1210-When Superstition Works

Even if you scoff at Friday the 13th and aren't wary of black cats, you're probably still superstitious. Angela Chen takes a look at the research to prove people are superstitious, and whether superstitions can actually be beneficial. Photo: Getty Images.

It starts when people try something different—Pepsi instead of  Coca-Cola,  KO 0.00%     a blue tie instead of the old red one—and find that something good happens.
Soon, without realizing it, someone who wouldn't think twice about, say, walking under a ladder or traveling on Friday the 13th begins to associate their new behavior with good luck—and starts reaching for the Pepsi again and again.


Such "conditioned superstitions" can develop when people believe there is something they can do to control a situation, despite there being no rational reason to think so, says Gita Johar, a professor of business at Columbia University who recently co-wrote a paper on the phenomenon. Recent research shows that superstitions that increase the illusion of control can help people find meaning and psychological comfort—and in some cases, even boost performance.
People who have both a high need for control and a sense of helplessness in a given situation—such as the straight-A perfectionist who didn't have time to study for an exam—are the most likely to succumb to conditioned superstition, researchers say.

And while such superstitions can be broken, says Dr. Johar, it often takes a lot of negative evidence before people are willing to part with their lucky rituals. That's because they "provide some sort of a hedge against uncertainty," says Eric Hamerman, an assistant professor of marketing at Tulane University's Freeman School of Business who, with Dr. Johar, co-wrote the study, published in October in the Journal of Consumer Research.
In their experiment, Drs. Johar and Hamerman had 275 participants play the game "rock, paper, scissors" against a computer—10 series with their right hand and 10 with their left. Unbeknownst to the participants, the computer program manipulated the results to make some people fare better with their left. When given the chance to choose which hand to use for the final matches, more than three-quarters of those playing the rigged game chose the hand that "caused" them to win more.
If asked, few participants would say they consciously decided to choose the left hand because they thought it would make them lucky. However, their behavior suggests they conditioned themselves to make the connection, say the researchers.
The phenomenon of conditioned superstition is common enough that entire advertising campaigns have been built around it, says Dr. Hamerman. A recent Bud Light commercial, for example, has a fan forcing down a terrible-tasting veggie burger because his team won the last time he did so.




Chicago native Mary Pfister, right, with friend Kelly Hayes, goes out of her way to wear her Blackhawks team shirt during games; she believes it helps them win. Lizzie Sweet


Mary Pfister, a 20-year-old sophomore at Saint Louis University, wears her Chicago Blackhawks shirt for each game. The hockey team won big the first time she wore it this season. She once made a 15-minute trip, out of her way, back home to get it for game time. The Blackhawks have lost once while she was wearing her shirt—the only time she didn't watch the game. The connection may be "all in her head," she says, but it gives her peace of mind.
In their recently published experiment, Drs. Johar and Hamerman found they could reduce people's superstitious behavior by reminding them of their positive traits, a technique psychologists call "self-affirmation." In the study, people who were asked to write about times they had shown compassion later exhibited less superstitious behavior than those who had just been given a survey.
All participants in the study answered obscure trivia questions on both blue and green computer backgrounds and were told, regardless of their actual score, that they performed better when answering questions presented on the green screen. When asked to choose the screen color for the final task, those who had been primed to remember their virtuous acts were less likely to choose the "lucky" green background.


Reminding people of their good traits makes them more emotionally secure, says Claude Steele, an early researcher into the psychology of self-affirmation and now a dean in Stanford University's graduate school of education. "If I feel secure that I am a good person, I can be more open to threat in general, and that makes me less needful of being superstitious," he adds. It isn't that people no longer think their team will lose, or that they'll fail a test, he says. Instead, self-affirmation makes them more psychologically resilient, and helps them realize they can cope even if something bad happens.
Still, for people under pressure to compete or perform, superstitious behavior can create a placebo effect that can improve the outcome. Since the age of 15, Maria Fabregat Farran, a 20-year-old student at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, has always worn a red bracelet while taking exams. "My mom gave it to me and said it was lucky, and wearing it makes me more relaxed," she says. "I think it helps me on tests."
In a 2010 experiment published in Psychological Science, golfers sank 35% more putts when playing with a ball they were told was "lucky." Sports teams from Little League to the pros are rife with players who practice a ritual or carry a charm they believe will boost their performance. Michael Jordan, for one, was famous for wearing his lucky college basketball shorts under his NBA ones.


