Are you more generous when you are hungry?

Human beings love to think. We love to imagine stuff, tell ourselves stories, create situations, events, objects. We like to believe we are in control - if not of the world around us then at least ourselves.

An article in the current issue of New Scientist, however, highlights that despite being capable of rationality, sometimes we are either just plain reactive or biological... even when it comes to our ideas about money. A recent study seems to indicate that we react to money with the same part of the brain that reacts to food. The correlation between appetite and sex has long been made... but food and money?

Giving it away
Here's what the study found: participants who were hungry were less likely to give charitable donations than those who were full; those who had been thinking about winning the lottery ate more lollies afterwards than people who had not been thinking about winning; and people in a yummy-smelling room gave less money than people sitting in a normal smelling room. (Psychological Science, vol 17, p 939).

But what does it all mean?!!!

IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
World peace, Facebook and imperfect humans
Allowing yourself to feel good
Volunteering in Africa - Kiandu School