Sometimes it feels like everyone you know is either coupling up or breaking up all at the same time - and new research suggests that when it comes to divorce, at least, there really is a seasonal¹ pattern couples tend to follow.

有时候好像你认识的每个人几乎都在同一时间恋爱或者分手了——新的研究发现，当谈到离婚的时候，至少，情侣们真的趋向遵循一个季节性规律。

After analysing all of the divorces filed in the US state of Washington between 2001 and 2015, researchers have shown that there are two months every year when divorce spikes² - March and August.

研究人员们分析了2001年至2015年期间美国华盛顿州的离婚数据之后，发现每年3月和8月是离婚高峰期。

The researchers from the University of Washington say this is the first quantitative³ evidence of biannual⁴ patterns for divorce filing, and suggest that the peaks might be a sign of divorce following a "calendar ritual", where couples want to stay together for the Christmas and summer holidays before making their decision.

来自华盛顿大学的研究人员们表示这是第一个有定量证据表明一年期间离婚有两个高峰期的研究，该研究表明这些高峰期也许是人们遵循“日历仪式”之后的结果，夫妻们想要在圣诞节和暑假期间待在一起，随后才会做决定。

"People tend to face the holidays with rising expectations, despite what disappointments they might have had in years past," said one of the researchers, Julie Brines.

其中一个研究员朱莉·布莱恩斯说：“尽管一年内累积了不少埋怨，但在面对假期时往往倾向抱有较高的期待。”

"They represent periods in the year when there's the anticipation⁵ or the opportunity for a new beginning, a new start, something different, a transition into a new period of life. In a sense. They're very symbolically⁶ charged moments in time for the culture."

“这两个高峰期代表着人们对全新开始的期待和机会，一个不同的新开始，一个进入生活的新时期。从某种程度上来说，离婚象征性地给身处美国文化中的人们的生活重新注入了能量。”

The team presented their research on Sunday at the 111th American Sociological Association annual meeting in Seattle, but their findings have yet to be peer-reviewed, so the pattern needs to be independently verified before we can take it too seriously.

这一研究结果于8月21日周日在西雅图每年召开的第111届美国社会学会研讨会上公布。但是他们的研究结果还需等待同行的审议，因此在这个说法验证成立之前我们不要太当真。