While conditioned superstitions affect personal behavior, cultural ones can impact the market at large. Some 10,000 fewer people fly on Friday the 13th, and U.S. businesses generate less revenue on those days compared with other Fridays, since some people don't want to travel, work or make purchases, says Thomas Kramer, an associate professor of marketing at the University of South Carolina's Moore School of Business.
In a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research in 2008, Dr. Kramer asked 95 students to write down their associations with either Friday the 13th or an innocuous day before answering questions about gambling decisions. His finding: After thinking about Friday the 13th, compared with a random day, participants became more risk-averse. "They were willing to forgo a gamble with a larger payoff in favor of a lower gamble with assured value," he says.

1204-Is Honey Better Than Sugar?

By

Laura Johannes

Nov. 25, 2013 6:02 p.m. ET

The Claim: Honey is a healthy alternative to sugar. It is packed with nutrients and better for diabetics.

Studies show a spoonful of honey eases coughs in kids over 1 year old. Photocuisine

The Verdict: Honey does have more nutrients—including antioxidants—than ordinary refined sugar, nutritionists say, but it isn't better for diabetics, as it still raises blood sugar. Health benefits of honey are mostly unproven, though some studies show taking a spoonful eases coughs in children over a year old and helps them sleep.

Honey contains 21 calories a teaspoon, compared with 16 calories for refined white sugar, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's nutrient database. It is slightly sweeter than sugar, meaning you can use a little less, nutritionists say. It contains small amounts of vitamins—including vitamin C and folate—and minerals such as magnesium, while white sugar is nearly devoid of nutrients, according to the database.

Replacing table sugar with honey may have "modest benefits" nutritionally, says Toby Smithson, a Vernon Hills, Ill., dietitian and a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. But diabetics, who are advised to carefully limit carbohydrate intake, are better off using their carb budgets for fiber-rich foods, such as oatmeal, or fruits, such as apples, she adds.

Both table sugar and honey cause blood sugar to rise, which can be an issue for diabetics. Honey breaks down in the body "a little more slowly" than sugar, says Amanda Kirpitch, a nutritionist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, but not enough to make a practical difference.

One benefit of honey is its antioxidants, nutrients that scientists believe may slow cellular damage caused by unstable molecules or atoms called free radicals. A 2009 study, published in the journal of the American Dietetic Association, found eight samples of supermarket honey had "intermediate" antioxidant activity. Specifically, honey had more antioxidant activity than refined white sugar, which had nearly zero, but less activity than dark and blackstrap molasses, which had the most of all the sweeteners tested.

Study author Katherine M. Phillips, senior research scientist at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's Food Analysis Laboratory Control Center in Blacksburg, Va., says honey still has far fewer antioxidants per serving than antioxidant-rich foods such as red wine, blueberries or walnuts.

It isn't known how honey helps coughs and sore throats, says Pennsylvania State University pediatrics professor Ian M. Paul. Dr. Paul was the author of a 2007 study of 105 children that found honey was effective at calming coughs. It's possible the antioxidants in honey boost the immune system, or it could be simply that it coats the back of the throat, which becomes irritated during the common cold, he says. Dr. Paul's study, published in 2007 in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, was sponsored by the National Honey Board, an industry-funded group that operates under the USDA's oversight.

In a study of 300 children published last year in the journal Pediatrics, Israeli researchers found a spoonful of honey a half-hour before bedtime was more effective at reducing coughs and improving sleep than a placebo syrup. The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't recommend giving honey to children under a year old because it can contain bacteria that causes infant botulism.

