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Sense of powerlessness provokes one to shop
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ASIANAGE on 29 June, 2008 02:57:36
 
Washington, June 29: A sense of powerlessness can propel one to spend lavishly
on products that somehow assuage one’s feeling of inadequacy, according to a
new study. The study addresses the question why many people, though deeply in
debt, tend to spend beyond their means, without a thought for the morrow.
Co-authors Mr Derek D. Rucker and Mr Adam D. Galinsky of Northwestern
University found that subjects spent way beyond their means for an item,
especially when someone else exercised power over them. "This increased
willingness to pay for status-related objects stems from the belief that
obtaining such objects will indeed restore a lost sense of power," write the
authors.
"Spending beyond one’s means is a costly coping strategy for dealing with
psychological thr-eats such as feeling powerless." In a society with a
plummeting savings rate and skyrocketing debt levels, this research has broad
implications. "It suggests that... people use consumer purchases to compensate
for psychological states of insecurity," write the authors.
In a society with a plummeting savings rate this research has broad
implications. The article on the study has been published in the Journal of
Consumer Research. — IANS
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First dual telescope in Canada
New York, June 29: Canada is building the world’s first dual-use
12-million-dollar space telescope designed to detect and track asteroids as well
as satellites.
Called NEOSSat — Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite, this spacecraft
will provide a significant improvement in surveillance of asteroids that pose a
collision hazard with Earth and innovative technologies for tracking satellites
in orbit high above the planet.
Weighing in at a mere 65-kilogram, the mission builds upon Canada’s expertise
in compact "microsatellite" design. NEOSSat will be the size of a large
suitcase, and is cost-effective because of its small size and ability to
"piggyback" on the launch of other spacecraft.
The mission is funded by Defence Research Development Canada (DRDC) and the
Canadian Space Agency (CSA). NEOSSat is expected to be launched into space in
2010. The two projects that will use NEOSSat are HEOSS (High Earth Orbit Space
Surveillance) and the NESS (Near Earth Space Surveillance) asteroid search
programme.
—AFP