Two studies conducted by John Bargh of Yale
University and Lawrence Williams of the University of Colorado, has found that
warm temperatures were positively correlated with empathy and trust. 41
volunteers were told to carry a hot or cold drink prior to answering a survey.
The volunteers were then told to read a passage about "person A" and
to fill out a simple personality survey of the person. The volunteers who were
given the hot drink consistently rated person A more favorably. The second studied
involved 53 volunteers who were given either a cold or hot therapeutic pack.
The volunteers were then told if they would like a Snapple for themselves or a
$1 gift certificate for ice cream with a friend. The volunteers who were given
the cold pack chose the Snapple 75% of the time and the gift certificate 25% of
the time. The volunteers given the hot pack chose the gift certificate 46% of
the time. The researchers were testing the priming effect which can be summed
up as the ability of an object to elicit certain behaviors.
Bargh and Williams conjecture that this association
develops during infancy when warmth is associated with a caregiver. The
caregiver provides food, safety, shelter and love. The infant in turn learns to
trust the care giver. A biological explanation for this behavior can be
furthered observed within the insula of the brain. The insula is responsible
for processing both temperature and emotions such as trust. Warm temperatures
stimulate the insula which results in more empathetic and trusting feelings.
Research has even found that individuals with damaged or malformed insula had
difficulty trusting other people. Indeed, there are a variety of subtle social
cues from temperature to body language mimicry which can influence a person’s
perception by other people. However, these cues are not the be all end all.
Warm hands and hot drinks will not always guarantee a positive response
although they can certainly help.
The study is
interesting due to its real world applications. Offering someone a warm drink
or heating your hands prior to a handshake can be advantageous during job
interviews, business transactions, gaining trust when meeting new people and
more. The real world applications are nearly limitless. I personally plan on
using it on my next job interview. If its cold outside, make sure to wear
gloves or heat your hands with a cup of coffee/tea. The effects of priming are
subtle but strong.
This is really interesting! The biological background makes sense with the infant associating warmth with a caregiver. I would never have thought that a warm handshake would have that significant of an effect. This is a good life tip for us since we are all going to be entering the real world soon. I thought it was really interesting that the article mentioned how we make 'friend or foe' decisions using really subtle cues.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting article, especially for seniors like me who will be going to many interviews in the near future. I can see how warmth is associated with a more favorable response due to the fact that an infant associates it with their caregiver. There weren’t many people used in this study; however, I am willing to give this a shot. This will be very useful for my next interview and I’ll be sure to hold on to some coffee or tea beforehand.
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