Can looking at kittens make you better at your job?
The power of kawaii: Viewing cute images promotes a careful behavior and narrows attentional focus
Looking at pictures of puppies and kittens made university students better at a fiddly, careful task.
Students played a fine-motor game like the board game Operation, plucking tiny pieces out with tweezers, and did a number-search task. In between, they looked at photos of either baby animals or grown-up animals.
After viewing the puppies and kittens, people performed more carefully and focused more closely. The authors suggest cute things could be useful at work. Your desk calendar of kittens is now productivity equipment.
Kawaii is a performance enhancer.