Every relationship begins with that first step. Some people never get past that first step. First impressions matter, and our opening few lines can either energize the interaction, or cause the other person to look around for the nearest exit. Gratefully, psychologists have spent years of celibacy trying to understand the psychology behind pick-up lines for your own benefit.
每一段相识都要经过那个步骤。可总有些人永远处理不好这开始的第一个步骤。第一印象非常重要，它决定了人们否愿意和你深入交流，还是环顾四周寻找出口。心理学家们花费数年时间，对各种搭讪方式的效果做了详尽的研究，感谢他们吧，光棍们。
In the '80s, Chris Kleinke and colleagues analyzed the effectiveness of 100 pick-up lines across a number of different settings, including bars, supermarkets, restaurants, laundromats, and beaches. They found three main categories of openers: direct gambits, which are honest and get right to the point (e.g, "I'm sort of shy, but I'd like to get to know you"), innocuous gambits, which hide a person's true intentions ("e.g., "What do you think of this band?"), and cute/flippant gambits, which involve humor, but often in a cheesy, canned way (e.g., "Do you have any raisins? No? Well then, how about a date?".)*
在80年代，Chris Kleinke 和他的同事们研究了100多种搭讪方式在包括酒吧，超市，酒店，洗衣店和沙滩等不同场景下的效果。他们把搭讪方式分为三大类：单刀直入式，诚实的说出自己的想法和目的（比如说，“我有点害羞，但我还是想认识你”）；今天天气哈哈哈式，掩藏目的，故作它言（例如，“你对着品牌有什么看法？”）；卖萌耍贱式，貌似是幽默，但通常看起来有点贱（例如，“妹子你有葡萄干么？没有？那你有约会么？”）。
Both men and women agreed that cute/flippant pick-up lines were the least attractive. Women, however, preferred innocuous lines and had a greater aversion to cute/flippant lines than men, while men had a greater preference for direct opening gambits than women. This basic pattern has been found over and over again in a variety of settings, including singles bars. What's going on?
无论男女都同意，耍贱的方式都是最差的开场白。女性跟喜欢婉约的今天天气哈哈哈式，并且比男性更厌恶耍贱的，而男性多数更喜欢直白的开场白。这种情况在所有场景都得到反复的验证。这是为什么呢？
Trait perception plays a crucial role. We don't have direct access to a person's characteristics, so we infer underlying traits from overt behaviors. One study found that people perceive those who use innocuous lines as smarter and sexier than those who use cute/flippant lines. Another study found that while women perceived men who use silly pick-up lines as more sociable, confident, and funny, they also perceived them as less trustworthy and intelligent. While all these traits are certainly valued in a mate, research shows that low trustworthiness and low intelligence are deal breakers for a long-term relationship, overriding other "luxuries", such as humor and confidence.
性格成见在此扮演了一个十分重要的角色。我们无法直接的了解他人的性格特点，于是我们依靠他们的行为举止来判断。一份研究报告表明，人们普遍认为婉约的方式比耍贱的方式看上去更聪明和性感。另一份研究表明，女人们认为那些搭讪时表现的傻乎乎的男性更加成熟，自信和幽默，同时又觉得他们不够可靠和智慧。
Women are rightfully skeptical of cute/flippant pick-up lines: researchshows that those with a long-term mating strategy tend to use supportive and honest pick-up strategies, whereas those with a short-term strategy tend to use manipulation and dishonesty. I should note that when a woman is looking for a short-term fling, it may be an entirely different story: one study conducted on college students found that women were willing to have a short-term fling with men they were attracted to, regardless of the content of his pick-up lines! More stable individual differences also play a role, with extraverts and those with a general orientation toward hook-ups vs. long-term committed relationships, more receptive to humor and sexually charged pick-up lines.
女性对耍贱式搭讪的厌恶非常合理：一份调查显示，那些想要发展一段长期稳定关系的都倾向于使用诚实直接的搭讪方式，而那些只想玩玩的多数会采用不是那么真诚的方式来搭讪。另外，我发现，如果是女在寻找一段露水情，那么事情就完全不同了:一份基于在校大学生的调查指出，女性如果想和他们心仪的男性来段露水，无论什么开场白都不会影响成功率。个体差异也是影响搭讪感受的重要因素，那些外向、奔放的人比那些安稳老实的更能接受幽默和带黄段子的搭讪方式。
While all these findings are informative, they don't address moment-to-moment mental fluctuations. We're not machines, with a steady supply of cognitive resources on command. Receptivity to pick-up lines involves cognitive processing, which requires thought. A certain amount of mental energy is required to follow the conversation and cut through the bullhonkey to figure out a person's true intentions. But your mental state at any given moment is influenced by a number of factors, including how much stress you've experienced that day, or even just before the current conversation. If you've already been hit by a barrage of cute/flippant lines, your brain may feel a bit fatigued.
