Waitresses Wearing Red Get Higher Tips

Posted on 2012/08/03 by Jason Hensel

Red is attractive color. For example, those who drive red cars get pulled over more often than drivers of other car colors. It’s eye catching, and according to a new study published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, it’s profitable, too.

“In their study of 272 restaurant customers, researchers Nicolas Guéguen and Céline Jacob found not only that male patrons gave higher tips than female patrons in general, but that men gave between 14.6 percent and 26.1 percent more to waitresses wearing red, while color had no effect on female patrons’ tipping behavior at all,” stated a press release from SAGE Publications. “The researchers explained that previous research has found that red increases the physical and sexual attractiveness of women.”

The researchers had 11 waitresses wear the same T-shirt in different colors in five restaurants on different days over a six-week period. They told all the waitresses to act as they normally would to all customers and to record how much they received as a tip from each customer.

“As red color has no negative effect on women customers, it could be in their interest to wear red clothes at work,” the researchers said.

And now I can’t get the song “The Lady in Red” out of my head.

(Image via Flickr: Tim Dobbelaere / Creative Commons)

Send to Kindle

I’m Sorry, Your Name Is…?

Posted on 2012/06/202012/06/20 by Jason Hensel

I’ve taken improvisation lessons for more than two years now. While it has helped improve my listening skills, I still forget people’s names at times. And as someone who works in the meeting industry, forgetting names is often not a positive trait.

For the longest time, I thought it was my brain’s love of forgetfulness that it increasingly embraces every year. However, it’s not my mind’s mechanics that are at fault. It’s me. According to Richard Harris, a psychology professor at Kansas State University, your level of interest determines your brain’s ability to remember names.

“Some people, perhaps those who are more socially aware, are just more interested in people, more interested in relationships,” Harris said. “They would be more motivated to remember somebody’s name.”

Harris says that the more interest you show in a person, the more likely you’ll remember that person’s name. That’s common sense, but as with most common sense advice, it’s easily forgotten.

To help you remember names, try strategies such as mnemonic devices or saying the person’s name while you talk to the person. Or better yet, as Harris says, just show more interest in people.

(Image via Flickr: Emily Rose / Creative Commons)

Send to Kindle

Reykjavík and København

Posted on 2012/06/062012/06/09 by Jason Hensel

The plus one and I recently visited Reykjavík and København. We had a great time, and I thought I’d post some of my favorite photos I took during the trip. No context or explanation, just photos. (Actually, all these photos are from Reykjavík. I guess I didn’t take as many København photos as I thought I did.)

Send to Kindle

Act One, Scene Two

Posted on 2012/05/02 by Jason Hensel

I fly to San Francisco this weekend to participate in a really cool festival produced by the Un-Scripted Theater Co. called “Act One, Scene Two.” It’s a show that’s one part scripted and nine parts improvised.

The site explains it best:

Here’s how “Act One, Scene Two” works: each performance is a collaboration with a different playwright. At the beginning of the show, we interview our featured playwright onstage to find out what makes him or her tick. Then, that evening’s actors do a cold “staged” reading of act one, scene one of the play, which was written for us by our playwright. When we finish the scripted portion, the actors continue on to finish the play — now un-scripted — starting from act one, scene two.

The goal is to finish the play as it might have been intended, continuing to honor the genre, style, and intent of the first scripted scene, creating a piece that causes everyone — playwright, audience, and actors — great delight.

And they don’t just finish the play in 20 or so minutes. It’s a full show, 90 to 120 minutes. All of that is improv. Based off my 10-page intro scene. Yeah, I know. Cool, right?

I’ll have to try out this whole mobile blogging thing and update from the road. Or maybe I’ll get so wrapped up in it all and just give a recap. Either way, I’m excited.

If you’re reading this and in the San Francisco area, please come out on Saturday, May 5, to the Phoenix Theater (414 Mason St, SF – 6th floor) at 8 p.m. for the show. It’ll be fun. Afterwards, we’ll get a drink.

Send to Kindle

GOOD Job Looking for a Partner

Posted on 2012/04/25 by Jason Hensel

I subscribe to The Daily GOOD, an e-newsletter sent by GOOD magazine that highlights something positive someone is doing around the world. I’ve learned about a lot of great projects and ideas by reading it, some that I even pass on to my features editor for possible profiles in our magazine.

I’ve also learned that GOOD magazine hasn’t fulfilled its L.A. features editor position in a long time. Every now and then there’s a house ad in the e-newsletter that says “GOOD is Hiring!” I click on it to see what’s available (to co-workers or bosses reading this, I’m not looking actively for a new job, just checking out the landscape). The L.A.-based features editor position is always there, looking like the last person asked to dance.

