Official News page 9

REAL LIFE NEWS: IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO DO WELL...

by Hazed

As the quote says, "It's not enough to do well, I have to know that others are doing badly" - or something like that. And it seems it's true, at least as far as the male pay packet goes. A study reveals that how good a man feels depends on how much his colleagues are earning in comparison.

Scans reveal that being paid more than a co-worker stimulates the reward center in the male brain. In the study, 38 pairs of male volunteers were asked to perform the same simple task simultaneously, and promised payment for success. Both "players" were asked to estimate the number of dots appearing on a screen. Providing the right answer earned a real financial reward of between 30 and 120 Euros. Each was told how their partners performed and how much they earned.

Brain scans showed that the area of the brain that deals with the reward system activated when a player completed his task correctly. A wrong answer, and no payment, reduced the blood flow to that area. It lit up far more when money was involved rather than just being told they were correct, which is no surprise - but what's interesting was the fact that it showed even more activity if a player received more than his partner. This indicates that it's not merely the size of the reward that counts, but how much bigger it is than other people's rewards.

It seems that the Dilbert cartoon in which the pointy-haired boss tells everybody in confidence, "You are earning more than everyone else in the office, but don't tell anyone," is actually demonstrating a sensible strategy!

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