A new economics paper has some old-fashioned advice for people navigating¹ the stresses of life: Find a spouse² who is also your best friend.

新近发表的一篇经济学论文，给正面临生活压力的人提了一个有些老派的建议：找最好的朋友做你的配偶。

Social scientists have long known that married people tend to be happier, but they debate whether that is because marriage causes happiness or simply because happier people are more likely to get married. The new paper, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, controlled for pre-marriage happiness levels.

社会科学家向来知道，已婚人士往往更幸福，但对于这是因为婚姻带来了幸福，还是说越幸福的人越可能走进婚姻，他们意见不一。美国国家经济研究局(National Bureau of Economic Research)新近发表的一篇论文，将婚前的幸福水平作为控制变量。

It concluded that being married makes people happier and more satisfied with their lives than those who remain single – particularly during the most stressful periods, like midlife crises.

文章的结论是，婚姻使人们比孑然一身者更幸福，对生活更满意，特别是在压力最大的时期，如中年危机。

Even as fewer people are marrying, the disadvantages of remaining single have broad implications. It’s important because marriage is increasingly a force behind inequality. Stable marriages are more common among educated, high-income people, and increasingly out of reach for those who are not. That divide appears to affect not just people’s income and family stability, but also their happiness and stress levels.

尽管结婚的人减少了，但单身的弊端影响广泛。这一点颇为重要，因为婚姻越来越成了不平等背后的一个因素。稳定的婚姻在受过教育的高收入人群中更普遍，而情况与之相反的人则越来越难获得稳定的婚姻。这一差异影响的似乎不仅是人们的收入和家庭的稳定，还有他们的幸福和压力状况。

A quarter of today’s young adults will have never married by 2030, which would be the highest share in modern history, according to Pew Research Center. Yet both remaining unmarried and divorcing are more common among less-educated, lower-income people. Educated, high-income people still marry at high rates and are less likely to divorce.

皮尤研究中心(Pew Research Center)称，当下的年轻人中，有四分之一不会在2030年前结婚，这一比例将是现代历史上的最高水平。但在受教育较少、收入较低的人群中，未婚和离异都更普遍。受过教育的高收入人群结婚的比例依然较高，离婚的可能性也更小。

Those whose lives are most difficult could benefit most from marriage, according to the economists³ who wrote the new paper, John Helliwell of the Vancouver School of Economics and Shawn Grover of the Canadian Department of Finance. “Marriage may be most important when there is that stress in life and when things are going wrong,” Mr. Grover said.

这篇文章的作者是两名经济学家，分别是温哥华经济学院(Vancouver School of Economics)的约翰·赫利韦尔(John Helliwell)和加拿大财政部的肖恩·格罗弗(Shawn Grover)。他们认为，生活最困难的人从婚姻中的受益最大。“当生活中出现了压力，有了问题时，婚姻可能是最重要的，”格罗弗说。

They analyzed⁵ data about well-being⁶ from two national surveys in the United Kingdom and the Gallup World Poll. In all but a few parts of the world, even when controlling for people’s life satisfaction before marriage, being married made them happier. This conclusion, however, did not hold true in Latin America, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

他们对英国的两项全国性调查，以及盖洛普全球民意调查(Gallup World Poll)中和幸福有关的数据进行了分析。全世界除少数几个地方外，即便将婚前的生活满意度作为控制变量，婚姻也会让人们更幸福。然而，这一结论对拉美、南亚和撒哈拉以南的非洲来说不成立。

Intriguingly⁷, marital⁸ happiness long outlasted⁹ the honeymoon¹⁰ period. Though some social scientists have argued that happiness levels are innate¹¹, so people return to their natural level of well-being after joyful¹² or upsetting events, the researchers found that the benefits of marriage persist.

有趣的是，婚姻带来的幸福远比蜜月期更长久。一些社会科学家称，幸福感是与生俱来的，因而在令人高兴或苦恼的事情过后，人们会回归天生的幸福感，但研究人员发现，婚姻带来的益处会持续下去。

One reason for that might be the role of friendship within marriage. Those who consider their spouse or partner to be their best friend get about twice as much life satisfaction from marriage as others, the study found.

原因之一或许是婚姻中的友谊所起的作用。研究发现，视配偶或伴侣为至交的人，从婚姻中获得的生活满足感大约是其他人的两倍。

The effect of friendship seems to be the result of living with a romantic partner, rather than the legal status of being married, because it was as strong for people who lived together but weren’t married. Women benefit more from being married to their best friend than men do, though women are less likely to regard their spouse as their best friend.

友谊的这种影响，似乎源自和一个浪漫的伴侣一起生活，而非法律上的已婚身份，因为它对那些未婚同居的人的影响同样大。和男性相比，女性从与至交结婚中受益更多，不过女性视配偶为至交的可能性更低。

“What immediately intrigued¹³ me about the results was to rethink marriage as a whole,” Mr. Helliwell said. “Maybe what is really important is friendship, and to never forget that in the push and pull of daily life.”

“相关结果立即引起我的兴趣，让我重新从整体上考虑婚姻，”赫利韦尔说。“或许真正重要的是友谊，并且永远不要在日常生活的波折起伏中忘了这一点。”

Marriage has undergone a drastic shift in the last half century. In the past, as the Nobel-winning economist⁴ Gary Becker described, marriage was utilitarian¹⁴: Women looked for a husband to make money and men looked for a woman to manage the household.

过去半个世纪，婚姻经历了剧变。从前，就像获得了诺贝尔奖的经济学家加里·贝克尔(Gary Becker)所描述的那样，婚姻是功利的：女性为了找个丈夫挣钱，男性为了找个妻子持家。

But in recent decades, the roles of men and women have become more similar. As a result, spouses¹⁵ have taken on roles as companions and confidants, particularly those who are financially stable, as the economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers have discussed.

但近几十年，男女的角色变得更加相似。结果，就像经济学家贝特西·史蒂文森(Betsey Stevenson)和贾斯汀·沃夫斯(Justin Wolfers)讨论的那样，配偶承担起了同伴和知己的角色，特别是那些经济状况稳定的人。

The benefits of marital friendship are most vivid during middle age, when people tend to experience a dip in life satisfaction, largely because career and family demands apply the most stress then. Those who are married, the new paper found, have much shallower dips – even in regions where marriage does not have an overall positive effect.

人到中年，往往会经历生活满意度的下降，主要是因为这时职业和家庭需求带来的压力是最大的。这个时候，婚姻中的友谊益处最为明显。新发表的这篇文章发现，即便是在婚姻总体上未产生积极影响的地区，已婚者生活满意度下降的幅度也要小得多。

“The biggest benefits come in high-stress environments, and people who are married can handle midlife stress better than those who aren’t because they have a shared load and shared friendship,” Mr. Helliwell said.

“最大的益处出现在高压环境中，和单身或离异者相比，已婚者能更好地应对中年压力，因为有人和他们一起承担压力，分享友谊，”赫利韦尔说。

Overall, the research comes to a largely optimistic conclusion. People have the capacity to increase their happiness levels and avoid falling deep into midlife crisis by finding support in long-term relationships. Yet those relationships seem to be less achievable for the least advantaged members of society.

总的来说，这项研究得出的结论基本上是乐观的。人们有能力通过在长期关系中找到支持，来增强幸福感，避免深陷中年危机。但对最弱势的社会成员而言，形成这种关系的可能性似乎更小。