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Why Holiday Season ‘Self-Gifting’ Is Such a Huge Retail Trend
TIME: We’ve all heard that it is better to give than receive. During the holiday shopping period, there’s a new twist to this old adage: With the rise of “self-gifting,” many consumers are clearly big fans of the idea of “giving” — to themselves. The “self-gifting” trend, which has been gaining in popularity for years, will reach all-time highs this year. According to the National Retail Federation, the average shopper who is honest enough to admit they plan to spend on themselves over the holidays will drop $237 on “self-gifts.” That’s a 27% jump in five years. For retailers, this is significant. Over 20% of the average shopper’s gift kitty is expected to be self-designated in 2012.
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En entreprise, culpabiliser est une vertu (In business, guilt is a virtue)
Le Monde: On se sentait coupable de se sentir coupable. Cette éternelle impression que l'on aurait pu mieux faire — éviter une erreur comme d'avoir blessé quelqu'un inutilement, une gaffe, mieux se comporter vis-à-vis de nos collègues, collaborateurs, supérieurs hiérarchiques — empoisonnait doucement notre vie et celle de notre entourage. Et aussi bien à la maison, comme au bureau, où la moindre remarque était facilement mal ressentie et nous rongeait alors les entrailles. Ce qui ne facilitait guère les relations avec les tiers. Nous savions que ce sentiment n'avait pas lieu d'être.
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Order of Psychiatric Diagnoses May Influence How Clinicians Identify Symptoms
The diagnostic system used by many mental health practitioners in the United States -- known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- assumes that symptoms of two disorders that occur at the same time are additive and that the order in which the disorders are presented doesn’t matter. But new research suggests that order actually plays a significant role in determining how clinicians think about psychiatric disorders.
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Crash! Collisions in the Mind’s Eye
My son was involved in a serious motorcycle accident some months ago. He was driving on a major avenue in Washington, DC, going the posted speed, when a taxi pulled out from a side road, directly into his path. My son hit the brakes, but the cab was too close to avoid, so he deliberately took a spill. Both he and the bike slid under the cab, which mercifully stopped, inches before running over him. He was injured and shaken, the bike was totaled, and I was both relieved and angry. It’s not clear whether the cabbie misjudged my son’s speed or his distance from the intersection or was simply not paying attention. At the time, I didn’t much care about the particulars.
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Tight Times May Change Our Perceptions of Who ‘Belongs’
From the playground to the office, a key aspect of our social lives involves figuring out who “belongs” and who doesn’t. Our biases lead us -- whether we're aware of it or not -- to favor people who belong to our own social group. Scientists theorize that these prevalent in-group biases may give us a competitive advantage against others, especially when important resources are limited. Psychological scientist Christopher Rodeheffer and his colleagues at Texas Christian University wanted to examine whether resource scarcity might actually lead us to change our definition of who belongs to our social group.
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Playing It Too Safe?
The Wall Street Journal: The child who insists on running up the slide at the playground is doing it for a good reason. Chances are he's uninspired and trying to create more of a challenge for himself. And if the child is 9 or 10 years old, he is likely fully bored by the swings, slides and climbing gear. Some child-development experts and parents say decades of dumbed-down playgrounds, fueled by fears of litigation, concerns about injury and worrywart helicopter parents, have led to cookie-cutter equipment that offers little thrill.
