溫暖的“冷”：消極情景下物理冷感促進人際溫情
科學家們曾驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)，僅僅觸摸溫熱的物體就能引發(fā)對他人的溫情（友善）行為，比如對他人的人格評價更加積極，或者更愿意把禮物送給朋友而不是留給自己。2008年的《科學》雜志（Science）上刊登了上述發(fā)現(xiàn)。這一研究發(fā)現(xiàn)印證了“具身認知理論”（embodied theory），該理論主張：低層次的感覺經(jīng)驗可以影響高層次的抽象認知及行為。但是，這一研究只說出了故事的一小半。近期，北京大學心理學系的王壘教授領導的研究團隊發(fā)現(xiàn)，物理冷刺激也可以促發(fā)人際溫情，而物理溫熱刺激也會導致人際的冷酷！王壘教授的研究團隊通過一系列實驗表明：觸摸了冷物體的人（相對于觸摸了熱物體的人），對同伴的不誠實行為更能諒解，對提供過較差服務的人更愿意幫助，在嘈雜的排隊環(huán)境下表現(xiàn)出更少的抱怨。這一系列反常識的結(jié)果揭示出了社會情景在物理冷暖體驗和人際態(tài)度行為之間的關系中所扮演的重要角色：這一發(fā)現(xiàn)刷新了對具身認知理論的理解。他們的工作發(fā)表在最新一期的英國社會心理學雜志（British Journal of Social Psychology）。
怎樣理解這個看似矛盾的現(xiàn)象呢？北京大學的心理學家們提出，社會/任務情境/背景會調(diào)節(jié)物理溫度與人際過程之間的關系。他們認為，在不同的社會背景下，物理暖/冷與心理近/遠的聯(lián)結(jié)含義是不同的。在合作和幫助的社會背景下，人們對物理暖的體驗是積極的，對物理冷的體驗是消極的。相反，在不協(xié)調(diào)或有敵意的社會/任務情境下，對物理暖的體驗可能是消極的，而對物理冷的體驗可能是積極的。所以，在積極的社會/任務情境下，物理暖（相對于物理冷）會引發(fā)人際溫情，但在消極的社會/任務情境下，物理暖（相對于物理冷）則會阻滯人際溫情。這項研究通過強調(diào)社會/任務情境與物理溫度對人際行為的交互影響，使得人們對低層次感覺經(jīng)驗和高層次抽象認知這兩者的關系的理解更加完整和全面。這項研究的新奇和重要之處在于它對現(xiàn)有知識的挑戰(zhàn)，它揭示了尚未被人們知曉的故事的另一半：體驗物理的冷也能促發(fā)人際溫情。
這項研究有豐富的實踐意義。它可以幫助人們在友好或沖突的社會/任務情境中調(diào)整行為應對策略。為了促進人際的溫情，人們可以依據(jù)社會/任務情境來創(chuàng)造相應的溫度線索。例如，在慈善捐款會上，會場應布置得暖洋洋，再配合熱騰騰的餐飲等，就可能促進更多的幫助（捐贈）行為。相反，在一些有潛在沖突的社會/任務情境下，應該盡量避免物理熱刺激。實踐者可以把沖突人群暴露在物理冷的環(huán)境下，從而讓他們更容易冷靜下來。例如，沖突性談判桌上的一杯冰水要好過一杯熱咖啡。值得一提的是，該研究表明，觸摸熱/冷杯子也可能會影響法庭上陪審團/法官的判斷。
Wenqi Wei, Jingjing Ma, & Lei Wang. (2015). The ‘warm’ side of coldness: Cold promotes interpersonal warmth in negative contexts. British Journal of Social Psychology, DOI:10.1111/bjso.12108.
The ‘Warm’ Side of Coldness: Cold Promotes Interpersonal Warmth in Negative Contexts
It is amazing that merely holding warm objects can increase individuals’ interpersonal warmth, which induces behaviors such as giving more positive judgment about others and being more likely to choose gifts for friends rather than for themselves. Such findings,published on Science(2008), are consistent with the intuition and the embodied theory, which depicts that low-leveled concrete experiences could influence high-leveled abstract cognitions and behaviors.However, this is only a small part of the story!Recently, professor Lei Wang and his research group from the Department of Psychology at Peking University found that physical coldness could also promote interpersonal warmth while physical warmth may also lead to interpersonal coldness. They conducted a series of experiments to show that participants touching cold objects were more willing to forgive a peer’s dishonest behavior, more likely to assist an individual who had provided them with poor service, and less likely to complain in an annoying queue. These counter-intuitive findings addressed the important role of socialcontext in the relationship between physical experience and interpersonal attitude and behavior, as well asrefreshed currentknowledge about the embodied theory. Their work is published on the latest issue of British Journal of Social Psychology.
How to understand the above paradoxical phenomena? These psychologists from Peking Universityproposed that social context would moderate the link between physical temperature and interpersonal processes. They argued that the meaning of physical warmth/coldness and its association with psychological closeness/distance might vary under different social contexts. In a cooperative or helping context, the experience of physical warmth is positive, while the experience of coldness is negative. On the contrary, in an inconsiderate or hostile context, the experience of physical warmth may be negative while that of coldness may be positive. Therefore, physical warmth (compared to coldness) would promote interpersonal warmth in positive social contexts. In negative social contexts, however, physical warmth (compared to coldness) would hinder interpersonal warmth. Thus, by emphasizing the interactive effect of social context and temperature on interpersonal outcomes, the current research provided a more complete picture regarding the well-established link between concrete experiences and abstract, high-level processes. It’s particularly interesting and important that this research challenges the current knowledge. It uncovers a previously unknown phenomenon, that is, the other half of the story: experiencing physical coldness can also promote interpersonal warmth.
This research has substantial practical implications. It can help people adjust their strategy and behavior to cope with friendly or conflictive social situations. To promote interpersonal warmth, practitioners can create or use temperature cues according to social context. For instance, at a charitable donation party, physical warmth provided by a warm ambient temperature, hot beverages and food and so on may promote more helping behavior. On the other hand, in situations of potential conflict, practitionersshould avoid physical warmth. Instead, they could expose individuals to physical coldness, so as to calm them down and thus facilitate more favorable interpersonal interactions. For example, a cup of ice water might be a better choice than a cup of hot coffee on a negotiation table. It is also worth reminding that touching hot versus cold beverage cup in court may influence the judgment of juries.
Wenqi Wei, Jingjing Ma, & Lei Wang. (2015). The ‘warm’ side of coldness: Cold promotes interpersonal warmth in negative contexts.British Journal of Social Psychology, DOI:10.1111/bjso.12108.
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2015-04-10