1202-Two articles about Walking (Walking may reduce the risk of stroke and Seoul walking tour turns to the ‘Dark Side’)

Walking may reduce the risk of stroke: study 

Maintaining an active lifestyle is one of the best ways to prevent strokes for the elderly at high risk, according to research reported by HealthDay News.

British professor Barbara Jefferis at University College London conducted a 10-year experiment on 3,435 men aged between 60 and 80, and divided them into five groups: those who walked zero to three hours a week, four to seven hours a week, eight to 14 hours a week, 15 to 21 hours a week and more than 22 hours a week. 

The data shows that men who walked eight to 14 hours a week cut their risk of stroke by one-third compared with those who walked zero to three hours a week. 

Regular walking is seen to help reduce the chance of strokes, regardless of the speed of walking. 

Other activities also help lower the risk. Neurology professor Ralph Sacco at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine said that all forms of physical activity, including walking, can promote ideal health and reduce stroke risk.

By Sung Jin-woo, Intern reporter

Seoul walking tour turns to the ‘Dark Side’

It is a Saturday evening on a street corner in Seoul’s Ahyeon-dong, and a foreign man is handing out baggies of powder to a group of women.

This is the Dark Side of Seoul Tour, Seoul’s only ghost walk in English, and host Joe McPherson is concerned about the safety of the women on the tour, after rumors in the area from colonial times.

“There were tales of women being harassed by Japanese ghosts, so they used to carry a little bit of chili powder in their purses to throw at Japanese ghosts, because, you know, Japanese ghosts don’t like hot things,” said McPherson, handing out small pouches of chili powder.

“Only Japanese ghosts. ... Korean ghosts, they’ll love it.”

The tour starts by ducking into a nearby alley at the earliest opportunity to explain how a particular area became known as the Alley of Ashes.

It sets the tone well for the rest of the way, as the Dark Side of Seoul tour lives up to its name, covering murderous royal plots, massacres, prostitutes meeting grisly ends, and even a restaurant with blood dripping from the ceiling.

There are one or two less grim asides, including the story of how locals got one over on the government in building the Nakwon Arcade, now the biggest musical instrument market in Korea, and a lament over the passing of Pimatgol’s bustling fish restaurants.

McPherson runs food tours in Seoul with his ZenKimchi food promotion business, introducing people to Korean dining favorites along different themed courses. This is his only non-food tour.

He decided to start the tours out of a combination of missing the traditions of Halloween in his native Alabama and inspiration from the Jack the Ripper tours that are popular in London’s East End. Many other cities have similar tours showing the underbellies as an alternative to the more conventional historical attractions like castles, palaces and cathedrals, and McPherson decided there was room for one in Seoul.

McPherson said he was always looking for more stories ― a tale about a haunted well that draws people to the bottom has been added to a collection of ghost stories told by Cheonggyecheon Stream ― but he has had to leave some out.

This is often because of provenance, or because he can’t find out enough detail about the stories. But in another, a neighbor objected, and in one case he tracked down the site of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Seoul, but said there was nothing left of the place.

One pursuit at a school was abandoned because “I went out to research and then realized I was basically just this middle-aged man skulking round a girls’ school, so I kind of had to give up on that one.”

The tours have been well received, with evenings in October particularly busy, but there is a hiatus in December when it gets too cold.

The Dark Side of Seoul tours run Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays in October and then Fridays at 7 p.m. until Dec. 6. It costs 35,000 won per person to join or 30,000 won for groups of four or more. To find out more or reserve a spot, visit www.zenkimchi.com.

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)

1128-Home alone

Shifting social trends see record number of single households

Singletons enjoy a meal at a Sinchon restaurant in Seoul. This restaurant offers single seats for lone diners. (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)

The Roman emperor Augustus prohibited unmarried women between the ages of 20 and 50 from inheriting property because dying without legitimate children left properties heirless. Living alone in Ancient Rome was frowned upon by both state and citizenry.

