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Currently viewing the tag: "decisions"
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robbing Peter to pay Paul.
To use resources that legitimately belong to or are needed by one party in order to satisfy a legitimate need of another party, especially within the same organization or group; to solve a problem in a way that makes another problem worse, producing no net gain.
Fiction Writing Prompt: Use the word of the week in whatever you write today.
Journaling Prompt: Have you ever had to rob Peter to pay Paul? How did you come to that decision? How did it work out?
Art Prompt: Rob Peter to pay Paul
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Use the word of the week in your article or speech.
Photo Credit: Betsssssy on Flickr
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Standing at the edge of the mountain, I imagined what it would feel like to let go. There were thousands of feet between me and the valley of the winding Urubamba River. It was lush and green and oddly inviting. I stared down, feeling an exhilarating combination of anticipation and trepidation tugging at me. -Hilary Davidson, The Next One to Fall
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write about a character who is on a precipice, literal or figurative. Focus on the internal monologue.
Journaling Prompt: How do you feel when you are about to take a leap of faith?
Art Prompt: To Let Go
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inspire your audience to take a leap of faith.
Photo Credit: JSmith Photo on Flickr
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Retailers have known for decades that consumers prefer large selections and are lured by more options and greater variety. For example, when planning a family outing to an ice cream shop this coming weekend, a consumer would most likely choose the local shop offering 33 flavors over another in the neighborhood offering fewer options.
How universal is this demand for more choice? Are there instances when smaller selections are acceptable or even desirable? The authors find that consumer preference for larger selections decreased for psychologically distant decisions, such as when consumers have to make decisions that are six months away or while on vacation across the country. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Add to your character sketch. How does your character make decisions? Does he or she prefer a big selection or a small selection of the more popular choices? What are his or her “go to” choices in common decisions, like ice cream flavor, type of reading material, meal at restaurants, leisure activities, etc.?
Journaling Prompt: Do you prefer a large number of choices or a small number? Why? Does it vary on the type of decision?
Art Prompt: Too Many Choices
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about how to deal with choice overload.
Photo Credit: technodad on Flickr
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Every day we have to make a number of choices, and it is not always easy to know what the right choice is. That is why we often seek advice from others before making decisions. The Internet provides us with entirely new ways of finding out what other people feel about different products and services….
The second experiment showed the same results as the first one. Participants who used their emotions were influenced, while those who followed their sense of logic were unaffected by reviewers who resembled themselves. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a short story about a character who has to make a big decision.
Journaling Prompt: How do you get advice when you are facing a decision?
Art Prompt: Decisions
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about techniques for using advice to come to a decision.
Photo Credit: Playingwithbrushes on Flickr
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…the greatest unspoken rule of bus travel is that if other seats are available you shouldn’t sit next to someone else. As the passengers claimed, “It makes you look weird.” When all the rows are filled and more passengers are getting aboard the seated passengers initiate a performance to strategically avoid anyone sitting next to them…
Kim found that this nonsocial behavior is also driven by safety concerns, especially for coach travel which is perceived to be dangerous with ill lit bus stations.
“In a cafe, which is more relaxed, people often ask strangers to watch their stuff for a moment,” said Kim. “Yet at bus stations that rarely happens as people assume their fellow passengers will be tired and stressed out.”
“Ultimately this nonsocial behavior is due to the many frustrations of sharing a small public space together for a lengthy amount of time,” concluded Kim. “Yet this deliberate disengagement is a calculated social action, which is part of a wider culture of social isolation in public spaces.” -Science Daily
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Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: prompt here
Photo Credit: epSos.de on Flickr
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Money, Wally would learn, ahead of religion or even sex is the controlling influence that nearly always leads us to the wrong decisions. -R.P. McCabe, Betrayed
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story or poem about a decision that is influenced by money, or the lack of it.
Journaling Prompt: How does money affect your decisions?
Art Prompt: Money and Decisions
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write a humorous piece about how money controls your life.
Photo Credit: 401(K) 2013 on Flickr
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If a server brings you a check and does not include a candy on the check tray, you will tip the server whatever it is that you feel the server deserves. “But if there’s a mint on the tray, tips go up 3.3 percent,” Cialdini says.
According to Cialdini, the researchers who did that study also discovered that if while delivering the tray with the mint the server paused, looked the customers in the eye, and then gave them a second mint while telling them the candy was specifically for them, “tips went through the roof.”
Servers who gave a second mint got a 20 percent increase over their normal tip. -Alix Spiegel
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a scene where a character uses the Rule of Reciprocation to manipulate another person.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a situation where the Rule of Reciprocation made you feel uncomfortable.
Art Prompt: Rule of Reciprocation
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your audience about how the Rule of Reciprocation works and how they can avoid being manipulated by it in high pressure situations.
Photo Credit: The Consumerist on Flickr
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Consumers frequently have to choose between options that satisfy very different and often competing goals. For example, you’re at a restaurant and that piece of chocolate cake displayed under the counter is talking to you. But your “fit self” thinks you should grab an apple instead. Or you’re out shopping and have to choose between two pairs of shoes. One pair is more stylish but the other is much more comfortable. Such situations are common and consumers who find themselves torn between two goals are the most susceptible to influence.
Goals initially ignored by consumers do not fade away, but will instead linger in the backs of our minds. During the time we ignore a particular goal, it will get stronger and eventually come to the surface. We can no longer ignore the goal and we then flip-flop between various options…
“Our study provides a glimpse into why consumers feel so much angst when they encounter choices with conflicting goals. Namely, the goal that appears to have been initially ignored finds new energy on the back burner and reasserts itself at the next earliest opportunity. In short, important goals are hard to ignore because ignoring them just makes them stronger,” the authors conclude. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: What goals does your protagonist have on the back burner that may be interfering with his or her focus on the primary goal for the storyline? Write a scene that shows the interference.
Journaling Prompt: What goals do you flip flop on? How do you deal with it?
Art Prompt: Consumer flip flop
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your readers about how goals that they ignore become stronger and how they can use this psychological quirk to attain their desires.
Photo Credit: faith goble on Flickr
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Research by Kniffin and Wansink measured the amount of jealousy reported by current romantic partners if one of them were contacted by an ex lover and subsequently engaged in several food- and drink-based activities.
“We consistently found that meals elicit more jealousy than face-to-face interactions that do not involve eating — such as having coffee,” Kniffin said. “These results are consistent for both men and women.”
For couples who are attuned to relationship risks, this study suggests that men and women who “do lunch” run the risk of a jealous spouse or partner at home.
“It’s key to remember that from your spouse’s perspective, it’s not ‘just lunch.’ While meals can strengthen social relationships, they can also destroy them,” Wansink said. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write an arugment between two characters after one of them has had lunch with an ex.
Journaling Prompt: If you have an ex, write about how you balance that relationship with your current relationship.
Art Prompt: Lunch with an Ex
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your audience about strategies for balancing past and present relationships.
Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon on Flickr
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It is intuitive that most people would be less likely to take risks after an unexpected loss. What happens after a surprising win?
It turns out that the very same trend applies, according to Case Western Reserve University psychologist Heath Demaree. In other words, it’s not whether you win or lose, but whether the outcome is expected. People appear to decrease their risk-taking levels after experiencing any surprising outcome – even positive ones. -Case Western Reserve University press release
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story about someone who wins and then becomes afraid to take any more risks.
Journaling Prompt: Does winning make you more or less cautious?
Art Prompt: Surprise Victory
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the relationship of risk to success. Convince your audience that they need to continue taking risks even after experiencing success.
Photo Credit: Daadi on Flickr
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