-
Do you play as Voldemort or Superman? Study shows virtual roleplay affects behaviour
The Independent: The alter-egos that players adopt in online games can affect how individuals act in real life, according to new research published in the latest issue of the journal Psychological Science. "Our results indicate that just five minutes of role-play in virtual environments as either a hero or villain can easily cause people to reward or punish anonymous strangers," says lead researcher Gunwoo Yoon of the University of Illinois. According Yoon and his co-author Patrick Vargas, virtual environments provide them with “a vehicle for observation, imitation, and modelling” as well as offering individuals the chance to act and feel in a way they cannot in real life.
-
Meditation Makes People Feel Better. Can It Help You Work Smarter, Too?
Businessweek: Meditating can ease stress, insomnia, and depression and may even help ward off disease. Now there’s evidence it can produce better business decisions. A new study suggests meditating can help business people change course when initial plans don’t work out. People often stick with decisions because they don’t want to feel wasteful or admit that their initial investment was a loss, says Andrew Hafenbrack, a doctoral student at INSEAD in Singapore and the study’s lead author. Behavioral scientists call this “sunk-cost bias”—also known as throwing good money after bad. Participants in the study were asked to make decisions in business-related scenarios.
-
Dishonesty and Creativity: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
New research shows that lying about performance on one task may increase creativity on a subsequent task by making people feel less bound by conventional rules. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “The common saying that ‘rules are meant to be broken’ is at the root of both creative performance and dishonest behavior,” says lead researcher Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School.
-
The Meat Paradox: How Carnivores Think About Dinner
The Huffington Post: Temple Grandin is widely known as an advocate for animal welfare. She is also a slaughterhouse designer and meat eater. She has spent much of her professional life promoting humane practices for livestock farms and slaughtering plants, and has been recognized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for her tireless efforts. She has also written in defense of meat as a food, and is embraced as an ally by the meat industry. A couple of years ago, she even defended the beef industry's controversial marketing of pink slime. Grandin has no trouble reconciling these views and activities. But she does have to reconcile them, as we all do.
-
Channelling Superman
The Economist: WHEN Dong Nguyen, a Vietnamese software whizz, pulled his frustratingly enjoyable game “Flappy Bird” from mobile app stores last Sunday, it left both players and industry insiders scratching their heads. Flappy Bird had swiftly become the most downloaded game on both iPhones and Android phones, and was making some $50,000 a day in advertising revenues—the kind of success most game developers can barely envisage. But Mr Dong, who has rejected almost all requests for interviews, believed Flappy Bird needed its wings clipped. “It was just too addictive,” he finally told the Wall Street Journal.
-
What Makes Older People Happy
The New York Times: Every year, my husband and I wonder what kind of birthday gift to give his dad, now 86 years old. The newest gadget, which may be admired but almost surely will be put in a drawer? Something much more ordinary, like one of the cardigan sweaters he wears day in and day out? We know very well what Mel would really enjoy: a weeklong visit with us and our children, with lots of time spent eating out in comfortable restaurants where he doesn’t have to strain to follow the conversation. But that is hard to engineer, since we all live far away. ... The study findings are drawn from eight experiments all revolving around the same theme. In one of them, Dr.