After 2,000 years, prospects for those living alone have changed, although of course, not entirely for the better.

The modern day independent soul is sometimes known as a “singleton,” a one-person householder who voluntarily or involuntarily chooses to forfeit the comforts or discomforts of family life. The inclusive moniker inevitably includes unwilling singletons such as senior citizens who outlive their spouses, lonely divorcees in their 40s or 50s, and young job hunters living alone.

The trend is already prevalent in the United States (where 27 percent of households have a single occupant), Sweden (where over 2 million are solo dwellers in a country of 9.5 million) and Japan (over 30 percent).

Here in Korea, a record-high and ever increasing proportion of 23.89 percent of all households are one-person abodes. In fact, 23.8 percent of men and 18.9 percent of women in their 20s will stay single until 45 if the present trends continue, according to Lee Sang-lim of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.

“If the marriage rate of 2010 persists, one in four or five men and one in five or six women who are now in their 20s are expected to stay single,” said Lee.

A July study by Lee Eun-mi of the Samsung Economic Research Institute further posited that “the growth rate of the number of Korean one-person households is the fastest on the planet,” while by 2035, reported Statistics Korea, over one third, or over 7 million households in Korea, will be one-person homes.

Fundamental social changes that have rocked traditional Korean Confucian values have contributed to the rise in solo dwellers. Marriage, for example, is losing its status as an indispensable rite of passage among Koreans, especially women. In 2010, 39.4 percent of Seoul women thought they didn’t have to get married while 41.8 percent thought divorce was no longer a big no-no in Korean society. In the same year, 34 percent of Koreans over the age of 15 answered they were either indifferent to marriage or were outright against in a national survey conducted by Statistics Korea.

“I love the freedom in my life; the freedom to engage in hobbies, to develop myself. I went to China in 2011 for one year to learn the language. And after my work life ends, I plan to travel. That’s all I want in retirement,” said 46 year-old Kim Na-young, a 15-year veteran of the single life and divorcee living in Seoul.

“I see no particular reason to get married again.”

The rising divorce rate among even elderly couples, who have lived through times when divorce was an enormous social taboo in Korea, has also been a factor in the increase of singletons. In 1991, 978 senior couples divorced after having shared a home for more than two decades. By 2012, the figure had increased six-fold to 6,062.

But it’s not all about not getting married or getting a happy (or unhappy) divorce. Being a singleton means a lot more.

Leaving the bathroom door open while taking a shower, cooking in the kitchen naked, and taking the liberty to make the living room another bedroom are luxuries only some can enjoy.

“I think the most enjoyable part of living alone is that I don’t have to worry about the things other people in the home might say. I can leave the bathroom door open and I can sleep with only my underwear on,” said Han Se-sik, a 23 year-old college student living alone in Seoul.

David Song, a 34 year-old writer, told The Korea Herald his love for go-it-alone activities such as reading convinced him that going solo was the right thing to do.

“I’ve always been a ‘self-person’ so to speak, and perhaps that’s why I’ve never been that lonely living alone.”

Owning an exclusive living space, however, is not pure glamour, as may have been the case in Ancient Rome. Better healthcare means longer lives in the 21st century, which in turn implies that more spouses are sending off their lifelong partners to the next world and living alone for ten or twenty extra years.

In the most recent national census conducted in 2010, over 1.06 million senior citizens (or over 23 percent of all one-person households) over the age of 65 lived alone. By 2035, Statistics Korea estimates that 1.5 million men and women over 70 will be living in solitude.

Unlike many of their younger counterparts, though, aging singletons must cope with financial, healthcare, and psychological issues. Because close to 40 percent of current senior singletons never attended school while another 37.5 percent only attended elementary school, they face great difficulty finding jobs that will finance their daily lives. Not to mention the loneliness senior citizens can face as they live out their remaining days.

South Korea took the unenvied top spot in elderly suicides in the OECD in 2012 with 81.8 per 100,000 people between the ages of 65 and 74 taking their own lives, while a staggering 160 per 100,000 of those aged over 74 committed suicide.