Perhaps GOOD has fulfilled the position and just hasn’t taken down the posting, which if so, isn’t very nice to people who keep submitting resumes for it. Or maybe the magazine just can’t find the perfect candidate, which I think in L.A. shouldn’t be that hard to do. I don’t know the full story; it’s just strange to me the same job is always listed, especially for a great magazine like GOOD.

It’s also strange that they’re limiting the pool of applicants to only L.A.-based editors. I’m sure there are a ton of great applicants that could do the job working from home. Yes, I know all about the benefits of casual conversation in the workplace and its role in innovation. GOOD magazine, though, pushes forward-thinking ideas, and a flexible work arrangement is one of the best workplace ideas around, especially in terms of environmental sustainability, physical and mental health, and compensation.

As I said, I don’t know the full story. If you’re in L.A., though, and looking for an editorial job, there’s one waiting for you. Don’t leave it hanging.

(Photo via Flickr: Luce Beaulieu / Creative Commons)

Send to Kindle

I Was Born This Way

Posted on 2012/04/11 by Jason Hensel

I have trouble being mean. It’s next to impossible to not be nice. Sure, I get in bad moods and can be snippy at times, but overall I’m a nice fellow, you know, finishing last in all. And I’m okay with that most of the time, especially now that I’ve learned I was born this way.

According to psychologists at the University at Buffalo (UB) and the University of California, Irvine, a reason some people are nice is because of their genes. The study “The Neurogenics of Niceness,” appearsthis month in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The researchers studied the behavior of subjects who have versions of receptor genes for two hormones (oxytocin and vasopressin) that are associated with niceness and to find out if these chemicals nudge other forms of pro-social behavior in us.

Subjects were surveyed as to their attitudes toward civic duty, other people and the world in general, and about their charitable activities. Study subjects took part in an Internet survey with questions about civic duty, such as whether people have a duty to report a crime or pay taxes; how they feel about the world, such as whether people are basically good or whether the world is more good than bad; and about their own charitable activities, like giving blood, working for charity or going to PTA meetings.

Of those surveyed, 711 subjects provided a sample of saliva for DNA analysis, which showed what form they had of the oxytocin and vasopressin receptors.

“The study found that these genes combined with people’s perceptions of the world as a more or less threatening place to predict generosity,” said Michel Poulin, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at UB. “Specifically, study participants who found the world threatening were less likely to help others–unless they had versions of the receptor genes that are generally associated with niceness.”

These “nicer” versions of the genes, Poulin says, “allow you to overcome feelings of the world being threatening and help other people in spite of those fears.”

“So if one of your neighbors seems really generous, caring, civic-minded kind of person, while another seems more selfish, tight-fisted and not as interested in pitching in, their DNA may help explain why one of them is nicer than the other,” he said. “We aren’t saying we’ve found the niceness gene. But we have found a gene that makes a contribution. What I find so interesting is the fact that it only makes a contribution in the presence of certain feelings people have about the world around them.”

(Story materials provided by the University at Buffalo.)

(Image via Flickr: Jason Liebig / Creative Commons)

Send to Kindle

Nervous Curtains: “Come Around Viral”

Posted on 2012/04/04 by Jason Hensel

My friend fronts the band Nervous Curtains. He recently asked me to act in one of their music videos. I responded with a hearty yes and fist pump.

The video is for the song “Come Around Viral” off their album FAKE INFINITY. Thanks to Sean Kirkpatrick for letting me be a part of a fun experience.

Send to Kindle

Fantasy Films Increase Child Creativity

Posted on 2012/03/282012/03/28 by Jason Hensel

Children who watch fantasy films, such as Harry Potter, have better imagination and creativity skills, according to research out of Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. The study is the first of its kind to link magical thinking and creativity in preschool children.

Researchers studied two groups of four- to six-year-old children, showing them two 15-minute clips from Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone.

The findings show that, after watching the clips, the group who watched the magical scenes scored “significantly better” in creativity tests than children in the other group who watched scenes without magic in them. The creativity tests included the children being asked to pretend they were rabbits or driving a car and quizzed on different ways of putting plastic cups in a bin and alternative uses for the cups.

“Magical thinking [believing in supernatural events] enables children to create fantastic imaginary worlds, and in this way enhances children’s capacity to view the world and act upon it from multiple perspectives,” the researchers said. “The results suggested that books and videos about magic might serve to expand children’s imagination and help them to think more creatively.”

