Interestingly, however, people's sense of their own ability to laugh at themselves was only somewhat correlated with their friends' ratings, suggesting that people either think they're better at it than they actually are or that they want to present themselves this way.　　

有趣的是，人们对于自嘲能力的自我认定只打到了其朋友们的评价的一部分而已，这说明大家认为自己要比实际情况中更具有幽默感，冰鞋希望通过这样一种方式来展示自己。

The study found that people's ability to laugh at themselves had no bearing on how much they laughed or smiled in response to the distorted images of others — that suggests that the phenomenon is a distinct characteristic, one linked with your own mood and personality, rather than the tendency to simply find silly images funny. The finding also underscores the link between humor and humility.　　

这项实验这些敢于自嘲的人在看到别人扭曲的照片时同样也会笑得十分开心，说明这是一种平直，与一个人的心情与个性性格有关，而并不是仅仅因为图片真的很好笑。这项研究同样强调了幽默与谦逊之间的联系。　　

Participants who were able to laugh at themselves more also tended to be more cheerful and less serious overall, and were in better moods on the day of the experiment, the study found.　　

能够自嘲的受测者总体表现得更加的开朗，同时更加不拘小节。在参与实验的这一天中往往具有更好的心情。　　

Although studying people's sense of humor may seem like a trivial pursuit, it has important implications for health. Laughter, smiling and optimism are linked to better overall health. And "getting" certain types of jokes requires important social skills that can be impaired in conditions like autism and schizophrenia. Understanding the mechanics of humor may shed light on what goes wrong in those cases.　　

尽管研究人们的幽默感看起来似乎平淡无奇，但其对于健康的影响则相当重要。欢笑、微笑和乐观的态度都与整体的健康息息相关。要听懂某些笑话好需要有重要的社交技巧，这有助于避免自闭症与精神分裂症。了解幽默的“规则”有望帮助探寻在上述的情况中所出现了那些不好的苗头。　

And sometimes, we just need a reminder to take everything — including ourselves — less seriously.　

有的时候，我们需要常常提醒自己，在对待任何事物时，包括自己，都应该更加的放轻松些。

相关词汇学习：

1. gloomy adj. 阴暗的，忧闷的，前景黯淡的
2. psychology n. 心理，心理学
3. gauge n. 测量仪器，测量标准，轨距,，直径，口径 vt. 估计，判断，测量
4. plight n. 困境, 苦境
[同义词] predicament n. 困境 dilemma n.困境，进退两难
5. designate vt. 指定，标明，把...定名为, 选派
[同义辨析] appoint, designate, assign, name, nominate 这些动词均有“任命，委派”之意。
appoint: 通常指不经过选择的官方委任。
designate: 书面用语，侧重当权者或机构的选拔或任命，有时含强行指定的意味。
assign: 常指给一群人或个人分配、分派、指派或委派任务。
name: 普通用词，着重任命的结果，而不是过程。
nominate: 通常指为某一公职选择候选人，并将其提交给有决定权的人作最后决定。
6. surreptitiously adv. 偷偷摸摸地, 暗中地
[同义词] underground adj. 地下的, 秘密的 secretly adv.秘密地, 背地里