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Sometimes it just feels like you're having a lucky day.
有时候，你会觉得一天过得很幸运。
Maybe you got the last concert tickets to see your favorite band, or you found 20 bucks on the sidewalk.
也许你得到了最后一张音乐会门票，可以去看最喜欢的乐队，或者你在人行道上发现了20块钱。
Either way, you were in the right spot at the right time!
不管怎样，你都适时出现在了正确地点。
And bam...Your day suddenly got awesome.
然后你的一天突然变得棒极了。
Now, luck might be a strange thing for someone to believe in, especially because we can't prove it really exists,
人们幸运可能是奇怪的东西，特别是因为我们无法证明它确实存在，
but psychologists have found it's a very powerful thing.
但心理学家发现它是非常有力量。
And whether or not you believe in, luck might even determine how successful you are. Well, sort of.
不管你信不信，运气甚至可能决定你的成功。或许有点儿作用吧。
In a now classic 2010 study, psychologists in Germany challenged 28 university students into a game of mini golf,
在2010年的一项经典研究中，德国心理学家对28名大学生进行了一场迷你高尔夫游戏的挑战，
where each person had to putt the ball ten times from about a meter away.
每个人都必须从一米外轻击高尔夫球十次。
Half the group was given a ball they were told had been lucky so far.
一半人被告知他们得到的是幸运球。
The other half was told the ball had just been the one everyone was using.
另一半人被告知他们的是人人在用的球。
Now, there's no such thing as a lucky ball, so it really shouldn't have mattered.
没有所谓的幸运球，所以它真的不重要。
But the students who were told they were using the lucky ball performed 35% better.
但是被告知使用幸运球的学生表现得更好，水平高了35%。
To figure out why this happened,
为了弄清楚为什么会发生这种情况，
the same researchers also recruited about 40 students who admitted to having lucky charms,
同样的研究人员又招募了大约40名承认有幸运符的学生，
and then had them take a memory test either with or without their charm.
然后不管他们有没有幸运符，让他们进行记忆测试。
Once again, the people who got to keep their charms scored better on the quiz,
同样，那些在测试中保持幸运符的人得分更高，
but they also reported feeling more confident beforehand.
但他们也表示，在此之前他们感到更加自信。
And that is where researchers think our lucky totems get their powers.
这就是研究人员认为我们的幸运图腾得到力量的地方。
Just having the charms around boosted the students' self-efficacy,
仅仅有幸运符就能提高学生的自我效能感，
or the belief that they had the right skills and abilities to succeed.
或者他们拥有成功技能和能力的信念。
This played out in a follow-up experiment,
在后续实验中，这种做法失去了作用，
where 31 students with or without their lucky charms were given a separate, untimed test
他们给了31名有或没有幸运符的学生一个单独、不定时的测试，
to make as many anagrams as they could from 8 letters.
从8个字母中找出尽可能多的易位构词。
Before the challenge, each participant was asked what percentage of all possible solutions they wanted to find before they gave up.
在挑战之前，每个参与者都被问及他们在放弃之前想要找到所有可能答案的百分比。
The team found that those allowed to keep their charms set higher goals for themselves
研究小组发现，那些被允许保持幸运符的人会为自己设定更高的目标，
and worked harder to identify more words, devoting more than 5 extra minutes to the task.
并且更加努力地识别更多单词，多花5分钟的时间完成任务。
This suggests that, because they believed their lucky charms would help them do well,
结果表明，因为这些学生相信幸运符会帮助自己做好，
the students were more ambitious and willing to put in more effort.
他们就更加雄心勃勃，愿意付出更多的努力。
Really, it's all just a self-fulfilling prophecy.
真的，它只是一个自我应验的预言。
If you think your lucky Star Wars action figure will help you ace a test,
如果你认为你的幸运“星际大战”行动能帮助你考高分，
you'll probably be more motivated to study for it, even if you don't realize it.
你就可能更有动力去学习，即使自己没有意识到。
And that is what will get you an A, not the Darth Vader in your pants...
这种做法将会让你获得一个A，而不是“裤子上黑武士”。
Still, this kind of positive thinking can be really powerful and it doesn't just apply to lucky charms.
尽管如此，这种积极的想法还是很有力量的，它不仅仅适用于幸运符。
In fact, people who just think of themselves as lucky people also reap the rewards.
