調查顯示 六分之一的人寧願早死?

The general belief is we want to live for as long as we possibly can - maybe even reaching triple figures.

人們普遍認爲自己想活得儘可能長久一些，甚至希望能夠活到100歲以上。

Advances in medicine, science and technology are extending our life expectancy every day.

醫學、科學和科技的進步，每天都在延長我們的預期壽命。

But many are scared of the effects of ageing - with the thought of dementia striking terror into the hearts of most adults.

但是許多人對衰老帶來的後果感到恐懼，大多數成年人一想到以後可能會癡呆就心生恐懼。

And a new study has discovered the fear of becoming old may actually outweigh the fear of dying.

一項新的研究發現，衰老也許比死亡事實上更讓人恐懼。

More than one in six people would prefer to die before they turn 80 - less than the average life expectancy, scientists found.

科學家發現，有六分之一的人更希望在八十歲前死去。這個年齡比平均預期壽命還要低。

Hispanics have the highest preference for a shorter life while African-American people are more likely to want to live for 100 or more years, a new study suggests.

一項新的研究表明，拉美裔美國人最傾向於擁有一個較短暫的人生，而非裔美國人則更願意活到100歲或更久。

But despite women living around five years longer than men, gender had no difference in how long people wanted to live for.

儘管女性的壽命一般比男性多五歲，但在想要活多久的問題上，男女的想法並無差異。

The study is one of the first to investigate how younger adults perceive and anticipate their own ageing.

這項研究最先調查了較年輕的成人對衰老的認識以及對老年生活的設想。

Researchers from the Columbia Aging Center quizzed 1,600 adults aged 18 to 64 in a telephone survey. They were on average 42 years old, half were women and 33 per cent were university graduates.

哥倫比亞老年化中心的研究人員們對1600名18歲到64歲的成年人進行了電話調研。他們的平均年齡爲42歲，其中一半是女性，有33%是大學畢業生。

Professor Vegard Skirbekk, from the Columbia Aging Center said: 'We were particularly interested in whether how long people want to live would be related to their expectations about what their life in old age will be like.'

哥倫比亞老年化中心的韋加爾·希爾貝克教授說：“人們希望活多久和他們對老年生活的期望之間是否有關？我們對這一點尤其感興趣。”

'For many, it seems that the fear of becoming old may outweigh the fear of dying.'

“對很多人來說，變老的恐懼超過了死亡的恐懼。”

The results confirmed those who had fewer positive expectations of growing old preferred to die earlier, before reaching average life expectancy.

研究結果證實，對老年生活沒有太多積極預期的人更希望早點死去，不願活到平均預期壽命。

And conversely, those who had fewer negative expectations of old age wanted their lives to go on for longer.

相反，對老年生活的負面預期較少的人們希望活得更久。

Joint author Dr Catherine Bowen said: 'Having rather bleak expectations of what life will be like in old age seems to undermine the desire to live up to and beyond current levels of average life expectancy.'

研究報告的共同作者凱瑟琳·鮑文博士表示：“對老年生活的悲觀預期會削減想要活得長久以及超過當前平均預期壽命的渴望。”

'People who embrace the "better to die young" attitude may underestimate their ability to cope with negative age-related life experiences as well as to find new sources of well-being in old age.'

“抱有'寧願早死'態度的人可能低估了自己處理衰老帶來負面影響的能力，以及年老時找到新的保持健康的能力。”