Engender trust in your audience - with a little warmth!
The effect of warmth was researched by the University of Yale. A group of students was given a warm cup of hot coffee and another group a cup of iced coffee. Shortly thereafter the students were confronted with pictures of people and asked to judge them. The Students that had held the warm cup judged more friendly and warmer about the presented pictures than those that held the cold cup. In a second experiment the subjects held an icepack or a hotpack in their hands. And after the experiment they got a gift certificate they could keep or give away. The tested individuals that held the hotpack significantly more often gave it away whereas those holding the icepack preferred more often to keep it. Brain research may explain this, touching cold or warm objects activate an area in the brain that also plays a role when you determine whether or not you can trust a person.
(Science, October 2008)
"It appears that the effect of physical temperature is not just on how we see others, it affects our own behaviour as well," Professor John Bargh, a psychologist who carried out the study.
"Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also cause us to be warmer - more generous and trusting - as well."
