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.

美国一项针对80名儿童开展的研究发现，孩子们认为戴眼镜的同龄人比不戴眼镜的看起来更加聪明诚实。

此外，研究人员发现，孩子们并不会从外貌、是否能成为玩伴或运动能力等方面来评判戴眼镜的同龄人。

俄亥俄州立大学验光学副教授、该研究的负责人杰弗里•瓦林在一份将要发表的声明中表示，这些发现在孩子们第一次配眼镜时也许能起到安慰作用。

瓦林说：“如果一个孩子希望自己看起来更聪明，那么我会利用这一信息并告诉这个孩子这是经过研究论证的。大部分孩子初次配镜时都会对自己的形象很敏感。有些孩子干脆拒绝戴眼镜，因为他们觉得戴上眼镜后会很难看。”

共有42名女孩和38名男孩参与了该研究，他们的年龄在6岁至10岁之间。在这些孩子中，共有30人戴眼镜，34个孩子的兄弟姐妹至少有一人戴眼镜，近三分之二孩子的父母中至少有一方戴眼镜。

研究人员让孩子们看24组同龄人的照片。每组照片包括两张，一张照片上的孩子戴眼镜，另一张的不戴眼镜，而且每组照片中孩子的性别和民族都不同。

在回答就每组照片提出的一系列问题时，约三分之二的孩子认为戴眼镜的小孩比不戴眼镜的看起来更聪明，57%的孩子说戴眼镜的小孩看起来更诚实。

瓦林说，这些结果说明，媒体所渲染的“戴眼镜是有学问的象征”已经深入人心，甚至连小孩子都受到了影响。

对于他们愿意跟谁玩、谁看起来更像运动健将、谁比较害羞，以及谁长得好看等其它问题，孩子们的回答五花八门，因此研究人员无法从中得出可靠的结论。

但有一点是肯定的，孩子们并不认为其他戴眼镜的孩子难看。

瓦林说：“孩子们似乎更担心自己戴上眼镜后的形象问题，对其他戴眼镜的人并没有什么看法。”

该研究在五月出版的《眼科与生理光学》上发表。