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The Effect of Temperature Primes on Impulsivity

Temperature-related words such as “hot” and “cold” are often used to describe impulsive and calculated behaviors, respectively. These metaphoric connotations of thermal concepts raise the question as to whether temperature, psychological states and decision making are related to each other, and if so, how. The current research examines these questions and finds support for a relationship. Across four laboratory experiments and two field studies, I demonstrate that both hot temperature primes (e.g., pictures, words, therapeutic packs) and hot ambient temperature trigger decision outcomes in line with the metaphoric association between hot temperature and impulsivity. I suggest that the theory of embodied cognition provides an explanation for these findings.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/25917
Date14 January 2011
CreatorsAhn, Hee Kyung
ContributorsSoman, Dilip, Mazar, Nina
Source SetsUniversity of Toronto
Languageen_ca
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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