Germans have a word for it -- schadenfreude -- and when it comes to getting pleasure from someone else's misfortune, men seem to enjoy it more than women. Such is the conclusion reached by scientists at University College London in what they say is the first neuroscientific(1) evidence of schadenfreude.

    Using brain-imaging techniques, they compared how men and women reacted when watching other people suffer pain.

    If the sufferer was someone they liked, areas of the brain linked to empathy and pain were activated in both sexes. To those they disliked women had a similar response, but men showed a surge(2) in the reward areas of the brain.

    "The women had a diminished(3) empathic response(4)," said Dr Stephan, a co-author of the report. "But it was still there, whereas in the men it was completely absent(5)."

    The scientists said the research shows that empathic responses in men are shaped by the perceived fairness of others." Empathic responses to other people are not automatic, as has been assumed in the past, but depend on the emotional link to the person who is observed suffering," Stephan said.

    In the two-part study, 32 men and women volunteers played a game in which they exchanged money with four other people who were actors playing a part. The actors were either fair(6) characters, who returned equal amounts of cash that have been given to them, or unfair people who gave little or no money back to the volunteers.

    In the second part of the experiment, the volunteers were placed in magnetic(7) imaging brain scanners(8) as they watched the actors receiving a mild(9) electric shock, similar to a bee sting. The scientists measured reactions of the volunteers in areas of the brain associated with pain and empathy and reward while the actors experienced pain.

    The responses shown in the brain images were backed up with questionnaires(10) filled in by the volunteers. Men admitted to having a much higher desire for revenge than women and derived(11) satisfaction from seeing the unfair person being punished.

    "We will need to confirm these gender(12) differences in larger studies because it is possible the experimental design favoured(13) men as there was a physical rather than psychological or financial threat involved," said Dr Tania Singer, who led the study.

    德語中有一個詞專用于形容幸災樂禍：“schadenfreude”。倫敦尤尼弗斯特大學科學家從神經學方面證實：男性比女性更容易幸災樂禍。

    科學家們利用腦電波成像技術比較男性和女性在看到別人受苦時的腦部反應。

    如果受難者是他們喜歡的人，男女腦中負責同情和痛苦區域的反應同樣活躍。如果受難者是他們反感的人，女人的反應沒有太大變化，但是男人腦中的獎賞區域的反應卻十分劇烈

    報告合作作者斯戴芬博士說：“女性的移情反應有所減弱，至少還有，但是男性的根本就消失了。”

    科學家們說研究表明，男性是否會產生移情反應取決于他人是否曾善待他。斯戴芬說，同情并非如我們曾經認為的那樣是自發的，而是取決于受難者與自己的情感關系。

    這項研究分成兩個步驟，共有32個志愿者參加。首先每個志愿者與4個工作人員換錢。有的“正直”的工作人員交還了同樣數量的錢，但其他“不正直”的人要么只還一點要么干脆不還。

    第二部分中，志愿者們戴著電磁腦部掃描設備觀看工作人員遭受輕度的電擊（像被蜜蜂蜇了一下）。同時，科學家們記錄下他們腦部有關同情、痛苦和回報區域的活動情況。科學家們同時記錄下他們腦部有關同情、痛感和回報的區域的活動情況。

    志愿者們在調查問卷中的回答也進一步證實了腦部掃描結果的準確性。男性志愿者承認他們有更強的報復心理，看到對他們不公正的人受苦能獲得滿足感。

    坦尼亞辛格·博士說：“科學家們認為仍需要進行更大規模的研究來驗證這一性別差異。因為此次試驗主要針對生理的威脅，而不是心理或財務危機，可能會導致男性反應比女性劇烈。”