14 DAY TRIAL // A new scientific investigation has determined that people tend to perceive things that they desire as being physically closer than they are in reality. Scientists believe that this faulty type of perception may have developed to give the undecided a small extra push to dare and reach for what they really want. If the objects would have appeared at their actual distance, then there would be nothing nudging people in the right direction. Details of the work appear in the January issue of the respected scientific journal Psychological Science, PhysOrg reports.
The investigation was conducted by researchers at the Cornell University, who were led by David Dunning, a psychology professor, and former PhD student Emily Balcetis, who is now an assistant professor of psychology at the New York University. The group reveals that even the most mundane objects may be estimated poorly, in terms of the distance they are from the onlooker. Placed at equal distance away, a $100 bill and a letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may indeed appear to be separated by a significant distance.
Dunning explains that such a development in our species makes perfect sense, especially when viewing it through an evolutionary perspective. “We know that things that are closer are more motivating than things that are farther away. So if you wanted to motivate an organism to go and pick up that thing that's really good for it or that it desires, you'd want an organism that would see that thing as closer,” the expert explains. In the experiments the expert led, 45 students were served with pretzels, while another 45 were not. All of them were then asked to estimate the distance between them and a bottle of water. The thirsty one estimated it to be 25 inches, whereas the other judged it (correctly) to be 28 inches away.
This adaptive mechanism essentially prevents us from expanding energy on things we find unnecessary, or we don't really want, therefore promoting efficiency. But the new conclusions could also have significant implications for other aspects of life, the investigators say. “Also interpersonal relationships – if you're in a marriage, how loud do you think your spouse is yelling at you? Is that a smile or is that a smirk? There are a lot of ways perception might guide people toward a more pleasant or a less pleasant road,” Dunning concludes.