事实上，那些认为自己幸运的人也会收获回报。
In a survey of about 200 college students, those who agreed with statements like
在一项对大约200名大学生的调查中，那些同意这种说法的人，
'I often feel like it is my lucky day', or 'Luck works in my favor,'
“我经常觉得今天是我的幸运日”，或者“运气对我有利”，
were more likely to have high levels of what psychologists call achievement motivation,
更有可能拥有高水平、也就是心理学家所说的成就动机，
a sense of persistence and drive, compared to those who believed luck was only fleeting.
它是一种坚持和努力的感觉，相比之下，有些人相信运气只是稍纵即逝。
And more persistence and drive probably means you'll ultimately do better when it comes to exams, homework, or your job.
更多的坚持和努力可能意味着你最终会在考试、家庭作业或工作上做得更好。
One psychologist, Richard Wiseman, who's spent over a decade studying the psychology of luck,
一位心理学家理查德·怀斯曼，花了十年时间研究运气心理学，
has found that people 'make their own luck' by being more open to unexpected opportunities.
发现人们通过更加开放地对待意外机会来“创造自己的运气”。
In one experiment, he recruited people who considered themselves lucky or unlucky,
在一个实验中，他招募了那些认为自己幸运或不幸的人，
and then tasked them with counting the number of photographs in a newspaper as quickly as they could.
然后让他们尽可能快地数一份报纸上的照片数量。
The lucky people finished on average much faster than their unlucky peers,
幸运之人比不幸之人平均速度快得多，
but not because they counted faster.
但不是因为他们数得更快。
Instead, they spotted a message in big font on top of the page that said,
相反，他们在页面顶端发现了一条大字体信息，写着
"Stop counting, there are 43 photographs in this newspaper."
“别数了，这张报纸上有43张照片。”
Meanwhile, the unlucky people were so focused on the photos, they'd missed the clue.
与此同时，那些倒霉的人把注意力都集中在照片上，错过了线索。
Wiseman argues that part of what makes someone 'lucky' is this openness to new ideas.
怀斯曼认为，让人“幸运”的部分原因是对新思想的开放性。
If you're receptive to unexpected opportunities like a business offer,
如果你能接受一些意想不到的机会，比如商业邀请，
or meeting someone new on the subway, you can capitalize on them instead of letting them slip by.
或者在地铁上结识新朋友，就可以积累机会，而不是让它们溜走。
Another experiment showed that lucky people also tend to be more optimistic,
另一项实验表明，幸运的人也更乐观，
if something tragic or unlucky happens, they're more likely to see the silver lining,
如果发生了不幸的事情，他们更有可能看到一线光明，
and that may allow them to stay positive and overcome challenges that come their way.
这可能会让他们保持积极的心态，克服所面临的挑战。
Some of these qualities may be personality-based.
有些品质可能是基于个性。
Wiseman evaluated many lucky and unlucky people with personality tests,
怀斯曼对许多幸运和不幸的人进行了性格测试，
and found that so-called 'lucky people' are usually more extroverted and open and less neurotic, or tense and anxious.
发现所谓的“幸运人”通常更外向、更开放、更少神经质、紧张和焦虑。
But still he thinks anyone can increase their luck by changing their expectations and going out of their way to try new things.
但他仍认为，任何人都可以通过改变自己的期望和尝试新事物的方式来增加运气。
So, while there's no evidence that luck exists,
虽然没有证据表明运气是存在的，
it doesn't seem like anything bad will happen if you decide to believe in it.
但如果你决定相信它，似乎就不会有任何坏事发生。
Really, you're still doing all the work, and making that good luck come true,
真的，你还在做着一切努力让好运变成现实，
but sometimes it's nice to think it came from a lucky touch, from Darth Vader in your pants.
但是有时候，认为它来自幸运或“裤子上黑武士”是件好事。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感谢您收看本期的心理科学秀！
If you want to keep getting more of them keep up-to-date on brain stuff,
如果你想更多了解最新的大脑信息，
all our latest videos are going to be in your subscription box
我们所有的最新视频都将会在你的订阅箱里，
if only you go to youtube.com/scishowpsych to subscribe.
只要你登录youtube.com/scishowpsych点击订阅即可。
