自《华尔街日报》的那篇文章：
In one of several related experiments, researchers had people take a geography quiz —first alone, then in pairs. The task involved placing cities on a map of North America unmarked by state or national borders. The participants rated themselves on their own abilities and rated each other, secretly, on a number of qualities.
研究人员进行了几个相关实验。在一个实验中，参与者接受了地理知识测验，先是单独进行，然后是成对进行。测验内容是在一幅没有州名和国界的北美地图上标出城市名称。参与者就多个品质对自己和对方进行秘密评分。
As expected, most people rated their own geographic knowledge far higher than actual performance would justify. In the interesting new twist, however, the people most prone to overrate themselves got higher marks from their partners on whether they “deserved respect and admiration, had influence over the decisions, led the decision-making process, and contributed to the decisions.”
不出所料，大多数人对自身地理知识的评分要远高于他们的实际表现。然而，在有趣的成对测验中，参与者大多倾向于高估自己，认为对方会在他们是否“值得尊重和敬佩，对决策有影响力，能够领导决策过程，并对决策作出贡献”等方面给予自己更高的分数。
In other words, overconfident people are perceived as having more social status, and social status is golden.
换句话说，人们认为过于自信的人拥有更高的社会地位，而社会地位十分重要。
A study last year highlighted a similar result, but this time with respect to another jerk-marquis trait: rudeness. Being rude is a categorically negative behavior by most standards, and to suggest otherwise–that is, to mount a defense of rudeness–would be a really strange thing to do. But psychology research is often at its best when it endorses positions that at first glance seem awfully strange.
去年的一项研究也得出了类似结果，但这次是关于混蛋们的另一个特征：粗鲁。按照大多数标准来看，粗鲁绝对是不好的行为，如果说法相反（相当于是为粗鲁辩护）则会显得非常奇怪。但当心理研究的结论乍看之下显得非常奇怪时，反而常常是对的。
And so it is with rudeness, because while most of us deplore it, research suggests that we also see it as a sign of power. A study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science indicated that the ruder someone acts, the more convinced observers become that he or she is powerful, and therefore does not have to respect the same rules the rest of us bow to.
有关粗鲁的结论就是如此。虽然大多数人强烈反对粗鲁行为，但研究结果却显示，人们也把粗鲁视为强大的标志。发表在《社会心理与人格科学》（Social Psychological and Personality Science）杂志上的一项研究显示，一个人表现得越粗鲁，其他人就越相信他或她很强大，因此不必遵守我们其他人需要遵守的那些规则。
In one of the experiments, study participants read about a visitor to an office who marched in and poured himself a cup of “employee only” coffee without asking. In another case they read about a bookkeeper that flagrantly bent accounting rules. Participants rated the rule breakers as more in control and powerful compared to people who didn’t steal the coffee or break accounting rules.
在一个实验中，参与者读到有位来访者昂首阔步地走进办公室，在没有提出请求的情况下给自己倒了一杯“仅限员工”的咖啡。在另一情况下，他们读到有位会计人员公然违反会计准则。参与者认为，与那些没有偷咖啡或者违反会计准则的人相比，违规者更有控制力和实力。
In another experiment participants watched a video of a man at a sidewalk café put his feet on another chair, tap cigarette ashes on the ground and rudely order a meal. Participants rated the man as more likely to “get to make decisions” and able to “get people to listen to what he says” than participants who saw a video of the same man behaving politely.
在另外一个实验中，参与者观看了一段视频，内容是在一间路边咖啡馆里，有个人将脚放在椅子上，还把烟灰弹在地上，并且在订餐时非常粗鲁。参与者认为，这个人比视频中举止有礼的同一个人更有可能是“决策者”，有能力“让人服从他说的话”。
What this study appears to indicate is that violating norms is viewed by others as a sign of power, even if the observers would otherwise judge those violations as rude or flatly wrong. Considering many of the openly rude jerks we venerate, these findings make a lot of sense. (Though I would like to see a follow on study that examines observer perceptions when the rude rule breakers are caught. Perhaps it’s less the rudeness and corruption we admire, and more the ability to get away with it that intrigues us. Maybe we’re just a little smitten with the charisma of villainy.)
这项研究似乎表明，违反规则被其他人视为强大的标志，即使他们在其他情况下会认为这些违规行为是粗鲁或完全错误的。看看很多我们崇敬的、粗鲁之名众所周知的混蛋就会发现，这些研究结果很有道理（虽然我很想看看关于粗鲁违规者被绳之以法时人们会有何看法的后续研究。或许，我们钦佩的不是粗鲁和腐败，而是逍遥法外的能力。大概我们有点着迷于邪恶行为的魅力）。
Taken together with the results of the study on overconfidence, it would seem that jerks are inherently quite good at putting one over on us. In fact, they don’t even have to try. They just need to work their trade and earn the praise of their peers.
综合对过度自信的各项研究结果来看，混蛋们似乎天生就非常善于欺骗我们。事实上，他们甚至不必尝试，只需发扬本色就能赢得同行的赞誉。
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