就算以上都符合了，被搭讪者当时的心理状况也会影响搭讪的效果。我们不是机器，输入相同的信息就会给出相同的反应。被搭讪人当时心中所想不同，对搭讪的接受程度和反应都会不同。想要得到精确的答案，就必须知道被搭讪人当时准确的心理状况。但是人的心理状态确实难以预测，它会受到各种影响，包括最近生活的压力，甚至是刚才的对话所产生的情绪。比如你被人用耍贱的方式搭讪了好几次，可能就会对此产生厌恶感，下次有人继续用此方式来搭讪就会效果很差。
Cognitive fatigue matters. When your mind is taxed, it is much more difficult to process information and regulate your emotions, thoughts, and actions. Like a muscle, self-control is a limited resource: when fatigued, it's hard to flex it. This has important implications for interpersonal relationships: people in monogamous relationships whose brains are tired spend more time looking at attractive potential mates, are more likely to accept a coffee date from an attractive person, report more interest in an attractive person who is not their partner, and are more likely to actually cheat.
疲劳感是个很麻烦的东西。当大脑疲劳时，它就不愿意处理信息，也不愿意调动情绪，想法和行动。大脑如同肌肉与自控力，都有他们的极限，一旦突破，要恢复过来，就很漫长。这件事在人际关系中有着很重要的影响：比如说，当人们处于一段稳定的一夫一妻的关系中时，他们就不再回去寻找另一段稳定的关系，而是希望能有一位充满异性魅力的对象来一次激情刺激短暂的约会，那些与他们伴侣截然不同的魅力异性的形同背叛的约会，会让他们感到极大的快感。
But how does this relate to receptivity to pick-up lines? Does a person's mental state affect how a pick-up line is perceived? In a recent study, Gary Lewandowski and colleagues gave 99 undergraduates a five-minute writing task in which they were asked to describe a recent trip. In the "ego-depletion" condition, students were told they couldn't use the letters A or N anywhere in the story, whereas in the "non-depletion" condition, they weren't given this cognitively taxing instruction. After the writing task, participants looked at a picture of an attractive opposite sex person and rated how they would respond if the person approached them, using one of three categories of openers: direct, innocuous, and cute/flippant. What did they find?
那么这种情况下该如何去搭讪呢？如何根据人所处的不同精神状态去选择搭讪语呢？在最近的一次研究中Gary Lewandowski和他的同事做了一项实验，他们给99位大学生一项任务，要求他们在5分钟内描写他们最近的一次旅行。99位大学生分为两个对照组，一组是“受限制组”，他们被要求不能使用A和N两个字母，另一个则为“无限制组”，没有做任何限制和要求。当他们写完以后，工作人员给他们看了一副非常有吸引力的异性的照片，并询问他们，如果这位异性通过前面所说的三种方式向他们搭讪，他们会作何反应。
Those whose brains were cognitively taxed were less receptive to cute/flippant openers compared to those in the non-depletion condition. In the context of cute/flippant pick-up lines, those in the depleted group were more likely to "ask the initiator to leave them alone" and "ignore the initiator." In contrast, for innocuous gambits, the depleted students were less likely to ignore the person and ask the person to leave them alone. Receptivity to direct gambits was unaffected by being cognitively depleted. There were also gender effects consistent with the prior research I mentioned earlier. Men were more receptive to direct openers, and females were more receptive to innocuous openers. Also, women were least receptive to cute/flippant openers.
实验表明，那些无限制组内的人比受限制组更能接受耍贱式搭讪。疲惫的受限制组的人，对这种耍贱式搭讪的反应多是让他离开或是无视。对照来看，对于间接型搭讪，受限制组的学生就很少有这样的反应。直接型搭讪的效果也不甚理想。同时，该实验也证明了上文的观点，男性更喜欢直接型搭讪，女性更喜欢间接型搭讪，厌恶耍贱式搭讪。
What explains these effects? The researchers argue that when it comes to cute/flippant openers, less mental effort is required to figure out the persons' intentions. Mix that in with the fact that a depleted, frazzled individual may have less tolerance for obvious pick-up attempts, and you have an enhanced aversion to cheesy lines. When it comes to innocuous pick-up lines, however, the person's intentions are much more ambiguous. This requires much more cognitive resources to decipher intent, sometimes too much. As the researchers note, it's less socially awkward for the brain depleted individual to continue the conversation until the person's intentions become more obvious.
如何解释这些情况呢？研究者认为，耍贱的方式更不需要人们调动大脑去了解搭讪人的目的。一个疲惫的人本来就会对搭讪比较反感，当搭讪人还是用耍贱的方式去搭讪，更增强了这种厌恶。而间接型搭讪对搭讪人的目的做了隐藏。被搭讪人需要更多的调动大脑来思索搭讪人的意图。研究者认为，对于疲倦者，不直接暴露意图，不会引起尴尬的搭讪方式是最好的。
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