Younger singletons have their own worries.

“When I get sick, there is no easy solution,” admitted Song, while Lee, a 36-year-old working female, said she worries about home robberies targeting single women like herself. “I pretend as best I can that there is someone else in the home when I order food, or meet a delivery guy at the front door.”

Kim Seo-hee, a 26 year-old female singleton living in Seoul, admitted there had been an occurrence in which an unknown male had followed her home.

“I have been scared many times while living alone. During nights, I get sensitive a lot and wake up at the slightest of sounds,” she said.

And then, there are the other implications of singledom Korea must face ― fewer babies, for instance.

“Even having children is considered a spec,” said Park Keong-suk, professor of sociology at Seoul National University, in reference to the overheated credential-focused job hunting environment for Korea’s 20-somethings.

“It’s not that everyone is avoiding marriage or trying out new lifestyles by living alone ... Living alone is rather one of the many by-products of today’s economic difficulties, insecure future and hardships in finding the right person to live with ... There are many who just simply give up trying to marry.”

Whatever the causes, fewer marriages mean fewer babies, contributing to an extremely low birth rate. Right now, Korea’s fertility rate stands at 1.3, a slight improvement from 2005 when it stood at 1.076. A declining birth rate would strain pension funds, to which younger generations must pay taxes, while at the same time aggravating manpower shortages in the private sector, the public sector, and even the military.

Park cautioned that Korea was ill-prepared for the increasing number of singles.

“I think it’s a paradox. Korea is still, at the moment, a communal society more or less. But there are increasing numbers of people who are feeling lonely, and increasing numbers of those who are trying to live it out alone, meaning more single households and a lower fertility rate” she said.

“But we aren’t prepared for this big change.”

By Chun Sung-woo, Jeong Hunny (swchun@heraldcorp.comhj257@heraldcorp.com)

1127-Uncertain Future for Historic Seoul Building

• By Jeyup S. Kwaak

Space Group

The Space Group building in Seoul.

Space Group’s four-story studio in downtown Seoul is no ordinary property, which is why the architecture firm’s decision to sell the building earlier this year was met with fierce opposition.

The structure was designed by Kim Swoo Geun, one of South Korea’s first modern architects. Its admirers consider it to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the capital. They fear it could be modified or demolished by a private buyer looking to turn it into office or retail space.

Mr. Kim, whose other designs include the main stadium for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, used the building as his studio from its construction in 1971 to his death 15 years later. Since then, his protégés have run the company he founded, Space Group.

The current director is Lee Sang Leem, who decided to put the building up for sale after the company filed for bankruptcy protection in January.

Space Group

The building was put up for sale after the company filed for bankruptcy protection in January.

At a press conference this week, the Kim Swoo Geun Foundation, which commemorates Mr. Kim and promotes arts in the country, said the Seoul municipal government must buy the property and open it to the general public. More than 100 artists have signed a petition in support of the proposal.

Mr. Lee said he will only sell to a buyer who promises to keep the building intact. “I feel as passionately about this as anyone else,” he said.

A government official said the city had planned to buy the property in April but council members later voted against the purchase, citing a lack of funds. The official said the city government was no longer considering an acquisition.

This week, Mr. Lee told The Wall Street Journal that a ballpark figure for the 1,018 square meters of land and 1,577 square meters of floor space was 15 billion won ($14.1 million). Getting that price would help his company recover from a squeeze that pushed him to put the property up for sale in the first place, he said.

Space Group

Artists have signed a petition in support of a proposal for the Seoul government to purchase the building.

The company was accepting bids from buyers Thursday, but it didn’t receive an offer. Mr. Lee’s son, Lee Choong-hun, who is an assistant manager at Space Group, said three potential bidders showed up but they all left without making an offer.

He said they were worried about the negative publicity the proposed sale had generated. He didn’t name the three parties.

