14 DAY TRIAL // In a recent investigation, researchers in the United States determined that people tend to perceive themselves as being more morally cleansed after actually cleaning themselves physically, through baths or showers.
The finding also implies that, under these circumstances, individuals tend to judge other people and their mistakes more harshly than they would do at other times.
Details of the investigation appear in a research paper entitled “A clean self can render harsh moral judgment,” which is published in the latest issue of the esteemed scientific Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
The work was conducted by investigators at the Northwestern University (NU), who were led by expert Chen-Bo Zhong, Wired reports.
In an experimental setup the expert's team devised, 58 undergraduate students were invited into a room with spotless surfaces, in which some of them were asked to clean their hands with wipes, and some were not told anything.
All participants were then asked to rate a number of six types of behaviors – including illegal drug use, adultery and profanities – on a morality scale.
The scale ranked from 1 to 11, with 1 representing something that was very moral, while 11 stood for the most immoral habit imaginable.
The research team found that those who had used antiseptic wipes to clean their hands tended to look more harshly at questionable behaviors, rating them more harshly than those who had not cleansed themselves.
“Participants who cleansed their hands before rating the social issues judged these issues to be more morally wrong compared to those who did not cleanse their hands,” the team writes in the journal entry.
“Acts of cleanliness have not only the potential to shift our moral pendulum to a more virtuous self, but also license harsher moral judgment of others,” Zhong and his group argue.
The new finding could have significant implications for law studies, for example. In fact, any area of society that currently passes judgment on people's behaviors and morality could be influenced by the new findings.
The research may also help explain why some religious cults and denominations are so harsh and quick in judging others, while maintaining a high opinion on themselves and their own members.