Enhanced Community Through Augmented Reality: Social Benefits of Pokémon Go.

Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game in which players travel through the real world catching fictitious creatures using a smartphone. Based on the game's rewards for social interaction and visiting historical sites, we hypothesized that Pokémon Go would enhance players' sense of belonging to their community. We recruited players to participate in a brief, anonymous survey at Pokémon Go events and via social media. The survey measured personal demographics, game-related demographics, sense of belonging to the community where participants play Pokémon Go, and questions regarding whether participants have met someone, visited a new location, or patronized a new business through playing Pokémon Go. 449 respondents completed the survey. 88% reported meeting someone through playing Pokémon Go, 78% reported visiting a new location, and 35% reported patronizing a new business. Pokémon Go level significantly predicted sense of belonging to the community in which participants play Pokémon Go as well as the odds of meeting someone, visiting a new location, and patronizing a new business. Results suggest that Pokémon Go strengthens players' sense of belonging and engagement with their community.

Hormonal changes and couple bonding in consensual sadomasochistic activity.

In two studies, 58 sadomasochistic (SM) practitioners provided physiological measures of salivary cortisol and testosterone (hormones associated with stress and dominance, respectively) and psychological measures of relationship closeness before and after participating in SM activities. Observed activities included bondage, sensory deprivation, a variety of painful and pleasurable stimulation, verbal and non-verbal communication, and expressions of caring and affection. During the scenes, cortisol rose significantly for participants who were bound, receiving stimulation, and following orders, but not for participants who were providing stimulation, orders, or structure. Female participants who were bound, receiving stimulation, and following orders also showed increases in testosterone during the scenes. Thereafter, participants who reported that their SM activities went well showed reductions in physiological stress (cortisol) and increases in relationship closeness. Among participants who reported that their SM activities went poorly, some showed decreases in relationship closeness whereas others showed increases. The increases in relationship closeness combined with the displays of caring and affection observed as part of the SM activities offer support for the modern view that SM, when performed consensually, has the potential to increase intimacy between participants.