Articles

Do We Believe That Our Pets Are Better Than the Average Pet?

By Brad Bell

Pets are very important to us.  We may consider them part of the family.  Does our attachment to our pets make us feel that they have more positive attributes than the pets of other people?

In Study 1, El-Alayli, Lystad, Webb, Hollingsworth, and Ciolli (2006) had participants rate their pets and the average pet on 22 personality attributes.  Some of these were positive (e.g., loyal and friendly), and some of them were negative (e.g., lazy and mean).  On the average, the participants rated their own pets as higher on the positive attributes than the average pet.  Moreover, on the average, the participants rated their own pets as lower on the negative attributes than the average pet. In their second study, participants rated their own pets and the “average person’s pet” on the same 22 attributes. The findings of their secondly replicated the above findings.  Moreover, they found that this bias for perceiving one’s own pet more favorably was correlated with pet attachment.  

In other words, people who were more attached to their pets were more likely to exhibit a stronger bias in the evaluation of their pets. (1) Imagine the implications of the findings.  If your dog is running loose in the neighborhood, you may describe him as an “explorer.”   However, your neighbors may describe him as “reckless.”

Notes

1.  See their article for other findings.

References

El-Alayli, A., Lystad, A. L., Webb, S. R., Hollingsworth, S. L., & Ciolli, J. L. (2006).  Reigning cats and dogs:  A pet-enhancement bias and its link to pet attachment, pet-self similarity, self-enhancement, and well-being.  Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 28, 131-143.

Can a Joke on a Card Increase Tips?

If you are a wait person you probably are concerned about the tips that you receive from customers.  The tips you receive may greatly help you pay the bills. Your earnings from the job may seem much more reasonable with the tips you receive.  Is there a way to increase tips?   One simple way may be to leave a joke on a card with the bill.   

Gueguen (2002) conducted a study that involved tipping at a bar.  Each person in the study was randomly assigned to one of three conditions.  In the advertisement card condition, the customers received an advertisement on a card with their coffee and bill.  In the joke card condition, the customers received a joke on a card with their coffee and bill.   In the control condition, the customers did not receive a card.

Gueguen found that a higher percentage of customers gave a tip in the joke card condition than in the other two conditions.  In contrast, the difference between the advertisement card condition and the control condition with respect to the percentage of people tipping was not statistically significant.

These findings clearly indicate that humor may increase tips.  Providing a joke on a card with the bill may be a simple way to increase tips.

One possible explanation of the effect of humor on tipping is that it reflects the reciprocity principle.  The reciprocity principle suggests that we should help someone who helps us.  Providing a joke on a card can be viewed as helping the customer.  It may make the person more happy and cheerful. The customer may wish to reciprocate the expression of kindness by providing a tip.

References

Gueguen, N.  (2002).  The effects of a joke on tipping when it is delivered a the same time as the bill.  Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 1955-1963.    

What Do Couples Say Are the Reasons for Why Their Marriages Lasted?


Some marriages may have relationship problems and end in several years. Other marriages may last for more than fifty years.  How can we explain why some marriages may last for a long time?

Lauer and Lauer (1985) conducted a survey with 351 couples.  The couples had been married for  15 years or longer.  They were asked about why their marriages had lasted.  The most common answer for men and women was perceiving one’s spouse as a best friend.  The second most frequent answer for both men and women was liking one’s spouse as a person.  Viewing marriage as a long-term commitment was the third most frequent response for both men and women.  The fourth most common answer for both men and women was seeing marriage as sacred.  It is interesting that laughter was also important.  Laughing together was the ninth most frequent answer for men, and the eighth most frequent answer for women.

In short, these findings suggests that couples perceive close friendship and commitment as two essential elements of an enduring marriage.  However, we cannot make causal conclusions from these findings.  We do not know whether the reasons that the couples provided are the true reasons for enduring marriages.

References

Lauer, J., & Lauer, R.  (1985, June).  Marriages made to last. Psychology Today, 22-26.

Is Social Interest Associated with Happiness?

By Brad Bell

Social interest is an important personality characteristic that reflects an interest in others and being concerned about others.  People who are high in social interest are likely to value being sympathetic, considerate, and helpful.  Social relationships are important to many people. They may be a primary source of happiness and meaning in life.  Social interest may be related to happiness because our lives seem more meaningful.  Feeling connected to others and concerned about others may be a primary source of finding meaning in life.

Crandall (1980) found that among college students there was a statistically significant positive correlation between social interest and happiness for two measures of happiness. (1)   Thus, greater social interest was associated with greater happiness.  However, because these findings are correlational, we cannot make causal conclusions from the findings.  There may be other variables that could explain the relation between social interest and happiness.  (2)

Notes

1.  There was a significant positive correlation between social interest and happiness for both measures of happiness in the total sample.  However, only one of the two happiness measures was significantly correlated with social interest among men. Moreover, only one of the two happiness measures was significantly correlated with social interest among women.  The measure of happiness that was significantly correlated with social interest among men was different from the measure of happiness that was significantly correlated with social interest for women.

