Contents
Everyone knows from experience how strongly the weather sometimes affects mood and behavior. But there is an influence that we are completely unaware of. The choice of color for clothes or a movie to watch at home, our attitude towards strangers, creative resources – all this changes in the cold season.
Apathy, irritability, sleep and libido disorders, depression, aggressiveness – these and other side effects of cold weather are well known to us. But its impact on the psyche is more complex and deeper, according to the latest scientific research.
Women choose red
The choice of clothing color can depend on the weather – at least for women. This conclusion was made by psychologists-researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada. “During the cold season, women are more likely to wear red or pink clothes in different shades,” says one of the authors of the study, Professor Jessica Tracy.
Moreover, this pattern is manifested only on those days when a woman ovulates.
In other words, during the period when the probability of conception is highest. Scientists have not yet found an exact explanation for the correlation. But the version seems quite convincing that the whole point here is an unconscious desire to increase one’s sexual attractiveness.
After all, red and pink colors, according to Jessica Tracy, are a kind of sexual signals. The same scientists conducted a similar study in the summer, but they did not find such a correlation there. Perhaps the fact is that summer clothes give a woman much more opportunities to look seductive.
Are we surrounded by cold people?
We value people differently depending on whether we are exposed to heat or cold. Observant people themselves intuitively feel this, and the results of various studies confirm such guesses.
In one experiment, some participants held a cup of hot coffee in their hands, while the other part held iced coffee. The physical sensation of heat or cold strongly influenced their perception: the second group was more likely to regard others as distant and cold people.
Heat and cold also affect the ability to assess how dangerous a stranger is.
This is evidenced by the experiment of German scientists. It involved 133 students who were shown photographs of 8 criminals taken from the front and in profile. Students were asked to write down what offense they thought these people might have committed and assess whether they acted intentionally or impulsively.
Participants in the cold room tended to see photos of cold-blooded criminals acting on purpose. Conversely, when they were in a warm room, students rated people more condescendingly, regarding them as unbalanced people who committed offenses in a fit of emotion.
I want romance, at least in the movies
When it’s cold outside, what could be better than sitting at home together in an embrace and watching a touching movie about love?
The Chinese marketers titled their study “Warm with Love: How the Physical Feeling of Cold Is Connected to Romantic Movie Cravings.” In a series of experiments, they changed the temperature of both the air in the room and the drinks offered to the participants, who were tasked with choosing a movie to watch.
The participants, as soon as they got cold, began to prefer romantic films. The exception was those for whom a romantic comedy is not associated with warmth. The authors also note that according to their data, the demand for romantic films increases in online cinemas during the cold season.
The Prisoner’s Dilemma
How much people trust each other depends on the air temperature. This conclusion can be drawn from an experiment conducted by British psychologists in 2013 – 60 student participants were divided into pairs and offered to play “in prison”.
Under the terms of the game, for which quite plausible “cameras” were equipped, the investigation failed to collect sufficient evidence against them for trial. However, each was asked to testify against his partner. At the same time, some participants were provided with hot water heaters, while others were given ice packs.
The former were much more willing to cooperate with each other – that is, they refused to testify against their partners
In other words, the physical sensation of heat increases confidence in others, while in the cold we become more suspicious.
seasonal creativity
In cold and warm weather, we tend to show different kinds of creativity. In a series of experiments, it was shown that when they felt physically warm—being in a warm room or warming up with hot tea—participants were better at tasks such as drawing, categorizing objects, or coming up with gift ideas for specific people.
But in cold conditions, they were better at recognizing metaphors, coming up with original names for pasta or abstract ideas for gifts.