According to pop culture, people hit their forties and suddenly become miserable.

根據大眾流傳的說法，人們過了四十歲後就會突然變得很悲慘。

And to deal with it, they quit their jobs, buy sports cars they can't afford, and have affairs with much younger people.

而為了要處理中年危機，人們會辭職、買付不起的跑車、和小嫩草約會。

Still, if you think about it, it's pretty weird to think that turning a specific age would be enough to make us upend our lives.

然而，如果你認真想想，覺得變成特定年紀後就會搞砸自己的生活，這其實是一種很奇怪的想法。

So is the midlife crisis really a thing?

所以中年危機是真的嗎？

Well, it's kind of complicated, but there's probably less to worry about than you think.

這有點複雜，但是說不定沒你想得這麼嚴重。

The term "midlife crisis" was coined by psychoanalyst Elliott Jaques in 1965.

「中年危機」這個詞是由精神分析學家 Elliott Jaques 在 1965 創造的。

He believed that you had your crisis when you realized that you'd already lived more than half your life.

他相信你會在意識到自己已經活超過人生的一半時產生危機。

He studied quote-unquote geniuses, like Bach, Shakespeare, and Mozart, most of whom either died tragically, or became much more prolific after their late 30s.

他研究許多所謂的天才，像是巴哈、莎士比亞、莫札特，他們大部分要不是悲劇性地去世，就是在三十歲的尾巴創作數量暴增。

He thought that the fear of not accomplishing everything they wanted to either killed them or lit a fire under them.

他覺得這種沒有完成目標的恐懼會不是會殺死他們，就是會讓他們燃燒自己的才能。

Admittedly, he also thought that this didn't really apply to women because they went through menopause instead.

誠然，他也覺得這不會發生在女人身上，因為她們會經歷停經而非中年危機。

That's clearly not accurate.

很明顯這個說法一點都不精確。

But because of it, most midlife crisis stereotypes today are still about men.

但也因為這個早期的想法，到現在許多對於中年危機的刻板印象多半還是和男人有關。

Of course, other thinkers at that time were also talking about developmental crises.

當然，當時其他學者也討論到了發展危機的問題。

And the one who really popularized the idea of the midlife crisis was researcher Daniel Levinson.

而真正使中年危機被大眾知曉的學者是 Daniel Levinson。

In 1975, he proposed that life was made up of a series of stable periods interspersed with crises known as transitional periods.

在 1975 年，他提出一個說法，就是生命是由一連串穩定的階段和一些危機 (轉變期) 所組成的。

He based his stages on work from previous psychologists and on his own study of 40 American men aged 35 to 45.

他的研究主要奠定在以前心理學家的著作還有他個人對於 40 個介於 35 到 45 歲美國男人的研究之上。

Levinson thought that the biggest transition, which happened in middle age, had to do with a sense of not accomplishing enough.

Levinson 認為在最大的轉變 (發生在中年) 和沒有足夠的實現滿足感有關。

He believed it could be dealt with by learning to set more reasonable goals.

他相信這個問題可以透過設立合理的目標來解決。

Still, tiny sample sizes of one group aren't always reliable.

但還是必須注意，過小的樣本數並不完全可信。

so more recently, researchers have tried looking for the midlife crisis in bigger, more diverse samples.

所以在近代，研究者試著在更大、更多元的樣本中找出關於中年危機存在的蛛絲馬跡。

And they seem to have found it.

他們似乎也找到了。

One trend that has emerged is a U-curve in reported happiness levels.

其中出現的一個趨勢就是顯示幸福等級的 U 形曲線。

People seem to be happy early in life and at the end of it, but they slump in the middle.

人們似乎在人生的前半段和後半段會比較快樂，但在人生中段卻會突然下跌。

This trend has been found in multiple studies, looking at over a million people in more than 50 countries.

這個趨勢在許多研究中都有被發現，研究對象超過百萬人且多達五十個國家以上。

In 2013, one researcher proposed a possible explanation for the U-curve pattern, after analyzing a 13-year-long German study of 23,000 people.

在 2013 年，一個學者在分析了一個長達 13 年、研究對象多達 23000 人的德國研究後，提出了一個對於 U 型曲線理論的可能解釋，

He said it had to do with expectations.

他認為這和期待有關。

According to his hypothesis, young people expect to beat the average when it comes to careers and happy relationships.

根據他的假設，年輕人在職涯和幸福的感情關係上，會期待能夠超越平均值。

And when things don't quite work out that way, they're disappointed.

當事情沒有那麼順利時，他們就會感到失望。

They do eventually adjust their expectations, but not always fast enough to prevent that disappointment.

他們最終會調整自己的期待，但調整的速度不一定能快到足以預防失望感。

The result is pessimism and dissatisfaction, a double whammy of misery.

