Taking time out to admire images of cute animals can pay off at work.

According to researchers in Japan, people who view photos or videos of kittens, puppies and other cuddly animals are more likely to do better at their jobs.

After subjecting 48 college students to three different experiments, the scientists concluded that kawaii (Japanese for “cute”) and particularly the impact of babies, infants and cute animals, could really help improve worker productivity.

The researchers found the age of the animal does matter. Not only did participants who looked at pictures of cute baby animals outperform those who didn’t, they also outperformed people who looked at pictures of adult animals. Viewing pictures of pleasant-looking foods did not improve performance.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

The Power of Kawaii: Viewing Cute Images Promotes a Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus (by Hiroshi Nittono, Michiko Fukushima, Akihiro Yano and Hiroki Moriya, PLos One)