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Chapter 1. Chapter

Article

From the Pages of Scientific American

Lunchtime Leniency

From the pages of Scientific American. Lunchtime. Leniency. Judges’ rulings are harsher when they are hungrier. Lawyers quip that justice is what the judge ate for breakfast. New research suggests that justice might actually depend on when the judge ate breakfast. Researchers at Ben Gurion University in Israel and Columbia University examined more than 1,000 decisions by eight Israeli judges who ruled on convicts’ parole requests. Judges granted 65 percent of requests they heard at the beginning of the day’s session and almost none at the end. Right after a snack break, approvals jumped back to 65 percent again. Jonathan Levav, associate professor of business at Columbia, said that the judges could just be grumpy from hunger. But they probably also suffer from mental fatigue. Previous studies have shown that repeated decisions make people tired, and they start looking for simple answers. For instance, after making a slew of choices, car buyers will start accepting the standard options rather than continuing to customize. As sessions drag on, judges may find it easier to deny requests and let things stand as they are. Levav says he suspects a similar effect occurs in hospitals, university admissions offices or anywhere people make repeated decisions. So if you’re thinking about asking the boss for something special, you might want to do it right after a nice lunch. The author is Kurt Kleiner. Reproduced with permission. Copyright 2011 Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.

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1.1 Quiz

1. Levav believes that the negative responses of judges to parole requests is probably due to more than grumpiness arising from hunger. He believes that ____________ may be present and influencing the judges’ decisions.

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Incorrect.

2. Previous research on the exhaustion associated with repeated decision making has indicated that ____________ tend(s) to be the result.

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Correct.
Incorrect.

3. Which part of the brain’s limbic system is associated with the hunger that the judges in Levav and colleagues’ study feel?

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Incorrect.

4. One might look at the judges in Levav and colleagues’ study and argue that the lower number of paroles granted later in the day is the result of the judges trying to deal with a drive for food arising from their basic physiology. This argument is most consistent with:

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Correct.
Incorrect.

5. What type of work situation does Levav find particularly problematic as regards his “lunchtime leniency” study?

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Correct.
Incorrect.