結果就會導致悲觀、不滿，簡直就是雙倍的悲慘。

But at some point, as they get older, those expectations do align with reality, possibly because, according to some research, the aging brain is less prone to regret.

但在他們長大後的某個時期，一些研究指出可能因為成熟的大腦比較不會感到後悔，所以這些期待會和現實一致，

Life starts getting better.

人生就會越來越好。

And because expectations are lower, it's a pleasant surprise that brings people back up the curve.

也因為期待比較低，所以在 U 形曲線上人們的幸福等級就會向上提高。

Now, if this all sounds pretty depressing, it is worth mentioning that the U-curve isn't set in stone.

現在，如果這一切聽起來都很令人沮喪，那值得一提的是 U 形曲線並不是一個完全沒問題的理論。

It's still pretty hotly debated for a number of reasons.

這個理論仍然因為一些原因而被激烈討論和辯論。

For one, several recent studies have found that well-being simply increases as we age, without the middle-age dip.

其中一個原因就是近期的研究發現幸福感會隨著年齡增加，而且不會在中年時急降。

And there are some issues with the studies that showed the U-curve, too.

另外 U 形曲線理論其實也有一些爭議。

Many of them are cross-sectional studies, meaning that they look at lots of different-aged people and use them to estimate trends over the lifespan.

多數的研究都屬於橫斷面研究，也就是他們研究許多不同年齡層的人，並且用這些人來預測整個人生的趨勢。

This is different from a longitudinal study, which follows the same subjects over a long period of time.

這和縱貫性研究有所區別，縱貫性研究是長期觀察相同的主體。

Longitudinal studies can be more accurate for long-term research, but not many have been done about midlife crises.

縱貫性研究在長期的研究而言會更精確，但是關於中年危機的縱貫性研究並不多。

Until recently, old age, childhood, and adolescence were studied much more often than middle age.

直到最近，老年、童年、和成年的相關研究都比中年來的多。

Still, the longitudinal studies that have been done tend to show that steady increase in well-being.

即便如此，少數相關的縱貫性研究仍顯示了幸福感是持續增加的。

That could mean cross-sectional studies aren't entirely accurate, but we'll need to do more research to know for sure.

這可能代表橫斷面研究並不是完全精準的，但我們也需要做更多研究才能更了解。

There's also an issue of definitions.

定義的方面也有一些爭議。

You might call a midlife crisis a difficult transition that occurs around age 40.

你可以說中年危機是一個大概發生在 40 歲左右的艱難轉變。

But different researchers have different criteria.

但是不同的研究者有不同的標準。

Is it stressful?

中年危機是令人有壓力的嗎？

Is it eventful?

中年危機代表多事之秋嗎？

Is it internally or externally-driven?

中年危機是由內在或外在驅使的嗎？

Even when researchers do agree, the public's definition tends to be much broader.

就算研究者都保持一致標準，大眾的標準還是越來越寬。

A 1992 study found that just 10% of people had had midlife crises when the researcher determined whether they met the right criteria.

一個 1992年的研究發現，當研究者確定受試者是否有符合正確的標準時，只有 10% 的人曾經有中年危機。

But, in a 2000 study, when people were directly asked if they'd had a midlife crisis, 26% of them said yes.

但是，在 2000 年的研究中，當人們被直接問到自己是否曾有中年危機， 26% 的人都說有。

The public's definition of this is similar to researchers', but tends to include any stress or turmoil encountered between 30 and 65.

大眾的定義和這位研究者相似，但是大眾更傾向於將任何在 30 到 65 歲之間的壓力或動盪的狀況也包含在定義中。

So the idea of the midlife crisis may prevail in pop culture partly because we take any stressful event in the middle of our lives and slap that label on it.

所以中年危機的概念很可能是透過大眾流行文化傳播的，因為我們會把任何在人生有壓力的事都貼上中年危機的標籤。

One way or another, this is definitely a topic that needs more investigation.

不論如何，這一定都是一個需要更深入調查的主題。

But the good news is that even if the U-curve does exist, it doesn't mean that middle-aged people are all miserable.

但好消息是就算 U 形曲線理論真的存在，也不代表中年的人們真的就都很悲慘。

On average, studies so far have shown it's actually a pretty small decrease in happiness.

平均而言，目前的研究顯示幸福感只有非常輕微的下降。

Not the life-altering angst we associate with the stereotype.

而不是我們心中刻板印象那種人生天翻地覆的焦慮感。

So don't worry about it too much.

所以不用太擔心。

Your job-quitting, Ferrari-buying phase might never arrive.

你的瞬間離職、爆買法拉利的階段也有可能永遠都不會到來。

Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych.

感謝收看這集的 SciShow Psych 。

If you'd like to keep learning about the human mind with us, you can go to youtube.com/scishowpsych and subscribe.

如果你想學習更多關於人類心理的知識，你可以訂閱我們的頻道。