For every 1-standard-deviation increase in a female    opponent´s attractiveness, male participants in large international chess competitions have an 8% greater propensity to play risky openings, but these moves aren´t beneficial for their game performance, says a team led by Anna Dreber of Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden. Female players, by contrast, don´t appear to be affected by the attractiveness of their male partners.

Although there´s no payoff on the chess board, „it could turn out that playing a risky strategy against an attractive female player is beneficial for a male player outside of the chess game,“ the researchers note.

Source: Harvard Business Review, Sept. 4th, 2013

Enfranchisement of women in Switzerland led to reductions in local budget deficits of between 139 and 148 Swiss francs per capita, say Signe Krogstrup and Sebastien Walti of the Swiss National Bank.

Women’s gradual enfranchisement in the country’s 26 cantons from 1959 through 1990 enabled the researchers to examine the effect on local government spending. They speculate that the reasons for the declining deficits have to do with women’s altruism, patience, and prudence toward risk.

Weather forecasters appear to be „economically sensitive“ in that they provide more-accurate forecasts for more-populous cities, according to a study of U.S. weather by Nejat Anbarci of Deakin University, Australia, and a team of researchers.

For example, a 10% increase in population improves the National Weather Service’s „hit rate“—the proportion of correct forecasts—by 2.5 percentage points, with the effect being even greater for private weather services such as AccuWeather. With forecasts affecting plans for a range of activities, including power generation and the shipping of goods, the cost of an inaccurate forecast is estimated to be about 5.25 cents per person per day, the researchers say.

Also, unglaublich: offensichtlich beeinträchtigt Fasten die Denkleistung. Ich bin zwar ohne Essen im Unterzucker irgendwann einmal grantig, hoff aber doch, dass das logische Denken nicht in diesem Ausmaß leidet:

Dieters Believe Adding a Salad Will Reduce a Meal’s Calories

Weight-conscious people are more likely than others to cling to the illusion that adding a healthy option such as a salad decreases a meal’s caloric content. Diners who are highly concerned about their weight falsely believe, on average, that addition of a healthy item makes a meal13.5% less calorie-rich, compared with just 3.8% for people who are not as weight-conscious, says a study by Alexander Chernev of Northwestern University. Chernev says the misguided belief that a healthy meal will reduce weight gain is an important factor in the obesity epidemic.