????假設(shè)你最近拒絕給某人漲工資或者升職，現(xiàn)在他開始實(shí)施報(bào)復(fù)——比如，憤然辭職并且?guī)ё吡艘环葜匾目蛻裘麊巍?/p>

????一項(xiàng)關(guān)于睪丸激素在商業(yè)談判中所起作用的最新研究表明，如果你在提出（或者拒絕）一項(xiàng)提議之前，能夠檢查一下對(duì)方的右手，你就有可能預(yù)料到會(huì)發(fā)生上述事件，甚至還有可能避免出現(xiàn)這種事。具體說來就是，如果某人右手的無名指和食指一樣長(zhǎng)的話，那你就得小心了。

????如果這兩只手指的長(zhǎng)度一樣或者非常接近，則說明手的主人出生前體內(nèi)睪丸激素含量就很高，這又進(jìn)一步說明兩點(diǎn)。首先，此人會(huì)不惜一切保全自己的地位，維護(hù)自己的面子。除非你時(shí)時(shí)照顧他的自尊，否則他很容易懷恨在心。

????其次，你跟他作對(duì)，他就會(huì)實(shí)施報(bào)復(fù)。

????上述是一項(xiàng)名為《Lex talionis：睪丸激素與報(bào)復(fù)定律》（Lex talionis: Testosterone and the law of retaliation）的研究得出的結(jié)論。該研究將會(huì)發(fā)布在下一期的《實(shí)驗(yàn)社會(huì)心理學(xué)雜志》（Journal of Experimental Social Psychology）上。

????Lex talionis是拉丁文，意為“應(yīng)報(bào)正義”（retributive justice）。該項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)是這樣進(jìn)行的：哥倫比亞商學(xué)院（Columbia Business School）和西北大學(xué)凱洛格商學(xué)院（Kellogg School at Northwestern）的研究人員從志愿者中隨機(jī)抽取48人，讓其參加兩輪議價(jià)。首輪談判階段的設(shè)計(jì)，目的在于要讓測(cè)試對(duì)象完全上當(dāng)，拿不到他們以為自己能贏得的40美元。研究對(duì)象事先未被告知有第二輪談判；這一輪，局面被設(shè)計(jì)成與第一輪相反，志愿者得以控制競(jìng)價(jià)過程，以贏取第二份40美元獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。

????有些人在第二輪中能夠光明磊落，行事公允，他們?nèi)虤馔搪?，將“輸?shù)簟笔纵喌膾吲d咽到肚子里，憑著自己的努力，贏得公平的結(jié)果。但是，其他的研究對(duì)象反應(yīng)則完全不同。他們膽大包天，向研究人員虛報(bào)低價(jià)，很明顯是要借此挽回首輪失利的損失。

????試驗(yàn)結(jié)束之后，研究人員用平板掃描儀測(cè)量每個(gè)研究對(duì)象的右手食指和無名指（從手指內(nèi)側(cè)掌指關(guān)節(jié)到指尖）。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，“手指比例”與報(bào)復(fù)心之間存在直接關(guān)系，無一例外：上述兩只手指長(zhǎng)度差別越小，報(bào)復(fù)心越強(qiáng)。

????其他許多研究也發(fā)現(xiàn)，“手指比例”能顯示出生前睪丸激素含量。出生前睪丸激素含量指的是某人出生前從父母處接受的睪丸激素的多少，往往與出生順序（家庭中年長(zhǎng)的孩子的睪丸激素含量通常高于年幼的孩子）或者母親的基因有關(guān)。

????但是，迄今，對(duì)談判策略的行為解釋尚未明朗化。

????“睪丸激素是與追求地位和挽回面子的需求有關(guān)的荷爾蒙?！痹撗芯繄?bào)告的聯(lián)合作者、凱洛格商學(xué)院的教授亞當(dāng)?加林斯基指出?！叭藗儗?duì)各種處境的反應(yīng)方式也因而有天壤之別?！?/p>

????“睪丸激素少的人，也就是其食指與無名指長(zhǎng)度有明顯差異的那些人，雖然也會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)到自己遭受了不公平待遇，但他們很可能只會(huì)生悶氣，而不會(huì)采取報(bào)復(fù)行為?！?/p>

????但是，加林斯基表示：“如果你放眼望去，看到談判桌對(duì)面的人食指與無名指長(zhǎng)短差不多或者根本就一樣長(zhǎng)，那你就得當(dāng)心了?！蹦愕枚嗷c(diǎn)心思安撫他，并迎合其自尊心，因?yàn)槿绻贿@樣的話，就“等于去摸老虎的屁股”。

????譯者：大海

????Let's say you recently turned someone down for a raise or a promotion, and he has now retaliated -- for instance, by quitting in a huff and taking a valuable client list with him.

????According to a new study of the role of testosterone in business negotiations, you might have foreseen that, and maybe even prevented it, if you had checked out his right hand before making (or refusing) an offer. Specifically, if someone's ring finger and his index finger are the same length, look out.

????Little or no difference in the size of those digits is an indicator of high prenatal testosterone, which tells you two things. First, this is a person who is preoccupied with preserving his status and saving face. Unless you handle his ego with kid gloves, he will be quick to take offense.

????And second, if you cross him, he will get even.

????That's the conclusion of an intriguing study called "Lex talionis: Testosterone and the law of retaliation," to be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

????Lex talionis is Latin for "retributive justice," and here's how the experiment went down: Researchers from Columbia Business School and the Kellogg School at Northwestern put 48 randomly selected volunteers through two rounds of negotiations. The first bargaining session was rigged so that the test subjects were, in effect, cheated out of $40 they had thought they could win. In the second round, which the subjects were not told about ahead of time, the researchers turned the tables so that, this time, the volunteers controlled the bidding process for a second $40 pot.

????Some people played fair during the second round, swallowing their disappointment at "losing" the first time and making reasonable efforts to reach an evenhanded outcome. Other subjects, however, responded quite differently. They aggressively lowballed the researchers, clearly determined to get payback.

????After it was all over, the researchers used a flatbed scanner to measure everyone's right-hand index and ring fingers ("from the ventral proximal crease of the digit to the tip of the finger"). In every case, they found a direct correlation between "digit ratio" and vengefulness: The less of a difference between the two fingers, the greater the urge to get even.

????Many other studies have established "digit ratio" as an indicator of prenatal testosterone -- that is, how much testosterone someone was exposed to before birth, often as a result of birth order (older children in a family tend to have more than younger ones) or a mother's genes.

????But until now, the behavioral implications for negotiation strategy have not been clear.

????"Testosterone is a hormone associated with status-seeking and a need to save face," notes Adam Galinsky, the Kellogg professor who co-wrote the study. "It makes a powerful difference in how people respond to situations.

????"People with low testosterone -- that is, with a noticeable difference in the length of their second and fourth digits -- may perceive that they're being treated unfairly, but they're likely to go sulk in a corner."

????However, Galinsky says, "If you're looking across a bargaining table at someone who has a slight difference, or no difference, between the second and fourth digits, be careful." Make an extra effort to mollify that person and stroke his ego, because doing otherwise is "like slapping a sleeping tiger."