Washing your hands makes us more optimistic

Washing the hands obviously has an effect on the psyche

28/10/2013

Regular and thorough hand washing is important because it is not just about cleaning visible dirt, but also about removing invisible pathogens. But that's not all, because as the psychologist Kai Kaspar from the University of Osnabrück has now discovered, the washing of the hands obviously also affects the psyche.

Osnabrück researcher conducts investigation into the psychology of body cleansing
If you wash your hands regularly, you can prevent many illnesses and infections, because daily routines such as shaking hands or touching toilet covers or keyboards can rapidly multiply and spread viruses and bacteria. Apart from cleaning, washing your hands obviously does more, because it also affects the psyche of man. The scientist Kai Kaspar came to this conclusion in the context of a study in which he examined the connection between cleanliness, optimism and success.

Optimism for hand washing much larger
For the study „to the psychology of body cleansing“ The researcher had examined a total of 98 volunteers who were to complete an unsolvable task in the first step. Afterwards, the group split into one half, who washed their hands after the failure and one who did not wash. The result: Although both groups were optimistic to get a better result on the second attempt, the optimism was much more pronounced among those who had washed their hands, according to Kai Kaspar in an article in the journal „Social Psychological and Personality Science ".

Washing your hands helps a thing mentally „complete“
Despite the optimistic attitude, the subjects did not succeed in the second attempt either, instead those who had washed their hands did even worse than the peer group: „The results show that after a failure, physical cleansing enhances optimism but inhibits future performance in the same area of ​​responsibility [...]. In addition, the impact of physical cleansing on higher cognitive processes does not always seem to be positive, but it helps complete one thing“, the psychologist continues. So it could be assumed that washing hands could help, the negative feelings of failure „wash“ - At the same time, however, this cleaning process would also lead to a decrease in motivation and less effort. (No)

Also read:
Protection against colds: Wash hands regularly

Picture: josupewo