To test their theory, the experts secretly observed people in hundreds of work and social situations over a period of five years.
为了检验他们的理论,专家们在五年时间里,秘密观察了数百名不同工作背景和社会环境的人.
They particularly noted if subjects 'returned' another person's yawn within three minutes.
他们特别注意受试者是否会在三分钟内对他人的哈欠做出回应,
The authors, writing in the journal Royal Society Open Science, defined yawning scientifically as 'an involuntary sequence of mouth opening, deep inspiration, brief apnoea [stopping breathing] and slow expiration'.
研究结果发布在《皇家社会开放科学》杂志上.作者把哈欠科学地定义为"先张口,深吸气,简短的无呼吸状态[呼吸暂停],然后慢慢的呼气"这样一个不由自主的过程.
While they said men and women yawned spontaneously at equal rates, they discovered that once someone had yawned, female participants were more likely to yawn as well.
虽然研究人员称男人和女人打哈欠的自发率相同,但他们也发现,一旦有人打了个哈欠,女性更容易跟着打哈欠.
Explaining why they think women are more likely to unconsciously mimic somebody else's sleepiness, the researchers said that having a close emotional bond with the 'trigger' yawner – if they are friends or relations - makes a person more likely to pick up on their mood than that of a stranger.
在解释为什么认为女性更可能会无意识地模仿别人的哈欠时,研究人员表示,如果你与最先打哈欠的人有亲密的情感关系——比如打哈欠的人是你的朋友或亲戚,你就会比一个陌生人更容易理解他们的心情.
The rates of contagion were significantly lower between acquaintances than between friends and family members, and significantly higher in women than in men.
熟人之间的接触传染率明显低于朋友与家庭成员之间的接触传染率,而女性之间的接触传染率又明显高于男性.
The phenomenon has been seen in other social animals, such as chimps, dogs and wolves.
在其他群居动物（如黑猩猩、狗和狼）身上,研究人员也看到了这种现象.
英文来源：每日邮报
