Temperature Of Held Objects Influences Behavior

Free will is an illusion. Even a cup of coffee manipulates you in ways you can't tell. Even a cold or hot cup of coffee temporarily held in a person's hands can act like a puppeteer manipulating human emotions and behavior.

In the first study, Williams and John A. Bargh, a psychology professor at Yale University, found that holding a hot cup of coffee leads people to judge a stranger to be a warmer person, in terms of such traits as generosity and kindness, compared with a group of people who held a cup of iced coffee. In a second study, they had people hold either a warm or cold object (therapeutic hot or cold pads), and then gave them a choice of reward for participating in the study: either a gift for a friend, or a reward for themselves. "We found that people who held the hot pad were more likely to choose the gift for a friend, and people who held the cold pack were more likely to choose the reward for themselves," Williams said. "Both of these effects occurred without people's awareness of the possible effects of temperature."

Hand a friend something hot to hold before you ask for a favor.

"We found that people who held the hot pad were more likely to choose the gift for a friend, and people who held the cold pack were more likely to choose the reward for themselves," Williams said. "Both of these effects occurred without people's awareness of the possible effects of temperature." People are incredibly sensitive to cues in their physical environments, Williams said. "The metaphorical relationship between physical temperatures and interpersonal warm or cold feelings is not haphazard or accidental, but reveals something interesting about the way the mind works, in that a cue from the physical domain can have such a meaningful impact on psychological outcomes," he said.

Never mind that old saying "cold hands, warm heart". The truth of the matter is "cold hands, cold heart".

In a similar study, Williams repeated the same experiment using not coffee, but hot and cold compress pads. To eliminate any inadvertent influence on the experiment by the confederate, the study subjects were asked to retrieve either a hot or cold pad and to evaluate it under the guise of a product test. After rating the effectiveness of the pads, the study subjects were given a choice of reward for participating in the study: either a Snapple beverage or a $1 gift certificate to a local ice cream shop. In some cases the reward offer was framed as a gift to "treat a friend" and in others as a personal reward. Regardless of which gift was offered, those primed with coldness were more likely to choose a gift for themselves, while those primed with warmth were more likely to choose the gift for a friend. "Experiences of physical temperature per se affect one's impressions of and pro-social behavior toward other people, without one's awareness of such influences," said Williams. "At a board meeting, for instance, being willing to reach out and touch another human being, to shake their hand, those experiences do matter although we may not always be aware of them. In a restaurant, it's been shown that wait staff who touch customers usually get a better tip. It's a nice gesture, but it also has a warming effect." Williams said the research could have marketing implications because it shows just how strong the bond is between the physical and the psychological world. "In a point-of-service or communications interaction, paying attention to the fact that customers are tied to the physical world in which buying behavior occurs is important," said Williams. "If you are running a promotion outdoors on a cold day, maybe giving away a warm cookie will help you make connections with consumers. It gives marketers and managers more tools to work with."

Scientists will find many more ways that environmental cues can alter human behavior.