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    Feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but new research suggests that more free time might not be the magic elixir many of us dream it could be. In a new multipart study, researchers analyzed data from two large-scale surveys about how Americans spend their time. Together, the surveys included more than 35,000 respondents. The researchers found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective well-being ― but only up to a point. People who had up to two hours of free time a day generally reported they felt better than those who’d had less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse. So ultimately the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest.

    Of course, most people know instinctively that being too busy can cause stress. But the new study is not the first to question whether more free time will actually make people as happy as they believe it will. Experts note, for example, that some adults struggle with the “retirement blues”, which can be due to a lack of stimulation and structure, among other things. Part of finding this seemingly elusive “sweet spot” has to do with how people spend the extra time they have, the researchers behind the new study argue.

(Catherine Pearson. www.huffpost.com, 16.09.2021. Adaptado.)

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    Feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but new research suggests that more free time might not be the magic elixir many of us dream it could be. In a new multipart study, researchers analyzed data from two large-scale surveys about how Americans spend their time. Together, the surveys included more than 35,000 respondents. The researchers found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective well-being ― but only up to a point. People who had up to two hours of free time a day generally reported they felt better than those who’d had less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse. So ultimately the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest.

    Of course, most people know instinctively that being too busy can cause stress. But the new study is not the first to question whether more free time will actually make people as happy as they believe it will. Experts note, for example, that some adults struggle with the “retirement blues”, which can be due to a lack of stimulation and structure, among other things. Part of finding this seemingly elusive “sweet spot” has to do with how people spend the extra time they have, the researchers behind the new study argue.

(Catherine Pearson. www.huffpost.com, 16.09.2021. Adaptado.)

    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is an incredible rollercoaster of a tale, written in the voice of a fifteen-year-old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome called Christopher Boone. After discovering his neighbour’s dog has been murdered, he sets off to find out who the murderer could be. On this mission, he discovers far more than he anticipated.

    Some people struggle to deal with Christopher because he can be so inflexible, but I found him rather loveable. He is also completely true to himself, brilliant and like his hero Sherlock Holmes, driven by logic not emotion.

    Without giving away the ending, he manages to solve the mystery of the murdered dog in the most extraordinary way and becomes the unlikely hero of the story. Not only are his detective skills excellent, but he also manages to get brilliant marks in maths exams without a lot of revision!

    This is one of the most original and thought-provoking books I have read in the last year. It is one of those stories that I feel everyone should know about. It has had a great impact on me as it has made me think differently about people with autism and understand their ways of thinking. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mystery, moments of heartbreak but ultimately a happy ending and plenty of humour along the way

(www.theguardian.com, 13.06.2016. Adaptado.)

    Agroecology is a way of producing food that mimics nature, using biodiversity and the recycling of resources and nutrients to increase productivity, control pests, eliminate chemical inputs and enrich soils. Just as important, it enables marginalized communities not only to produce enough food for themselves and others in a sustainable way but also to ensure that it is distributed fairly, enhancing nutrition and gender, intergenerational and other forms of equity

(Raj Patel. Scientific American, novembro de 2021. Adaptado.)

    Agroecology is a way of producing food that mimics nature, using biodiversity and the recycling of resources and nutrients to increase productivity, control pests, eliminate chemical inputs and enrich soils. Just as important, it enables marginalized communities not only to produce enough food for themselves and others in a sustainable way but also to ensure that it is distributed fairly, enhancing nutrition and gender, intergenerational and other forms of equity

(Raj Patel. Scientific American, novembro de 2021. Adaptado.)

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Agricultural economists study the effect of the ‘warm glow of giving’

    More and more products carry ethical labels such as fair-trade or organic, which consumers usually view positively. Nevertheless, the sales figures of these products often remain low, even though they offer advantages for the environment or for society. A team of scientists from the University of Göttingen has investigated to what extent factors which affect consumers’ own benefit ― such as the so-called “Warm Glow of Giving” ― influence consumers’ purchasing intentions. The “warm glow” is the personal benefit that people feel when they do good. The results were published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, an international scientific publication which covers environmental and sustainable research and practice.

    The researchers from the working group “Marketing for Food and Agricultural Products” at the University of Göttingen studied how two groups — one from Germany and one from the United Kingdom ― make virtual purchasing decisions. Each group consisted of around 450 consumers. Chocolate was available, which differed in terms of price, country of origin of the cocoa, and country of manufacture, as well as the ethical claims made. The claims were: organic, fair-trade and CO₂ -neutral. There was also an alternative which did not make any claims. Consumers then answered questions about their purchasing intentions, values and feelings when buying.

    The result: in both countries the price is the most important decision criterion, followed by the ethical claims and the country of manufacture. In addition, the “warm glow” has a comparatively large influence on the purchasing intention ― the prospect of getting a good feeling clearly attracts many consumers to buy products which make ethical claims. But the intention is often not put into practice: during the actual decision to buy, the influence of the “warm glow” is only relevant for fair-trade chocolate. The researchers assume that this is partly due to the strong association with the common good of the fair-trade label, which supports farmers in developing countries. “Other studies have shown that consumers also associate positive health aspects with organic food,” says Sarah Iweala, first author of the study and doctoral student in the “Global Food” research training group. “Of course, this dilutes the label’s association with the common good.”

    In addition, the degree of recognition of the logo seems to be important. Although consumers indicated that they felt good when they reduced their CO₂ footprint, this good feeling did not lead them to choose the CO₂ neutral product. This can be explained by the low profile of this particular ethical logo. In both countries, less than 20 percent of the participants stated that they had already seen “carbon neutral” branding while shopping. In contrast, over 90 percent of consumers were aware of the fair-trade logo. “If consumers don’t know what a label stands for, they can’t feel good about it when they shop and so it can’t become a deciding factor in their shopping choices,” says Professor Achim Spiller, Head of the working group “Marketing for Food and Agricultural Products.”

(www.sciencedaily.com. 22.03.2019. Adaptado.)