When You’re Feeling Down About Your Job, You Seek Brighter Light

In an experiment, people who felt more hopeless about the economy and their employment opportunities showed a preference for brighter lighting, suggesting that those with poor job prospects may have an unfortunate predilection for spending more on electricity, says a team led by Ping Dong of the University of Toronto. The researchers calculated that it would cost participants an average of 20.6% more for electricity in order to feel 1 point less hopeful (on a 9-point scale) toward the economy. Hopelessness can darken people’s perception of brightness, increasing their desire for more light.