From a business standpoint, the property isn’t an attractive investment, two property developers said. The low ceilings and labyrinthine layout of the building and its annexes would make alternate use difficult without making structural adjustments. A height restriction is also in place due to the proximity to Changdeokgung, a royal palace and Unesco World Heritage Site.

The Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea says it will decide early next month whether to add the building to a list of national heritage sites. But even that wouldn’t guarantee its survival, as South Korean law states that buildings less than 50 years old don’t receive complete protection, a spokesman from the administration said.

Space Group

1126-Loeb Bets on Son’s Leadership at SoftBank

By 
• KANA INAGAKI
 
• CONNECT

Daniel Loeb‘s latest bet on SoftBank Corp. indicates the U.S. hedge fund investor’s confidence in billionaire founder Masayoshi Son‘s ability to deliver more synergies between the firm’s diverse Internet and mobile businesses.

Bloomberg News

The leadership of CEO Masayoshi Son at SoftBank Corp. has inspired the confidence of Daniel Loeb’s Third Point hedge fund.

Third Point LLC has a $1 billion position in SoftBank, according to a fund spokeswoman, who confirmed remarks made by Mr. Loeb on Thursday at an investor conference in New York.

It remains unclear when he made the investment, but Third Point was not among SoftBank’s biggest shareholders with a stake of more than 1% as of the end of September. SoftBank’s market value stood at $94 billion on Thursday. The stock has already gone up 29% since the end of August and added another 2.9% at the open of the Tokyo stock market Friday.

A person close to Third Point said Mr. Loeb finds SoftBank’s “multiple portfolio” attractive, referring to Mr. Son’s 35% stake in Web portal Yahoo Japan Corp., a majority stake in GungHo Online Entertainment Inc., and a 36.7% stake in China’s top online retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Mr. Son has also made a big push into the U.S. market through July’s $21.6 billion acquisition of U.S. telecommunications carrier Sprint Corp. Considering the company’s growth potential especially with Alibaba, Mr. Loeb views SoftBank shares as being undervalued, the person added.

Mr. Loeb also met with Mr. Son and was impressed by his leadership and vision, according to the person. It’s unclear when the meeting took place, but Mr. Loeb visited Japan in early October.

The U.S. hedge fund has been active in the Japanese market with Mr. Loeb bullish on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies.

Third Point also made an investment in Sony Corp. and called unsuccessfully for a partial spin-off of its entertainment business.

So far, Mr. Loeb’s stake in SoftBank appears to be a pure investment and he has not sent out any letters to SoftBank calling for any changes, according to the person.

How long Mr. Loeb will remain invested in SoftBank is an open-ended question, but he’s certainly not the only one betting on the company’s future. The stock has soared 161% so far this year and it’s a favorite pick for many institutional and retail investors.

Brad Frischkorn contributed to this item.

1125-Expressive writing heals wound more quickly

Expressive writing can help people recover more quickly from physical injuries, reported Medical Daily Friday. Older adults who had undergone a biopsy were able to heal more quickly if they wrote about traumatic events and their emotions relating to those events, than other biopsy patients who simply wrote about daily activities, according to the study. “Writing about personally distressing events can speed wound healing in [an older] population that is at risk of poor healing,” said Elizabeth Broadbent, senior lecturer in health psychology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, according to Time. The study reviewed 49 overall healthy adults, ages 64 to 97, who were all assigned to write for 20 minutes per day for three consecutive days. Half of these patients were asked to “write about the most traumatic/upsetting experience in their life, delving into their deepest thoughts, feelings, and emotions about the event, ideally not previously shared with others,” while the other half were required to “write about their daily activities for tomorrow, without mentioning emotions, opinions, or beliefs.” Two weeks after writing, the researchers took small skin biopsies, which left wounds on all the participants’ arms. These wounds were photographed to mark the healing progress. Broadbent found that 76 percent of those who had written about difficult events in an expressive manner had fully healed 11 days after the biopsies, while 42 percent of the other group had. “We think writing about distressing events helped participants make sense of the events and reduce distress,” Broadbent told Scientific American.