Now back to my original two questions...

I have two more for you before I explain:

1) On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate yourself in terms of altruistic tendencies- with 0 being least altruistic (most likely to consider your own concerns before those of others), and 10 being most altruistic (most likely to consider the concerns of others before your own)?

2) Do you feel you perform better when you are the underdog (the challenge is greater) or when you are in a slightly favored position (the challenge is less)?

I ask these questions because I have begun to rationalize my PvZ game playing even farther. I call it my “Sunflower Theory”.

For most the characters, zombies or plants, their special abilities enable them to more aggressively wipe out their opponents. But the purpose of the Sunflower (or Scientist if you’re a zombie) is to revive teammates and restore their health when it is low. 

Now I know I’m biased here; but it seems that, when I play the aggressive characters (my preference), I leave the game feeling more aggressive, myself, or at least more impatient. I may, for instance, immediately yell at my family about the pile of dirt someone swept into a corner but didn’t bother putting in the bin. However, when I play a Sunflower I’m likely to leave the game with more patience and a team-player attitude, so that I may, for instance, just roll my eyes and sweep up the little pile of dirt in the corner, myself.

So… maybe… if I stick to playing Sunflowers... playing PvZ may actually be good for me…? 

I know this is a jump. And I acknowledge that I have a HUGE conflict of interest here. This is why I’ve posed the above 4 questions to you. 

My hypothesis is that 1) Those who prefer to play as Sunflowers or Scientists (or maybe even Engineers) consider themselves more altruistic, and 2) Those who prefer to play as plants also prefer to be in the role of underdog as opposed to the favored team. 

I acknowledge that this survey won’t answer the question of whether playing Sunflowers/Scientists induces more charitable behavior; but it’s still interesting, and I’ll use anything to rationalize my dirty little secret ;-) .