Relaxation Tends to Waste the Times

Researchers at Columbia University Business School, led by psychologist Michel Tuan, recently managed to find why people tend to spend more money when they're relaxed. The findings provide some insight into why a new generation of casinos so different from the older.

The changes seen in Las Vegas on top of all other places. Instead of a low ceiling, hidden from sight lines, no clock and the claustrophobia-inducing setup, new construction was built so that gamblers can relax in it. For the record, both make more money.

For years, casino owners have struggled to build the floor of their money-making enterprise in accordance with appropriate specifications, intended to confuse, disorient them, and make them nervous. The thinking is that these measures will increase revenue by keeping more people playing.


The latest generation of casino is built with high ceilings and simple layout that clearly shows where the exit. Marble, a bouquet of flowers and soothing music takes the place of the mechanical voice chat busy and older casinos.

The reason why this change occurs is that people tend to spend more when they feel comfortable in the environment, relaxing fun. In addition, psychologists say that this setup encourages players to take irrational risks in games of chance, wire reports.

Tim Pham who gives an explanation why this is happening in a paper published in a recent issue of the Journal of Marketing Research. Even when accounting for the emotional state, relaxed people tend to spend more money in a more reckless than their counterparts who are stressed or uncomfortable.

This study also shows that this is why the luxury retail stores to support an open design, with soothing music, a big empty space filled with comfortable chairs and so on. All these factors contribute to make the customer feel comfortable, even if the stores spend a lot of money to rent the space they are not fully used.

From this perspective, the purpose of store owners who cradles as many people as possible to spend as much as possible in their stores. If they would create a labyrinth design, covering the products after various corners and niches, they will not really succeed in selling too much.

With more choice, guys are more alike - but not that closer

People prefer to make friends with others who share their beliefs, values, and interests. People have more choices, their friends are more the same, according to research published in Group Processes and Intergroup Relations (published by SAGE).

People are not looking for identical twins, but they find common ground because it makes for a smoother, more pleasant interaction. When people have choices, and most Americans, they find friendships and romantic relationships with people who share their attitudes, religious beliefs, and politics. But what happens when they have less choice? Are people being forced to "make do" with less than perfect matches, and their friendship is satisfactory?

Angela Bahns from Wellesley College and Chris Crandall and Kate Pickett of the University of Kansas compared to universities in the Midwest with a small enrollment (an average of about 500 students) with a college with more than 25,000 students. Researchers approached the pairs of students interacting in public, and asked them questions about their attitudes, beliefs, and health behaviors.

In almost every attitude and behavior were measured, the friends of the campus that is more similar to each other than my friends a small campus. This may be because the people from their large campus feel more choice, and that they can more easily switch friends than students from a small campus.

Although friends of the campus is more similar to each other, small-campus students rated their friendship closer than couples large campus. The same campus on how long people have been friends and on how much time they spent together.

"People prefer to make friends with other people similar to them, but one can only choose among the available. Alternative-people are much more likely to meet their specific needs groceries at the supermarket than the store," wrote the researchers. "The irony of this situation is that as a setting to get more and more diverse, friendships become more homogeneous."

Dr. Christian Jessen: a new health drink - coffee

I have lost count of the coffee once made headlines health. I challenge you to scan every health magazine and did not find much advice to give up tea and coffee as an important part of the "detox" and improve health. This advice, of course, nonsense at all.

Coffee is a commodity that I think is misrepresented. This is one of the most researched products in the world and the weight of science demonstrates moderate coffee consumption (four to five cups per day) is safe and can even provide health benefits.

In the UK we drink 70 million cups of coffee per day, which would make the side effects of coffee are really serious problem. But despite claiming crank coffee is dehydrating and toxic, have proven no more a diuretic than water, and is the main food source of antioxidants, has significantly more antioxidant activity than either total cocoa, green tea, black tea or herbal tea.

State news that just two cups of coffee a day can significantly reduce the risk of stroke. Statistics from a survey of eight projects nearly half a million people combined, so research is very significant. Found that those who drank two cups of coffee a day were 14 percent less likely to experience brain clots, while three to four cups a day can reduce the danger by 17 percent.

Other studies show that coffee may be protective against the development of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, although further research is needed on the biological mechanisms underlying the potentially protective effect before it can be stated categorically that coffee protects against this debilitating disease.
In addition, thousands of research projects have been conducted to investigate whether there
is the relationship between coffee consumption and the development of common cancers.

Conclusions suggest coffee consumption can reduce the risk of developing liver carcinoma and prostate cancer, and when confounding factors like smoking are controlled, scientific evidence indicates moderate coffee consumption does not increase cancer risk in one of the sites studied, including breast, kidney, bladder, pancreas, ovarian, colon and rectum. World Cancer Research Fund stated that the evidence shows that most coffee consumption has no significant association with cancer risk at any site.

