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When deciding if something is worth the effort, whether youve already exerted yourself or face the prospect of work, changes your calculus. Thats what we found in our new research, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. When you consider a future effort, more work makes the outcome less appealing. But once youve completed the work, more effort makes the outcome seem more valuable. We also discovered that hiding behind this general principle of timing there are individual differences in how future and past effort shapes peoples value for the fruits of their labor. Whats it worth to you? In our experiment, we gave participants a choice between a fixed amount of money and a household itema mugthat they could take home if they exerted some amount of physical effort, roughly equivalent to walking up one, two, or three flights of stairs. This setup allowed us to determine the value each person placed on the effortdid it add to or subtract from the value of the item? For instance, if putting in a little more effort made someone switch their decision and decide to go with the cash instead of the mug, we could tell that they valued the mug plus that amount of effort less than that sum of money. We also manipulated the time aspect of effort. When the effort was in the future, participants decided whether they wanted to go with the cash or get the mug with some effort. When the effort was in the past, participants decided whether they wanted to cash in the mug they had already earned with effort. As we had expected, future effort generally detracted from the value of the mug, but the past effort generally increased it. But these general trends do not tell the whole story. Not everyone responds to effort the same way. Our study also uncovered striking individual differences. Four distinct patterns emerged: For some people, extra effort always subtracted value. Others consistently preferred items with more work. Many showed mixed patterns, where moderate effort increased value but excessive effort decreased it. Some experienced the opposite: initially disliking effort, then finding greater value at higher levels. These changing patterns show that ones relationship with effort isnt simple. For many people, theres a sweet spot: A little effort might make something more valuable, but push too far and the value drops. Its like enjoying a 30-minute workout but dreading a two-hour session, or conversely, feeling that a five-minute workout isnt worth changing clothes for, but a 45-minute session feels satisfying. Our paper offers a mathematical model that accounts for these individual differences by proposing that your mind flexibly computes costs and benefits of effort. Why violate the law of less work? Why should timing even matter for effort? It seems obvious that reason and nature would teach you to always avoid and dislike effort. A hummingbird that prefers a hard-to-get flower over an easy equal alternative might win an A for effort, but, exhausted, would not last long. The cruel world requires resource rationalityoptimal, efficient use of limited physical and mental resources, balancing the benefits of actions with the required effort. That insight is captured by the classic psychological law of less work, basically boiling down to the idea that given equivalent outcomes, individuals prefer easier options. Anything different would seem irrational or, in plain language, stupid. If so, then how come people, and even animals, often prize things that require hard work for no additional payoff? Why is being hard-to-get a route to value? Anyone who has labored hard for anything knows that investing effort makes the final prize sweeter, whether in love, career, sports, or Ikea furniture assembly. Could the answer to this paradox of effort be that in the hummingbird example, the decision is about future effort, and in the Ikea effect, the effort is in the past? Our new findings explain seemingly contradictory phenomena in everyday life. In health care, starting an exercise regimen feels overwhelming when focusing on upcoming workouts, but after establishing the habit, those same exercises become a source of accomplishment. At work, professionals might avoid learning difficult new skills, yet after mastering them, they value their enhanced abilities more because they were challenging to acquire. What still isnt known Sayings like No pain, no gain or Easy come, easy go populate our language and seem fundamental to our culture. But researchers still dont fully understand why some people value effortful options more than others do. Is it physical aptitude, past experiences, a sense of meaning, perception of difficulty as importance or impossibility, moralization of effort, specific cultural beliefs about hard work? We dont know yet. Were now studying how effort shapes different aspects of value: monetary value; hedonic value, as in the pleasure one gets from an item; and the aesthetic value, as in the sense of beauty and artistry. For instance, were investigating how people value artful calligraphy after exerting different amounts of effort to view it. This work may shed light on curious cultural phenomena, like how people value their experience seeing the Mona Lisa after waiting for hours in crowds at the Louvre. These studies could also help researchers design better motivation systems across education, health care and business. Piotr Winkielman is a professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego. Przemysław Marcowski is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Diego. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Chances are, you or someone you know has been the target of a scam. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), reported scams cost Americans more than $12.5 billion in 2024a 25% increase from the previous year. But as scams grow more sophisticated, so do their opponents. A growing number of online vigilantes are flipping the script, turning the scam on the scammersand racking up millions of views in the process. Mashables Chris Taylor recently spoke to a few whove turned scambaiting into full-time work. Rosie Okumura got into scambaiting after her mother was tricked out of $500 by a pop-up on her computer. Now, she channels her acting skillsmimicking well-known voices like Britney Spears and Kim Kardashianto waste scammers time while entertaining her audience. Her YouTube channel, IRLrosie, boasts most than 1.6 million subscribers, with another 1.2 million followers on TikTok. “I feel like teaching people how to avoid scams is better than helping someone who’s lost a ton of money, or putting myself in a dangerous situation,” Okumura said. Ashton Bingham and Art Kulik, the duo behind the YouTube channel Trilogy Media, also have 1.6 million subscribersbut they take their scambaiting offline. Their most-watched video, Hunting a Scammer with Cops, has amassed more than 5.6 million views since its 2022 release. In it, Bingham and Kulik team up with law enforcement to confront a refund scammer in person, armed with $40,000 in fake cash and a camera crew. With a subscription platform, Trilogy+, and a freshly signed deal for an unscripted TV show, scambaiting has become a profitable venture. Some scambaiters argue that by wasting a scammers time, theyre preventing real victims from being defrauded. But whether this tactic actually reduces online fraud is still debated. Research has also flagged ethical concerns, as some early scambaiters used racist, extreme, or even violent methods when confronting scammers. Still, for Okumura, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The best part is getting recognized at restaurants, she told Mashable. They will comp my bill!