I’m curious if this research extends to adults. Do grown-ups who prefer to watch Game of Thrones or True Blood exhibit increased imagination more so than those who enjoy Mad Men or Breaking Bad? Also, how does magical thinking as a child shape your adult life when you have to live in the “real world”?

Send to Kindle

Exercise Can Lead to Female Orgasm

Posted on 2012/03/21 by Jason Hensel

Exercising doesn’t thrill me. I tried running four miles one time, and I was in a terrible mood afterwards. The exercise high just eludes me. But not for women.

According to a recent study out of Indiana University, exercise (not including sex or fantasies) can lead to female orgasm.

“The most common exercises associated with exercise-induced orgasm were abdominal exercises, climbing poles or ropes, biking/spinning and weight lifting,” said Debby Herbenick, co-director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in IU’s School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. “These data are interesting because they suggest that orgasm is not necessarily a sexual event, and they may also teach us more about the bodily processes underlying women’s experiences of orgasm.”

Key study findings include:

About 40 percent of women who had experienced exercise-induced orgasms (EIO) and exercise-induced sexual pleasure (EISP) had done so on more than 10 occasions.
Most of the women in the EIO group reported feeling some degree of self-consciousness when exercising in public places, with about 20 percent reporting they could not control their experience.
Most women reporting EIO said they were not fantasizing sexually or thinking about anyone they were attracted to during their experiences.
Diverse types of physical exercise were associated with EIO and EISP. Of the EIO group, 51.4 percent reported experiencing an orgasm in connection with abdominal exercises within the previous 90 days. Others reported experiencing orgasm in connection to such exercises as weight lifting (26.5 percent), yoga (20 percent), bicycling (15.8), running (13.2 percent), and walking/hiking (9.6 percent).

“Magazines and blogs have long highlighted cases of what they sometimes call ‘coregasms,'” Herbenick said. “But aside from early reports by Kinsey and colleagues, this is an area of women’s sexual health research that has been largely ignored over the past six decades.”

Yeah, she just said coregasms. Feel free to use that in your daily conversations.

(Image via Flickr: Dan Machold / Creative Commons)

Send to Kindle

Jeans for When You’re Feeling Blue

Posted on 2012/03/14 by Jason Hensel

There are a lot of depressed women in the world. I can tell, because they’re wearing jeans.

According to a study conduced by Professor Karen Pine at the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K., women choose to wear clothes based on their emotional states. When surveyed, more than 50 percent of surveyed women said they wore jeans when depressed. One third of them only wore jeans when they were happy.

Match those jeans with a baggy top–57 percent of women said they wore those when depressed–and you have one really sad female.

If you want to change your mood, though, change your clothes. Yes, it’s really that simple. Science wouldn’t lie to you.

“This finding shows that clothing doesn’t just influence others, it reflects and influences the wearer’s mood too,” Pine said. “Many of the women in this study felt they could alter their mood by changing what they wore. This demonstrates the psychological power of clothing and how the right choices could influence a person’s happiness.”

Your happy clothes should enhance your figure, be well cut and made from bright and beautiful fabrics, says Pine, who obviously doesn’t know about Rocky Mountain jeans from the 1990s.

“Jeans don’t look great on everyone,” Pine said. “They are often poorly cut and badly fitting. Jeans can signal that the wearer hasn’t bothered with their appearance. People who are depressed often lose interest in how they look and don’t wish to stand out, so the correlation between depression and wearing jeans is understandable. Most importantly, this research suggests that we can dress for happiness, but that might mean ditching the jeans.”

While you’re ditching those jeans, you might want to watch your typing, too. New research shows that “words spelled with more letters on the right of the keyboard are associated with more positive emotions than words spelled with more letters on the left.” (Beautiful Mind moment: Jeans, the word, has more letters on a keyboard’s left side.)

Cognitive scientists Kyle Jasmin of University College London and Daniel Casasanto of The New School for Social Research, New York showed that there is a link between a word’s meaning and how it’s typed.

Why should the positions of the keys matter? The authors suggest that because there are more letters on the left of the keyboard midline than on the right, letters on the right might be easier to type, which could lead to positive feelings. In other words, when people type words composed of more right-side letters, they have more positive feelings, and when they type words composed of more left-side letters, they have more negative feelings.

Well, then, that explains the seesaw of emotions I’ve experienced writing this entry.

(Photo via Flickr: Kshitij Dewan / Creative Commons)

Send to Kindle

Every Day is Boxing Day on the Web

Posted on 2012/03/062012/03/08 by Jason Hensel

I’m all boxed out. It’s as every website I visit nowadays consists of boxes of text and images. Check out GOOD‘s site. Check out CNN. Hell, even Facebook has gotten in some box action, changing profiles to feature more of them.

