Most of us think that we have balanced judgment, are independent in our thinking and not easily influenced. Most of the experiments below are up-to-date and were performed in the last year or so. We think you will find the results very surprising.
* The first group of participants in an experiment viewed dots moving forwards on a screen and they reported having thoughts about the future. The second group viewed dots moving backwards on the screen and they reported having thoughts about the past. In our culture, we regard events in the future as lying ahead of us or in front of us (literally before our body), while past events that are regarded as behind us (literally after our body).
* A group of students was asked to judge the likeability of a fictitious character on the basis of some information about them. Half the students were given a cup of hot coffee to hold before the assessment and half were given a cup of ice coffee. Those who held the cup of hot coffee were far more inclined to think the fictitious character was also "warm" and likeable. We associate warmth with love.
* Participants in another experiment were asked to answer a questionnaire clipped onto a board which they held in their hands. Some of the boards were heavy and some were light in weight. The students were asked to estimate the value of unknown coins. Those who held the heavy boards estimated the coins as being of much higher value than those who held light boards. We regard heavy subjects/objects as having more value (or importance) than light ones.
* Can washing hands also clean our conscience? Two groups of volunteers were asked to watch problematic film scenes with violence and drugs. After the film, the first group washed their hands and the second group didn't. Then, they were all asked to judge if the scenes were morally objectionable. There was a much greater tendency among those who washed their hands to judge the scenes as not morally objectionable. Clearly, washing hands help to wash the conscience too.
* Finally a story about oxytocin which is nicknamed "the love hormone". In an experiment with men, those who received a nasal spray of oxtytocin were far more empathetic ( than those who didn't receive the spray) when shown touching pictures of a little girl crying and a man in mourning. The good news is that there are indications that this hormone might help in treating autistic people (who have difficulty n understanding social situations).The bad news is that in future some evil regime might want to use oxytocin to produce satisfied citizens who trust the government.
We learn from these experiments that words have semantic power not only to convey meaning when spoken but also subtly connect our bodies and minds. Our judgments are also influenced by physical factors in our environment and the flow of hormones within our body.
At Lotus Guidance for Empowering Change, we keep up-to-date with the latest research. We use sessions of Life Coaching and NLP to strengthen assertiveness and inner focus so that our clients can achieve their goals without being diverted by negative influences.
