That’s Cold! Thinking About Money, That Is
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iStock/Thinkstock(BASEL, Switzerland) — Cold hard cash can actually make you feel cold, according to a couple of experiments conducted at the University of Basel in Switzerland.
In one, 40 participants either stuck their hand in a bowl filled with nearly 100 bank notes or another bowl filled with the same number of colored pieces of paper.
Each group was then asked various questions about the room they were in, including estimating the temperature inside. Interestingly, those in the “money” group guessed the room temperature as quite a bit lower than the colored paper group.
The second experiment involved the 60 participants either touching money or paper in bowls and then placing their hands in water set at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. After the water cooled down, they put their hands back in, and as the water gradually heated up, they were asked to predict when it reached the original temperature.
It turned out, those in the “money” group, who felt chillier than their counterparts, said the water reached the right heated temperature much sooner than the participants who touched the paper.
What does it all mean? The researchers say that just thinking about money, for some reason, causes “perceived physical coldness,” meaning feelings can be influenced by physical sensations without people realizing it.
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