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embodiment
Your physical environment dictates how you judge social interactions.
A 2008 study by Williams and Bargh reported that participants holding a warm drink rated a target person as having a 'warmer' personality, but this finding has been disputed by later attempts to replicate the effect.
The original study's methodology and results have been subject to intense scrutiny and failed replications within the field of social psychology.
Your brain uses your physical comfort as a proxy for social trust.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Williams, L. E., & Bargh, J. A., 2008, 'Experiencing physical warmth promotes interpersonal warmth'
- What the check found
- While the 2008 study did make these claims, the effect has proven difficult to replicate in subsequent, more rigorous research, making the original conclusion scientifically tenuous.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.