Big eyes and large heads: cute animals increase productivity says Japanese study

Canberra Times (30 September 2012) reports that viewing images of cute animals can increase productivity at work.

Pictures of cute and cuddly baby animals may lift work performance, inspire more fine-tuned attention, and careful behaviour, maintains the new research. A Japanese study maintains that cute creatures – including Hello Kitty and Pokemon’s Pikachu characters – stir positive feelings because they resemble babies. Researchers from Hiroshima University conclude that it’s due to their big eyes and large heads!

Viewing baby faces is known to trigger “care-giving impulses” in humans. These impulses, says the research published in the journal PLoS ONE, can facilitate social situations by encouraging friendliness. They can also improve tasks that require narrow focus and attention.

(http://www.livescience.com/23515-cute-animal-images-boost-work-performance.html).

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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