How good and evil create "superpowers"

“When you think of superheroes or super villains, [you think of people] that can possess huge amounts of willpower and are relatively unfazed by pain,” said study researcher Kurt Gray, a doctoral student in psychology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. “And because of your stereotype of heroes and villains, you kind of embody that, or transform yourself into your perception of hero and villain,” when you perform good or evil acts , he said.

In one experiment, 91 volunteers were asked to hold a five-pound (about 2.3-kilogram) weight for as long as they could, and then given $1 for their efforts. About half were asked if they would like to donate their dollar to the United Nations International Children’s Fund, or UNICEF. Everyone in this group agreed to donate, while those not asked of course didn’t donate.

All participants were then asked to hold the weight a second time. Those who had donated to charity were able to hold the weight for an average of 53 seconds, or 7 seconds longer than those who did not donate.