Children think other youngsters who wear glasses look smarter and are more honest than those who don't wear glasses, according to a U.S. study of 80 children.
 
Children think other youngsters who wear glasses look smarter and are more honest than those who don't wear glasses, according to a U.S. study of 80 children.

In addition, the researchers found that children tend not to judge peers who wear glasses in terms of appearance, potential as a playmate, or likely athletic abilities.

These findings may help comfort children as they're fitted for their first pair of glasses, lead author Jeffrey Walline, an assistant professor of optometry at Ohio State University, suggested in a prepared statement.

"If the impression of looking smarter will appeal to a child, I would use that information and tell the child it is based on research. Most kids getting glasses for the first time are sensitive about how they're going to look. Some kids simply refuse to wear glasses, because they think they'll look ugly," Walline said.

The study included 42 girls and 38 boys, aged 6 to 10. Of those, 30 wore glasses, 34 had at least one sibling with glasses, and almost two-thirds had at least one parent who wore glasses.

The study participants were shown 24 pairs of pictures of children. The children in each pair of pictures differed by gender and ethnicity, and each pair of pictures included one child with glasses and one child without glasses.

The children were asked a series of questions about each pair of photos. About two-thirds said children wearing glasses looked smarter than those without glasses, and 57 percent said children wearing glasses looked more honest.

The results suggest the media portrayals that associate glasses with intelligence may be reinforcing a stereotype that even young children accept, Walline said.

The children's answers to other questions about who they'd rather play with, who looked better at sports, who looked more shy, and who was better looking weren't consistent enough for the researchers to derive any solid conclusions.

What was clear was that the children didn't automatically consider kids with glasses to be unattractive.

"The concern about attractiveness with glasses seems to be more internal to a particular child rather than an indicator of how they'll feel about other people who wear glasses," Walline said.

The study was published in the May issue of Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics.

美國一項針對80名兒童開展的研究發現，孩子們認為戴眼鏡的同齡人比不戴眼鏡的看起來更加聰明誠實。

此外，研究人員發現，孩子們并不會從外貌、是否能成為玩伴或運動能力等方面來評判戴眼鏡的同齡人。

俄亥俄州立大學驗光學副教授、該研究的負責人杰弗里•瓦林在一份將要發表的聲明中表示，這些發現在孩子們第一次配眼鏡時也許能起到安慰作用。

瓦林說：“如果一個孩子希望自己看起來更聰明，那么我會利用這一信息并告訴這個孩子這是經過研究論證的。大部分孩子初次配鏡時都會對自己的形象很敏感。有些孩子干脆拒絕戴眼鏡，因為他們覺得戴上眼鏡后會很難看。”

共有42名女孩和38名男孩參與了該研究，他們的年齡在6歲至10歲之間。在這些孩子中，共有30人戴眼鏡，34個孩子的兄弟姐妹至少有一人戴眼鏡，近三分之二孩子的父母中至少有一方戴眼鏡。

研究人員讓孩子們看24組同齡人的照片。每組照片包括兩張，一張照片上的孩子戴眼鏡，另一張的不戴眼鏡，而且每組照片中孩子的性別和民族都不同。

在回答就每組照片提出的一系列問題時，約三分之二的孩子認為戴眼鏡的小孩比不戴眼鏡的看起來更聰明，57%的孩子說戴眼鏡的小孩看起來更誠實。

瓦林說，這些結果說明，媒體所渲染的“戴眼鏡是有學問的象征”已經深入人心，甚至連小孩子都受到了影響。

對于他們愿意跟誰玩、誰看起來更像運動健將、誰比較害羞，以及誰長得好看等其它問題，孩子們的回答五花八門，因此研究人員無法從中得出可靠的結論。

但有一點是肯定的，孩子們并不認為其他戴眼鏡的孩子難看。

瓦林說：“孩子們似乎更擔心自己戴上眼鏡后的形象問題，對其他戴眼鏡的人并沒有什么看法。”

該研究在五月出版的《眼科與生理光學》上發表。