2.  See Crandall’s article for information on other findings.

References

Crandall, J. E. (1980).  Adler’s concept of social interest:  Theory, measurement, and implications for adjustment.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 481-495.

What Is Leadership?

By Brad Bell

Leadership is an important concept in psychology.  What is leadership?   One important question concerns how to define leadership.  There are many possible leadership definitions.  In this article, I wish to provide a leadership definition that is different from many other possible definitions of leadership.   This may help in thinking in creative ways about leadership.

A Definition of Leadership:

Leadership is the collaborative process of developing and implementing ideas to achieve positive change in an organization.

There are some important elements of the above definition.  First, leadership is perceived to involve a thoughtful process of developing good ideas.  Leadership development is about learning to develop good ideas.  Leadership is not simply the process of communicating and implementing a vision or plan.  It would not matter whether there is someone in an organization who can effectively implement a vision or plan if the ideas that are part of the vision or plan are not likely to produce positive change in the organization.  Ideas may sound convincing, but they may be too simplistic, based on faulty assumptions, or fail to take into account all relevant variables.  The foundation of good leadership is good ideas.  The process of selecting ideas must involve extensive critical evaluation.  The ideas should reflect a full-scale model of organizational change.  This model should be comprehensive, based on research findings, and involve a complete analysis of the causal relationships among the variables.

Second, leadership is perceived to be a collaborative process.  Leadership may often be viewed as reflecting the influence of one particular person.  In contrast, the above definition suggests that positive outcomes may be a product of the collaborative efforts of a number of individuals (team leadership).   No one person may be able to develop all of the possible ideas about organizational change.  Sometimes the best ideas are an integration of ideas from a number of individuals.  Organizations should strive to consider ideas from everyone in the organization.  All ideas should be evaluated using the same objective standards (e.g., consistency with scientific evidence).  Evaluating all ideas using the same objective standards can be viewed as an element of authentic leadership.

Third, leadership is perceived to involve achieving positive change.  Leadership is not merely providing direction to maintain current standards or procedures.  Leadership is about striving for positive change that may involve creating new standards and procedures.  It may involve evaluating the culture of the organization to find ways to improve the culture.  It may also involve revising the vision and mission statements.   This element of the leadership definition provides insight concerning the leadership vs. Management distinction.  Leadership, but not management, may involve organizational change.

Can Time Management Training Influence Perceived Control of Time, Perceived Stress, and Job Performance?

By Brad Bell

Work may be stressful when we feel that we do not have enough time to complete the work.  We may wish to find a way to better manage our time.  This could include a number of things, such as prioritizing tasks and developing plans to achieve goals.

Hafner and Stock (2010) conducted an experiment that addressed the effects of time management training.  Participants were randomly assigned to either a training group or a control group (the control group was training at a later time).   Their findings suggest that the time management training increased perceived control of time and reduced perceived stress. However, their findings suggest that the time management training did not affect overall job performance ratings (supervisor ratings). (1)

Although time management training may not affect job performance, it still may be beneficial.  It could lead to greater happiness because of less perceived stress.  It may lead to lower perceived stress because the person feels that he or she has more control of time.

Notes

1.  See their article for information on other findings.

References

Hafner, A., & Stock, A. (2010).  Time management training and perceived control of time at work.  The Journal of Psychology, 144, 429-447.

Reasons for Singing

   By Brad Bell

Many people may enjoy singing.   Why do people like to sing?   There could be a number of reasons for singing.   In this article, I suggest that there are three basic reasons for singing.   These include happiness, self-expression, and a sense of community.

Happiness

 It seems obvious that singing may foster happiness.   Singing can be a form of positive emotional expression.  Moreover, for some people, it may convey a sense of achievement, and this feeling may increase happiness.

Self-expression

Chong (2010) asked participants whether they enjoyed singing, and the reasons why they did or did not enjoy singing.   One of the categories in the study for reasons for singing was self-expression.

 Self-expression can be viewed as partly involving expressing some aspects of one’s personality.   Singing may be one way of expressing some aspects of one’s personality.   For example, one can select a type of music that reflects one’s personality.

A Sense of Community

 Singing can take place in a group.   For example, a group of friends could go to a restaurant or bar for karaoke.  Karaoke may foster conversations, and the group may be supportive of each person’s singing.  This could increase a sense of community.   This sense of community may reflect the feeling that one belongs to a group in which there is mutual support and similar interests.

 One of the categories for reasons for singing in Chong’s (2010) study was interpersonal relationships, which Chong indicated as involving assembling with others.

References

Chong, H. J. (2010). Do we all enjoy singing? A content analysis of nonvocalists’ attitudes toward singing. The Arts in Psychotheraphy, 37, 120-124.

The Psychology of Poetry

By Brad Bell

Poetry is an artistic form of communication that may be appreciated by a significant number of people.   It may be easier to address questions concerning the psychology of poetry than the question concerning what is poetry.

The psychology of poetry has two perspectives:  the writer perspective and the reader perspective.  The writer perspective concerns why we like to write poetry.  The reader perspective concerns why we may enjoy reading poetry. In this article, I will provide some ideas concerning why we may like to write poetry, and why we may enjoy reading poems.  These ideas may have implications for how to write a poem.  More research may be needed to address the validity of these ideas.

