Wash your hands - to get rid of the problem

Scientists at the University of Michigan (USA) made an unexpected discovery in the field of psychology. Researchers Spike Lee and Norbert Schwarz found that washing hands helps get rid of the severity of past decisions.

In psychology, the state of self-justification after making some difficult decisions referred cognitive dissonance . Studying this phenomenon, the researchers conducted a series of experiments.

During the first test - local students - were viewed 30 CD-ROM drive. Their task was to select the ten best and put them ratings from 1 to 10. As a reward were invited to pick up a 5 or 6 in their rankings. After that, the same students were asked to test a sample of liquid soap. Half of the students (20 people) considered a label. Another group of subjects tested the soap in action. The researchers then repeated the test again with the scoring.

As a result, the experimenters found that people vymyvshie hand, reiterated its previous rating. They did not have to explain ourselves or justify selection logic. Students of the other group changed their point of view. They increased earlier assessment of the selected disk and dropped those that were rejected.

A similar experiment was carried out later with 85 volunteers. They were asked to choose the best in their opinion jam without tasting samples to taste. After they were given towels to wipe your hands with antiseptic and place assessment delicacy, but try it. People with dirty hands felt that the first selected varieties of jam much tastier. And those who wiped his hands, did not change its assessment of the products.

These studies were published in the journal "Science." Scientists have concluded that hand wash   eliminates cognitive dissonance.

Psychology

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