Pregnant women may have to reduce their intake, but the Food Standards Agency, the Royal College of Midwives and the Centre for Pregnancy Nutrition all agree does not need to cut off coffee completely safe during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.

I do not think it's important to drink coffee if it's good for them but I think it is important that we know it's not bad for health.

DO affair QUIET damage the relationship?

We all do. The £ 20 we've knocked off the price when our partners have asked us how much it will cost something. Our Lunch with former and 'forgot' again. Or we pour yourself a large drink every night after work, eliminating the semi-conscious to tell the rest of our health. They all act normal and generally harmless, part of the business that is not perfect everyday people and in a relationship.

But there are also times when a little white lie can be less benign. "We are all individuals, and there are many things that your spouse will not benefit from knowing about," says couples therapist Andrew G Marshall, author of How Can I Ever Trust You Again?. "But at times the information that we are cutting
crossed the line of acceptance and began to threaten the relationship. "

This habit, not dangerous in themselves, may increase from time to time. It's not cheating in the traditional sense of the word, but constantly lying to your partner can cause problems. 'Quiet can be corrosive affair - it depends on how long for them to explode, "says Karen Pine, professor of developmental psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and co-author of Sheconomics." At first glance, this behavior does not appear to be as extreme as sexual infidelity , but the fall-out from it can be equally damaging. "

Here are some of the 'affair quiet' most common that can crawl on any relationship, and they can all pose a serious threat.

Covert smoking or drinking

It's not unusual to smoke or drink without your partner present or knowing about it, but if it becomes persistent and secretive habits, it's time to take stock. "When you decide to avoid a shopping trip with your partner so you can have a crafty cigarette at home, or you stay up later to drink again, you signal the core values ​​that differ from your partner," says psychotherapist Paula Hall of Relate. "You showed that you value time spent with yourself or your friends more than that in the relationship." There is a danger, too, that people who are involved in the secret habits begin to identify their partner as a control mechanism. If they acknowledge their behavior, then they lose their incentive to quit.

"Both partners need to be open with each other to break this cycle," said Hall. "And, assuming that it is not a dependency, one partner must allow others some autonomy - even if they disagree with their behavior. If the relationship can develop a dynamic parent / child, with potentially corrosive materials such as confidentiality of anything."

See ex-

Spending time with new friends or maintaining a platonic relationship with the former is not unusual, but keep your spouse in the dark about these meetings is a sign that all was not right. If you lie to cover your tracks, you show a lack of respect for your partner, and there is also the possibility that innocent liaison could rise to something more. 'The affair was built in secret, and secret rendezvous with someone of the opposite sex can cause one or both parties to develop feelings for each other, "Marshall said.

"If you avoid the truth, then you avoid having an important conversation you have with your partner. You might start trying to maintain the status quo of your relationship, but, finally, if you continue to mislead them, you either entertain the idea of ​​starting a new relationship or your partner control so that you can not share information with them.

"Acid test of any friendship is that they should be held up to public scrutiny. If you're going out with your ex, your partner should have the opportunity to say, and" Oh, can I come too? "For it is not a problem. You must upfront with your partner and wish to compromise on the relationship "a secret". If you ask for something reasonable - maybe lunch every six months instead of weekly meetings - and talk openly about how they would feel about it, then it is much more likely to mate You will be more accepting '.

Secret shopping

"Many people use money to regulate their emotions, and to anaesthetise themselves against negative feelings," said Pine. "But it can destroy a relationship when a life-changing event like a new baby or a job loss or financial disclose gambling debts" adultery "."

It is important that your financial transparency, says Pine, especially if both your futures are bound in a joint account. "Be open and try to uncover a different mindset you money," he said. "If you will face your partner, you should be as neutral and non-judgmental as possible. They may feel quite embarrassed about their situation, so try to be supportive rather than critical."

But how gamblers, struggling under a mountain of debt, is open to couples? "First, you can get advice from a government-funded helpline credit support or financial therapist, 'showing Pine." The important thing is to start the process of disclosure. Problems are much easier to express if you already have a solution in place. "

When one of you move forward without the other

When one couple began to develop emotionally away from a relationship - perhaps through a promotion at work or by entering into therapy - this can bring about change, breach of contract relationships. "The couple lived with a shared understanding of what is possible and what is not," said Avi Shmueli psychotherapist from the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships. "But then one partner may find themselves outside of their growing relationship."

The partners who have 'abandoned' can experience disappointment - even if, initially, they are encouraging. "They may feel great pressure to maintain or, as an increase in tension, they will begin to feel the limitations of the relationship," said Shmueli. 'Good relations could then break down or arrive at a dead end. "

In this case, the couple should strive for what Shmueli term 'attitude of discovery'. 'The "less successful" couples need to think about why their loved ones have found such pleasure in their new situation, "he said." It's important not to judge, and be afraid to explore why you feel that may not be so difficult. "