Hot Drinks Might Make You Think He’s Cool When He’s Not! — Dave’s Diary

We are into fall and the iced beverages of summer will soon give way to hot cocoa, hot tea and hot buttered rum.

As that transition begins, it's interesting to review the psychological ramifications of personality-trait assessments going from cold to hot in hand.

After all, we don't want to be too vulnerable to others just because the coffee is hot!

An October 2008 Journal of Science article reported that people were more trusting, more positive and more welcoming when they held a hot drink in their hands.

“A steaming hot drink may be all it takes to see the world through rose-tinted glasses, psychologists have found. Holding a warm cup of coffee was enough to make people think strangers were more welcoming and trustworthy, while a cold drink had the opposite effect …”

Warm drinks also loosened purse strings and made people more generous. Seems warm people really are!

Scientists also checked whether temperature influenced people's own behavior as well as their perception of others. They asked volunteers to pick up either a frozen or heated therapeutic pad used for sports injuries. After handling the pad for a few minutes, they were offered a drink for themselves, or a voucher to give to a friend. Those who handled the hot pads chose more often to give up the voucher.

Researchers theorize that touching something warm activates the insular cortex region of the brain, which is linked to cooperation and trust.