Bonkers as it sounds, “Kawaii” or ‘cute’ puppy pictures may be the key to boosting our productivity at work.
In the study, 48 people were given a task: to complete the Japanese equivalent of the game Operation. Before the game, 50 per cent were shown images of cutesy animals; the other 50 per cent were shown adult animals instead.
The 50 per cent that looked at animals outscored the other 50 per cent. The experiment was then repeated with a fresh 48 participants. This time however, they were split into three groups. One was given cute baby animals to look at, while the others two groups were given food and old animals to look at.
Out of the two groups the ones who looked at the cute animals scored the most when they were asked to look at numbers and react when certain numbers came up.
A third similar test has the same results.
“Kawaii things not only make us happier, but also affect our behaviour,” said the paper about the experiment conducted by Hiroshima University.
The study went on to claim that looking at cute animal pictures could able to aid us when doing tasks such as driving or office work.
“For future applications, cute objects may be used as a facile emotion elicitor. Cute features not only make objects more user friendly and approachable, but also induce careful behavioural tendencies in the users, which is beneficial in specific situations, such as driving and office work.”
Picture: Getty
