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Some People Are Born With Confidence
Some people are born with the belief that they are masters of their own lives. Others feel they are at the mercy of1 fate.
New research shows that part of those feelings are in the genes. Psychologists have long known that people confident in their ability to control their destinies are more likely to adjust well to growing old than those who feel that they drift on the currents of fate2 .
Two researchers who questioned hundreds of Swedish twins report that such confidence, or lack of it, is partly genetic and partly drawn from experience. They also found that the belief in blind luck — a conviction that coincidence plays a big role in life is something learned in life and has nothing to do with heredity.
The research was conducted at the Karolinska Institute — better known as the body that annually awards the Nobel Prize for medicine — by Nancy Pedersen of the Institute and Margaret Gatz, a professor of psychology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Their results were recently published in the United States in the Journal of Gerontology.
People who are confident of their ability to control their lives have an"internal locus of control, "and have a better chance of being well adjusted in their old age, said Pedersen. An" external locus of control", believing that outside forces determine the course of life, has been linked to depression in latter years, she said.
"We are trying to understand what makes people different. What makes some people age gracefully and others have a more difficult time ?"she said. The study showed that while people have an inborn predilection toward independence and self-confidence, about 70 percent of this personality trait3 is affected by a person's environment and lifetime experiences.
Pedersen's studies, with various collaborators, probe the aging process by comparing sets of twins, both identical and fraternal, many of whom were separated at an early age.
The subjects were drawn from a roster first compiled about 30 years ago registering all twins born in Sweden since 1886. The complete list, which was extended in 1971, has 95,000 sets of twins.
練習題：
Ⅰ. Multiple choice:
1. Researchers questioned of Swedish twins report that such confidence is partly genetic .
A. hundreds B. thousands C. dozens D. 95, 000 sets
2. People who are confident of their ability to control their lives have a better chance of being well adjusted in their .
A. old age B. jobs C. family
3. By comparing sets of twins, Pedersen’s studies focus on .
A. the age process B. the social justice C. the social environment
4. The"internal locus of control"means .
A. self-constructive forces to maintain the balance of the mind
B. self-motivated power to achieve consciousness
C. inside forces determine the course of life
Ⅱ. Explain the following words:
1. blind luck
2. external locus of control
