Handwashing, Trainspotting and moral judgment

Researchers in Britain have supposedly concluded that people who clean themselves are less judgmental and are more likely to be lenient before making such judgments.

The team at Plymouth University took 22 people who had washed their hands and 22 who had not, and made them watch a disgusting scene from the film ‘Trainspotting,’ about heroin addicts. They were then asked to rate how morally wrong a series of actions were on scale of one to nine, with one being acceptable and seven being wrong.

Lead researcher Dr Simone Schnall said,

"We like to think we arrive at decisions because we deliberate, but incidental things can influence us. This could have implications when voting and when juries make up their minds.”

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time