Men love pay hikes only if others get less

Got a pay hike! Bet you won't be that happy. Research shows that men are happiest with salary rises only if their colleagues get less.

Researchers in Europe, who have carried out the study, found that most men get the biggest buzz from a monetary prize when they know it's a much bigger award than that received by someone else, The Independent reported in London on Friday.

According to lead researcher, Professor Armin Falk of Bonn University, the findings go against conventional theories about economic rewards, which "suggest it is the absolute hike in pay, rather than the relative one, that matters most".

"This result clearly contradicts traditional economic theory (which) assumes only important factor is the absolute size of the reward," he was quoted as saying.

In fact, the researchers came to the conclusion after analysing the brain's reward centre of 38 male volunteers.

All the participants performed simple mental tasks inside parallel brain scanners. For correct answers, they were given a prize ranging between Euro 30 and 120, while no reward was there for wrong markings.

Brain activity in a particular area was found to be higher in a player who received more money than his partner -- the results have been published in the latest edition of the Science journal.