Even for the company I work, its redesigned website features boxes. In a column on our site, Chris Brogan says that we are emulating Pinterest. That’s not true. We are trying to fit into the flow of how people consume information today.

“…the Web isn’t just an electronic academic journal any more,” Brogan wrote. “It’s visual. It’s bite-sized. It’s a place where we can choose an entry point and dig in.”

I’m in favor of ease. I’m in favor of nice website design. I’m also interested in what it says about society when website designers move toward boxes in their designs.

People overwhelmed with information and wanting categorization reminds me of a study by Laura L. Carstensen, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Stanford University. She published a paper in 2006 titled “The Influence of a Sense of Time on Human Development” in which she explained that “the subjective sense of a future time plays an essential role in human motivation.”

According to her study, when time is constrained, a person’s motivation priorities focus on emotional states rather than knowledge gathering. Consider this study in design terms–if you know a person has a limited amount of time for browsing, it makes sense to group things together so they can focus only on what interests them. Carstensen showed that people surround themselves with only a small group of friends when time is limited. The same goes with boxes on websites–people want to categorize their interests and friends. (Google+ prefers to use circles instead of boxes, by the way.)

There’s also a new study from the Journal of Consumer Research that says when people feel like they have no control over circumstances they seek boundaries.

“People often turn to aesthetic boundaries in their environment to give them a sense that their world is ordered and structured as opposed to random and chaotic,” the study’s author Keisha Cutright wrote. “When individuals no longer feel in control of their lives, they seem to seek the sense of order and structure that boundaries provide—the sense that ‘there’s a place for everything and everything is in its place.’”

It’s not surprising then that a lot of websites are using boxes. When all those boxes on all those websites start to pile up, though, it too can become as overwhelming as the information they contain. It’s like when you move into a new place and all your boxes surround you. The choice is to feel suffocated by them or get to work clearing them out so that you can live a free life, one that is fluid and less constrained.

That’s the design trend I’m waiting for someone to unbox.

(Photo via Flickr: Brian Brooks / Creative Commons)

Send to Kindle

The Dark Side of the Mobile Phone

Posted on 2012/02/27 by Jason Hensel

For every good aspect of mobile phones, there’s a dark side attributed to them. Most prominently, it’s been the debate about if they’re contributing to brain cancer. There’s been no decision on that one yet. However, there are two new studies about other dark sides to mobile phone use that you may find interesting.

The first is a study from researchers at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business that shows mobile phones make users less socially minded.

The researchers found that after a short period of cellphone use the subjects were less inclined to volunteer for a community service activity when asked, compared to the control-group counterparts. The cell phone users were also less persistent in solving word problems–even though they knew their answers would translate to a monetary donation to charity.

College students, men and women in their early 20s, took part in the study. The researchers say, though, that they expect similar findings in people in other age groups due to the ubiquitous nature of mobile phones.

The authors cited previous research in explaining a root cause of their findings: “The cellphone directly evokes feelings of connectivity to others, thereby fulfilling the basic human need to belong.” This results in reducing one’s desire to connect with others or to engage in empathic and prosocial behavior.

In a second study, it appears that mobile phones also contribute negatively on users’ linguistic abilities. According to research from the University of Calgary, people who text more are less accepting of new words.

The study, conducted by Joan Lee for her master’s thesis in linguistics, revealed … those who read more traditional print media such as books, magazines, and newspapers were more accepting of the same words.

Lee says that we assume that text messaging encourages unconstrained language. However, this is not true.

“The people who accepted more words did so because they were better able to interpret the meaning of the word, or tolerate the word, even if they didn’t recognize the word. Students who reported texting more rejected more words instead of acknowledging them as possible words.”

People who read traditional print media expose themselves to variety and creativity in language, Lee says. These traits aren’t normally found in colloquial text messaging among young people.

“In contrast, texting is associated with rigid linguistic constraints which caused students to reject many of the words in the study,” says Lee. “This was surprising because there are many unusual spellings or ‘textisms’ such as ‘LOL’ in text messaging language.”

Lee suggests that frequency plays a large part in the acceptance of words by people who text a lot.

“Textisms represent real words which are commonly known among people who text,” she says. “Many of the words presented in the study are not commonly known and were not acceptable to the participants in the study who texted more or read less traditional print media.”

It’s beginning to look like if people really want to be anti-social and dumb, they should choose to use their mobile phones more.

(Photo via Flickr: Anders Adermark / Creative Commons)

Send to Kindle