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Roughly half a mile behind the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Ariels Grotto in Walt Disney World sits a nondescript cement warehouse with the words the can-do people written on the outside. Should tourists somehow get lost in that corner, located just outside the Magic Kingdom, its a place they would never pay attention to. What they might never imagine, however, is that generic building is the lynchpin of the Disney experience. Welcome to Central Shops, a rarely spoken part of Disney thats off-limits to visitors and most of the companys cast members (Disneys term for its employees). Its ground zero for Disney Worlds ride safety and an essential part of park operations around the world. With 417 employees spanning 15 trades, from electricians to carpenters to painters, Central Shops is where every ride in the four Orlando theme parks is regularly inspected to ensure theyre safe to ride. At the same time, its also the corner of Disney where character heads for in-park meet-and-greets and parades in all global parks are manufactured. (Put another way, every Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, and Donald you see at the parks had their noggins made here.) [Photo: Disney] Ripping apart Disney World rides Ride inspection is, arguably, the most important job of Central Shops. Every ride vehicle in the four Orlando theme parks ends up here on a recurring basis for inspectionand its far from a quick one. Ride vehicles are torn apart, down to their components. Every panel, bolt, etc. is inspected individually, a process that generally takes between 12 and 18 weeks from start to finish, says Fred Cox, director of manufacturing. For dark rides, like a Haunted Mansion Doom Buggy, a log flume from Tianas Bayou Adventure, or a horse on Prince Charmings Carousel, thats done on a calendar basis, scheduled breaks when select cars are taken out of commission and inspected. For thrill rides, like Space Mountain, its meter-based, meaning vehicles are taken off the line after theyve been ridden a predetermined number of times. On a recent press trip through Central Shops, we saw a number of rides in various states of inspection. A collection of parts on one side was barely identifiable as a ride car from Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. A few steps away, a honey pot from The Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh gleamed, following a touch-up to its fiberglass. Sitting off to the side was a disassembled teacup from the Mad Tea Party. And scattered throughout the shop were parts of Astro Orbiter, a ride that has been completely (and temporarily) removed from the Magic Kingdom. Every 10 years, explained Rich Votava, manager of manufacturing, the bearing at the bottom of the ride (which sits atop the People Mover in Tomorrowland) needs to be replaced. Imagineers remove it completely, giving Central Shops a chance to inspect all the ride elements, from the boom arms on the decorative planets on the ride to the ride cars. (The Disney World ride is expected to be back in the park this summer, likely in May or June.) After ride cars are dismantled, each part is carefully inspected, some under X-ray to look for microscopic cracks in the metal. Once each part has been examined and refurbished (if needed), the components of vehicles are put back together, while the shells are repainted or refreshed. Once they are reassembled, cars are then returned to the park, where they run without riders for another two weeks to ensure everything is working properly. After that, visitors begin to pile in once again. (The maintenance schedule of most ride vehicles is staggered so that rides arent forced to close completely, like Astro Orbiter has.) We break it down to the blueprints, says Votava. Safety inspections go beyond ride vehicles, of course. Workers from Central Shops are in the parks nightly once visitors leave to make any necessary repairs and safety inspections for rides. Sometimes, thats done with drones, which inspect areas humans cant easily reachsuch as atop Spaceship Earth in Epcot or under the water at one of the resorts boat piers. And a tool called the Resistograph is used to check the density of wood throughout the park to alert Imagineers if theres rot inside and a piece needs to be replaced. [Photo: Disney] More than machines While theres a lot of engineering work that goes on at Central Shops, theres also a surprising amount of detail touch-up. In addition to creating character heads (in a top-secret room that Disney did not allow members of our press tour to view), the facility also handles repairs to character costumes at the Florida parks. Shoes get scuffed and details torn as Mickey and Buzz Lightyear interact with visitors. The stormtroopers are also getting a glow-up as Star Wars Day (May 4) approaches. Costumes are bought here, where theyre refurbished (a process that can take a week or two). Meanwhile, horses on the Magic Kingdoms carousel are getting a touch-up. They have a lot of sentimental value, as they were purchased by Walt Disney himself, so the hand-carved maple stallions are treated with an especially delicate touch, with touch-ups done by artists and old layers of paint carefully sanded off so as to not hurt the detail of the carving. Some small elements that guests might not even notice are handled in Central Shops as well, such as adding details like the small trunk hairs on a baby elephant from The Jungle Cruise, which have to be inserted one at a time by hand. Its detail-oriented work thats done well out of view, so guests can stay in the Disney bubble. But with more than 115 attractions at the parks (along with more than 50 character experiences), Central Shops is essential to keeping the rides running smoothly and maintaining the parks reputatin as the so-called happiest place on earth.
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