Vanity might not be the only reason ambitious young males obsess about their physique. They may be taking a calculated step towards leadership.

虚荣心或许不是雄心勃勃的年轻男性在意自己体格的唯一原因。他们或许是朝着领导地位迈出了精心策划的一步。

A recent study suggests that people equate physical strength in men with higher status and leadership qualities. Researchers showed participants photographs of young men and women dressed in undershirts to show off their shoulder, chest and arm muscles.

最近的一项研究表明，人们会将男性身体的强壮等同于更高的地位和种种领导品质。研究人员向参与者展示了穿着背心、露出肩膀、胸部和手臂肌肉的年轻男性和女性的照片。

Participants were told that the people were recruits at a consulting firm. They were asked to rate how much they admired them, held them in esteem and believed they would rise in status. “Do you think this person is a good leader?” was one of the questions.

研究人员告诉参与者，这些人是一家咨询公司的新员工，并要求他们为其打分，包括是否欣赏他们，是否敬重他们，是否相信他们的地位将会提高。其中一个问题是“你是否认为这个人是个优秀的领导者？”

In an academic version of the children’s game Tops and Tails, the researchers Photoshopped the images, switching the bodies and heads and manipulating heights, to take account of the possibility that results could be skewed by how tall or attractive the subjects were. Participants consistently rated stronger men more highly for status and leadership qualities. When the pictures were of women, it made little difference whether the subjects were stronger or weaker.

在这个儿童游戏“头和尾”(Tops and Tails)的学术版本里，研究人员使用Photoshop处理图片，调换身体和头部，调整身高，以降低结果受到评判对象身高和外形吸引力影响的可能性。在地位和领导品质方面，参与者一致给更强壮的男性打了更高的分。当参与者看到的是女性的照片时，强壮或瘦弱与否对结果没有多大影响。

The research, soon to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, seems to endorse Vladimir Putin’s habit of flaunting his physique or Donald Trump’s publication of his doctor’s opinion of his “extraordinary” physical strength. It also adds to a rich vein of work on the physical characteristics of business executives.

这项很快将发表在《人格与社会心理学期刊》(Journal of Personality and Social Psychology)上的研究似乎支持了弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)炫耀自己体格的习惯，以及唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)公布医生对其身体素质“特别出色”的评价的做法。这还增加了有关企业高管外形特征的论述，这些论述已经十分丰富。

A 2004 paper, for instance, looked at research on height and found that tall individuals have an advantage in their careers, with six-footers earning almost $166,000 more over 30 years than someone standing only 5 feet 5 inches. Warwick Business School research last year indicated that men who rise highest in business, the military and sport share common facial features.

比如，一份2004年的论文研究了身高，发现高个子在事业上拥有优势，在30年的时间里，身高6英尺的人会比身高仅5英尺5英寸的人多挣近16.6万美元。华威商学院(Warwick Business School)去年的研究表明，在商界、军队和运动领域地位升到最高的男性拥有共同的面部特征。

Other researchers have noted a link between upper-body strength and status in indigenous Bolivian people, but, happily, we do not get to see many chief executives undressed, so it is hard to assess whether the same applies in the boardroom.

还有研究人员注意到玻利维亚本地人上半身体形的强壮与其地位存在关联，但幸运的是，我们不会看到有多少首席执行官袒露上身，因此很难评估这是否也适用于企业的董事会。

Those executives who admit to a serious workout regime, or who projected a public image of physical strength, have a mixed record. Carsten Kengeter, a broad-shouldered extreme skier who “likes nothing better than a weekend of marathon running in the Mont Blanc massif”, looks set to take his leadership of Deutsche Börse through the pain barrier with a merger with the London Stock Exchange. Gavin Patterson’s leonine appearance — regularly referenced by reporters — has not hindered his rise to the top of BT, the UK telecoms group.

那些坦言自己严格执行锻炼计划，或者营造身体强壮的公众形象的高管们的命运好坏参半。宽肩膀的极限滑雪者、德意志交易所(Deutsche Börse)首席执行官卡斯滕•肯格特(Carsten Kengeter)自称“最喜欢在勃朗峰(Mont Blanc)跑马拉松来度过周末”，看起来将熬过德交所与伦敦证交所(London Stock Exchange)合并的“痛障”，保持自己的领导地位。加文•帕特森(Gavin Patterson)常被记者提及的狮子般的外形并没有阻碍他升至英国电信(BT)的最高职位。

On the other hand, in 2012, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg — then 87 — boasted to the Financial Times of his weightlifting prowess. It is doubtful if this would have saved AIG, the insurer he used to run, from bailout.

另一方面，2012年，时年87岁的莫里斯•“汉克”•格林伯格(Maurice “Hank” Greenberg)向英国《金融时报》的记者夸耀了他在举重方面的造诣。很难相信这能将他过去执掌的保险集团美国国际集团(AIG)从纾困中拯救出来。

Thor Björgolfsson wears “sculpted suits” and works out regularly, according to a recent profile “because it teaches self-discipline and pushes one to the limit”. Fellow investors in Landsbanki, the collapsed Icelandic bank where he was the major shareholder, might have hoped for more self-discipline sooner in his career.

最近的一篇人物专访称，托尔•比约戈夫森(Thor Bjorgolfsson)穿着“有型的西装”，并且定期锻炼，“因为它教人自律，并把人推向极限”。破产的冰岛国民银行(Landsbanki)的其他投资者或许曾希望这位主要股东在事业方面早点展现出自律。

The paper is called “The role of physical formidability in human social status allocation”, a title that risks having sand kicked in its face by more muscular headlines.

这篇论文的标题为“壮硕的体形在人类社会地位分配中的作用”，这个标题存在被更“强壮”的标题挑战的风险。

Aaron Lukaszewski of Oklahoma State University, who carried out the study with co-authors from University of California Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara and University of Portland, has a word of caution for any leader tempted to throw his weight around. “Self-interested aggressiveness decreased men’s projected status,” he says.

俄克拉荷马州立大学(Oklahoma State University)的阿龙•卢卡谢夫斯基(Aaron Lukaszewski)与来自加州大学伯克利分校(University of California Berkeley)、加州大学圣塔芭芭拉分校(UC Santa Barbara)及波特兰大学(University of Portland)的合著者进行了这项研究，他对那些忍不住炫耀自身强壮的领导者有一句警告。“出于自利目的的咄咄逼人会降低男性展现出来的地位，”他说。

Mr Putin and Mr Trump, take note.

普京和特朗普，当心了。