Men are more likely than women to fake expertise¹ they don't have – and rich men are the worst culprits when it comes to speaking with authority on topics they have no idea about, according to a new study.

一项新研究显示，男性比女性更爱不懂装懂——而在与权威人士交谈时，有钱男人不懂装懂的可能性最高。

Researchers call this the art of 'BS.'

研究人员称之为“胡扯”的技巧。

Experts at the University College of London partnered with the Australian Catholic University to measure how pervasive² the BS trait is among different demographic groups, according to The Washington Post.

据《华盛顿邮报》报道，英国伦敦大学学院的专家与澳大利亚天主教大学的研究人员合作，一起研究胡扯这一特性在不同人群中到底有多普遍。

They asked study participants to give an assessment³ of how well they knew 16 different math topics on a scale of 1-5 – with answers ranging from, 'never heard of it' to 'know it well, understand the concept.'

研究人员要求参与者按照1至5分评价自己对16个不同数学话题的了解水平，1分是“从来没听说过”，5分是“非常了解，理解这个概念”。

The tricky⁴ thing is, three of those topics were completely made up: 'proper numbers,' 'subjunctive scaling' and 'declarative fractions.'

这个调查的机关在于，其中三个数学话题是完全虚构的：“固数”、“虚拟缩放”和“说明性分数”。

Anyone who said they were familiar or well-versed in the faux specialties⁵ was labelled a 'BSer.'

如果参与者表示熟悉或很了解这些虚构的话题，他们就会被列为“胡扯的人”。

A BSer is more likely to 'display overconfidence in their academic prowess and problem-solving skills,' the study said.

研究表明，胡扯的人更有可能“展现出对自己的学术水平和解决问题能力的过度自信”。

In other words: be wary⁶ of braggarts – they're least likely to live up to the reputation they've built for themselves.

换句话说，人们应该提防这些吹牛大王——他们最可能有名无实。

Using data from nine predominately English-speaking countries, researchers found that North Americans were more likely to BS than people in other parts of the world – and Canadians are worse than Americans.

研究人员使用了搜集自9个主要说英语国家的数据，他们发现，与其他地区的人相比，北美地区的人胡扯的可能性更高——加拿大人比美国人更喜欢胡扯。

By comparison, in Europe the BS trait was much more specific to men and the rich.

相比而言，在欧洲，胡扯这一特性在男性和富人中出现的可能性要高得多。

The study used data from the Program for International Student Assessment, which is taken by tens of thousands of 15-year-olds around the globe. The dataset included students' demographic information and preferences for different subjects they were studying – including the fake math knowledge questions.

这项研究使用了国际学生评估计划的数据，接受评估的是世界各地的数万名15岁青少年。相关数据包含参与学生的人口统计信息，还有他们对不同学科的喜好程度，其中就包括虚假的数学知识。

Boys were more likely than girls to pretend they knew what the fabricated math subjects are – a finding that was consistent across all nine countries.

男孩比女孩更倾向于假装了解虚构的数学话题——在数据来源的9个国家都是如此。

For men, this 'could help them earn higher wages and explain some of the gender⁷ wage gap,' study co-author Nikki Shure told The Post. 'This has important implications for thinking about tasks in job interviews and how to evaluate performance.'

研究合著者之一尼基-舒尔告诉《华盛顿邮报》说，对男性来说，这“可以帮助他们挣到更多薪水，也可以部分解释男女之间工资差距的原因。这对工作面试和评价工作表现也带来重要启示。”

However, the gap between men and women was smallest in the United States, suggesting that gender equality is a little more balanced here when it comes to BS.

不过，美国男性和女性在胡扯方面的差距最小，说明在这方面两性相对比较平等。

Researchers also found a major difference between socioeconomic classes, with the people living in richest households more likely to overstate their expertise – and the poorest least likely to indulge in BS.

研究人员还发现了不同社会阶层之间的明显差异，生活在富豪家庭的人们更喜欢不懂装懂，而来自最贫穷阶层的人们最不爱胡扯。

However, again, the gap was smallest in the US.

不过，这种差距在美国也最小。

The study also suggests that BS could sometimes manifest as a useful life skill, for example during job interviews and college applications.

研究还发现，胡扯有时能表现为一种实用的生活技能，比如在参加工作面试和申请大学入学时。