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A Partial Confession Makes You Feel Worse Than Full Disclosure (or No Disclosure)

A partial confession to a misdeed may appear to be a low-emotional-cost alternative to a full confession, for the obvious reason that it wouldn’t require you to fully reveal what you’ve done. But in an experiment, people who partially confessed to cheating felt worse afterward than those who had fully confessed, as well as worse than people who hadn’t confessed at all (about 2.2 on a five-point negative-affect scale, versus about 1.8 for full confessors and nonconfessors), says a team led by Eyal Peer of Bar Ilan University in Israel. Confession is a powerful way to relieve guilt, but it works only if you tell the whole truth.

business confession
SOURCE: “I Cheated, but Only a Little”: Partial Confessions to Unethical Behavior

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When You’re Preparing for a Task, Say “You Can Do It,” not “I Can Do It”

People who referred to themselves as “you” or by their own names while silently talking to themselves in preparation for a five-minute speech were subsequently calmer and more confident and performed better on the talk than people who had referred to themselves as “I” or “me” (3.6 versus 3.2 on a combined five-point scale, in the view of judges), says a team led by Ethan Kross of the University of Michigan. The research participants who talked to themselves in the second or third person also felt less shame afterward. By distancing us from ourselves, the use of the second and third person in internal monologues enables us to better regulate our emotions, the researchers say.

Overconfidence

SOURCE: Self-Talk as a Regulatory Mechanism: How You Do It Matters

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Multiscreening Is Not All About TV in the UK

Multiscreening, or dividing attention between more than one screen, is an established phenomenon amongst consumers, and it’s often considered to be the use of a laptop or smart mobile device while watching TV. Switching between screens is already a distraction for TV watchers, but research from the Internet Advertising Bureau UK indicated that around one-third of multiscreening among UK smartphone owners did not involve the TV at all.

Of the 34% of multiscreening that did not involve the TV, more than half took place between a smartphone and laptop, although this dropped significantly for those 55 and older. Over one-quarter of respondents used a desktop computer while using their smartphone; this was higher for males, at 33%. One-fifth of non-TV multiscreening took place between a smartphone and tablet, which increased to one-quarter amongst parents. With internet TV now becoming more and more prevalent, and video driving ad revenues for digital publishers, users may be watching TV on their laptop, desktop or tablet and then second-screening with a smartphone.

Still, the most popular “connected” device to use simultaneously with TV is neither the smartphone nor the tablet, but the laptop. Deloitte research released in September 2013 suggested that more than nine in 10 UK internet users used a laptop at least weekly while watching TV, compared with 89% and 83% who used a smartphone or tablet, respectively. For daily users, the laptop was still the leader, with nearly six in 10 using such a device as they viewed TV each day.

How to have your own TV Show

Read more at http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Multiscreening-Not-All-About-TV-UK/1010584#C33pXLSGgFZ05P7M.99

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NeuroMarketing tip: Thoughts of Fast Food Hinder Your Ability to Derive Happiness from Small Pleasures

Living in a nano second World might not be the best for us.

Research participants who had seen a picture of a fast-food burger and fries subsequently rated themselves less happy upon viewing 10 photographs of natural scenic beauty (4.86, on average, versus 5.45 on a seven-point scale), say Julian House and two colleagues from the University of Toronto. Exposure to the idea of “fast food” makes people more impatient and impairs their ability to derive happiness from pleasurable stimuli; this effect could have a long-term negative effect on people’s experienced happiness, the researchers say.

impatient clients

SOURCE: Too Impatient to Smell the Roses: Exposure to Fast Food Impedes Happiness

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Why It Might Not Be a Good Idea to Tackle Moral Issues in the Afternoon

Le’ts negotiate in the morning folks!

In a series of experiments, Maryam Kouchaki of Harvard and Isaac H. Smith of the University of Utah found that people were 20% to 50% more likely to lie, cheat, or be otherwise dishonest in the afternoon than in the morning. The experience of ordinary activities over the course of the day appears to gradually deplete people’s ability to regulate themselves, an effect that’s most pronounced for those who are the most honest. Organizations might do well to be particularly vigilant in the afternoon about combating customers’ or employees’ unethical behaviors, the researchers say.

negotiation skillsnegotiation skills
SOURCE: The Morning Morality Effect: The Influence of Time of Day on Unethical Behavior