Why do we call the conscience clean? Association – but where does it come from? There is a direct connection between hygiene and morality, scientists say … and they cleverly explain everything by the work of the instinct of self-preservation.
Recall children’s fairy tales: witches, sorcerers and other evil spirits in them look unwashed, unkempt and live in dirty dwellings weaved with cobwebs. This is hardly coincidental: the word “cleanliness” in most languages applies equally to the field of hygiene and to the field of morality. So, clean hands from time immemorial have been associated with the purity of the conscience of their owners – and vice versa.
To put it bluntly, there is little scientific evidence for this relationship. One of them is offered by American psychologists and marketers who set out to arouse feelings of disgust and disgust in the test volunteers *. The methods were different: from asking them to write an essay with memories of an episode from their own life, when these feelings were experienced to the maximum extent, to showing “motivating” photos and videos. Special mention deserves the famous scene with the “worst toilet in Scotland” from the cult film Trainspotting. (For those who haven’t seen the movie, you should know that the toilet is really terrible, although many such establishments at gas stations, railway stations and bus stations in the Russian provinces would compete with Scotland.)
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So, after these tests, the study participants also answered a series of questions in the questionnaire. The goal was to find out how likely the subjects are to lie and cheat if a monetary reward is promised for this. The same questionnaire was filled out by members of the control group, who did not undergo any tests. Result? The subjects, who had just experienced feelings of disgust and disgust, were much more prone to dishonest acts.
The researchers did not stop there and complicated the experiment. Now, having provoked a feeling of disgust in the participants, they showed them images of products related to hygiene and cleanliness: detergents, deodorants, shampoos. And then they were asked to fill out a questionnaire. This time, the results of the subjects were practically no different from the control group. Detergents seemed to cleanse the thoughts of the participants.
The authors of the study suggest that the matter is in the evolutionary nature of disgust and disgust. These feelings initially arise in situations in which we do not want to be in any way and from which we would prefer to get out as quickly as possible. “Such emotions activate the instinct of self-preservation. And it makes us think more about ourselves, not caring about others, ”says Rice University marketing research professor Vikas Mittal.
However, the study of Mittal and his colleagues should be recognized as only the first sign. It is definitely too early to draw comprehensive conclusions on its basis. Otherwise, one will only be surprised: why, with such an abundance of advertisements for hygiene and detergents on TV, do we still not live in an ideal world from a moral and ethical point of view?
* K. Wintericha, V. Mittalb, A. Moralesc «Protect thyself: How affective self-protection increases self-interested, unethical behavior», Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, November 2014.