Why Do We Like to Write Poems?

1.  Self-expression

One of the basic reasons we may enjoy writing poems is that it may allow us to express our thoughts, feelings, interests, attitudes, and values in a brief form of communication. For example, writing poems about nature may reflect our interest in nature.

2.  Creative Expression

Poetry may be a simple and easy way to express creativity.  Expressing creativity may be a way that helps to foster meaning in our lives.

3.  Inspiration and Motivation

Poetry may be a way to feel inspired and motivated.  We can write positive poems with a message.   It may make us feel more motivated.  Also, we may enjoy writing poetry because we wish to inspire or motivate others.  It may be very rewarding to know that our poetry can make a difference in the lives of others.  For example, we may write a poem to provide words of encouragement for a friend, or a poem about hope.  Because providing words of encouragement may be a defining attribute of close friendship, some inspirational poems can be viewed as friendship poems for best friends.

4.  Emotional Expression

Writing poems may be one way to express our emotions.  We can express both positive and negative emotions.   For example, we may write a poem to express happiness or sadness.  Also, writing poems may allow one to express how one feels about others.  For example, you could write short love poems for the one you love.   Short love poems for him or her should be specific and clearly state feelings.

Why Do We Enjoy Reading Poems?

1.  Understanding a Person’s Feelings

Poetry appreciation may be linked to empathy.  Poetry may help us to imagine and understand how another person feels.   It may be important for us to understand how someone close to us feels.

2.  Artistic Appreciation

Reading poetry may be enjoyable because we appreciate the artistic expression of the writer.

3.  Inspiration and Motivation

Reading poetry may inspire and motivate us.  It may be uplifting.  Poetry may provide us with a sense of hope and meaning.   We may gain insight into how to cope with adversity.

Does the Type of Bills You Have Influence Your Willingness to Buy a Product?

By Brad Bell

Imagine looking in your wallet to find five twenty dollars bills.  Would you be more likely to a product, such as a watch, than if you only had a hundred dollar bill in your wallet?

In Experiment 1, Mishra, Mishra, and Nayakankuppam (2006) randomly assigned each participant to one of three conditions.  In one condition, the partcipants were given a hundred dollar bill.  In a second condition, the participants were given five twenty dollar bills.  In a third condition, the participants were given a 50 dollar bill, two twenty dollar bills, and two five dollar bills.  All participants were asked how willing they would be to buy three products (e.g., a watch for $40) on a ten-point scale. They found that participants who were given five twenty dollar bills were more willing to buy products than participants who were given a hundred dollar bill.   Moreover, participants who were given one 50 dollar bill, twenty dollar bills, and 2 five dollar bills were more willing to buy products than participants who were given five twenty dollar bills. Several other experiments were conducted that helped to explain why there may be a bias for the type of bills that a person has.  These findings suggest that having smaller bills in one’s wallet could lead to a greater likelihood of buying a product.

References

Mishra, H., Mishra, A., & Nayakankuppan, D. (2006).  Money:  A bias for the whole.  Journal of Consumer Research, 32, 541-549.

How Are Music Preferences Related to Personality?

By Brad Bell

Imagine that you have a friend who is highly extraverted and imaginative.  Would these personality characteristics be related to your friend’s music preferences?

In two of their studies, Rentfrow and Gosling (2003) investigated relations between music preferences and personality.   There were four categories of music preferences.  These can be viewed as four types of music.  These were labeled Intense and Rebellious (e.g., rock), Reflective and Complex (e.g., jazz), Upbeat and Conventional (e.g., country), and Energetic and Rhythmic (e.g., electronica/dance).  Five of the personality dimensions included in their studies were extraversion (e.g., how sociable you are), conscientiousness, openness to experience (e.g., how imaginative you are), agreeableness (e.g., how cooperative you are), and emotional stability. (1) In both studies, a greater preference for Reflective and Complex music was associated with greater openness to experience.  Moreover, in both studies, a greater preference for Intense and Rebellious music and was associated with greater openness to experience.   Also, in both studies, a greater preference for Upbeat and Conventional music was associated with greater extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.   In contrast, in both studies, a greater preference for Upbeat and Conventional music was associated with less openness to experience.   In both studies, a greater preference for Energetic and Rhythmic music was associated with greater extraversion and agreeableness. (2)   

These findings suggest that we may be able to predict a person’s personality from their music preferences.  It is possible that a person’s personality may determine the type of music he or she listens to.  For example, a highly extraverted person may choose to listen to music that is energetic. Moreover, a person who is high in openness to experience may choose to listen to music that is complex.   However, because these findings are correlational, we cannot make causal conclusions.

Notes

1.   See their article for information about other measures in the studies.
2.   These are only some of the significant correlations found between music preferences and personality.  See their article for information on other findings.

References

Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D.  (2003).  The do, re, mi’s of everyday life: The structure and personality correlates of music preferences.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1236-1256.