Thursday, August 8, 2024

7 THE STAR NEWS • Thursday, August 8, 2024 @JamaicaStar www.facebook.com/JamaicaStar • www.jamaica-star.com Thinking too hard hurts the brain A study has found that people get stressed and annoyed more quickly when making a large mental effort and warned that teachers and employers should ease off their students and workers. The research titled The Unpleasantness of Thinking analysed 170 studies involving 4,670 people across 29 countries and found that people scored higher in feelings of frustration when doing more difficult tasks. Dr Erik Bijleveld, lead author of the study at Radboud University in the Netherlands, explained: “In general, people really dislike mental effort. “Managers often encourage employees to exert mental effort. “On the surface, this seems to work well so you may be tempted to think that employees tend to enjoy thinking hard. “Our results suggest that this conclusion would be false.” The expert said that people are willing to put in mental effort to learn a difficult job or skill but it does not make them happy. Dr Bijleveld said: “When people are required to exert substantial mental effort, you need to make sure to support or reward them.” Pretty women are at a disadvantage V arious studies suggest that attractive females are considered to be less trustworthy as well as more manipulative and ‘dangerous’ than average-looking employees. Attractive females are also more likely to be objectified which can put them in positions where their career can be placed at risk. The authors say this is a result of ancient evolutionary instincts as women see attractive members of the same sex as competition while men consider them to be desirable but potentially untrustworthy. Professor Leah Sheppard, an expert at Washington State University, told the Harvard Business Review : “We suspect it’s the trope of the evil seductress: a subconscious anxiety among people of both sexes that beautiful women will use their looks to manipulate people, mostly men.” San Diego State University behavioural analyst Dr Wendy Patrick has emphasised that pretty women can overcome office biases against them. She said: “Physical attractiveness is only one aspect of the workplace experience. Kind, compassionate, gracious behaviour can outweigh appearance biases.” Dog perfume hits market D olce and Gabbana has launched a perfume for dogs. The luxury Italian brand is charging 99 Euros for Fefe — a fragrance that is described as an “olfactory masterpiece” featuring ylang-ylang, musk and “creamy undertones” of sandalwood. The perfume, which is named after co-founder Domenico Dolce’s pooch, has been safety-tested and approved by vets while the bottle features a 24-carat gold-plated paw print. However, Dolce and Gabbana’s move has been questioned by vet Fabian Rivers — who specialises in caring for small animals and is a welfare ambassador for the RSPCA. He said: “The fact that they’re coming into this market at such a high price is an interesting way of having people spend their money on things that have very little merit. “But it’s your choice on how to spend your money.” Seagulls fear stares S taring down a seagull is the best way to prevent it from stealing your food. Glaring at the seaside pests frightens the birds and means they are less likely to pinch your sandwiches and chips. Professor Paul Graham, an animal behaviour expert at the University of Sussex, said: “Animals that steal are aware of the attention of the individual they are trying to steal from. “If a bird is in the air and you are worried it might attack, then simply staring at that bird and pointing will stop it coming towards you.” The findings back up a previous study by Exeter University which found that herring gulls nabbed food a lot faster if they weren’t being watched. Researchers placed a bag of chips on the ground and it took the birds 21 seconds longer to start gobbling them up when people were watching.