Scientific American reports on a recent Journal of Experimental Social Psychology article by Larry Sanna and his associates at the University of North Carolina:
Building on research showing the power of metaphors to shape our thinking, Sanna and his colleagues noted that height is often used as a metaphor for virtue: moral high ground, God on high, looking up to good people, etc. If people were primed to think about height, they wondered, might people be more virtuous?
In a series of four different studies, the authors found consistent support for their predictions. In the first study they found that twice as many mall shoppers who had just ridden an up escalator contributed to the Salvation Army than shoppers who had just ridden the down escalator. In a second study, participants who had been taken upa short flight of stairs to an auditorium stage to complete a series of questionnaires volunteered more than 50 percent more of their time than participants who had been led down to the orchestra pit.
A third study took yet another approach. Participants were to decide how much hot sauce to give to a participant purportedly taking part in a food-tasting study. Those who were up on the stage gave only half as much of the painfully hot sauce to the other person as did those who were sitting down in the orchestra pit.
In a final study, participants watched film clips of scenes taken from an airplane above the clouds, or through the window of a passenger car. Participants who had watched the clip of flying up above the clouds were 50 percent more cooperative in a computer game than those who had watched the car ride down on the ground.
Overall these studies show remarkable consistency, linking height and different prosocial behaviors — i.e., donations, volunteering, compassion, and cooperation.
The logical conclusion about where to locate our polling stations at election time is impeccable I think 🙂
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5 Comments
It’s an evolutionary response from the time when our ancestors lived in trees. Up in the trees is good and safe. Down on the ground is bad and dangerous and you get eaten by predators.
On the other hand you might fall out of a tree, and it would be a relief to be back on dry land. In the tree, give it away because you can’t take it with you.
We can’t put polling stations upstairs, what about the disabled voters and those with reduced mobility?
It already took me ~2 hours to vote last year, we shouldn’t be putting further barriers in people’s way. 😛
I agree with John Brace (above). We cannot put the Polling Stations higher up on any other level than ground level – it has taken us years to get every single Polling Station wheelchair accessible!
For goodness’ sake, don’t let us go backwards – even if this is being considered with “tongue in cheek” it would be a very retrograde step.
In addition, there would be a massive increase in applications for Postal Votes!
I urge all wheelchair-users to keep an eye on whether or not their own Polling Station is accessible – if it is not, complain to your Local Council!
Having had a broken bone in my foot I completely sympathise with the access needs of disabled people – well, no, it didn’t take being disabled myself to learn that. But this piece is meant to be a joke! Mark isn’t actually suggesting first floor polling stations – though why not, if there were a good working wheelchair carrying lift? A lovely lady I knew (she died a few years ago) lived on the top floor of a block of high rise flats and loved it; she had very nice neighbours, a community centre in the block and fabulous views, and of course she used the lift.
I used to love climbing btrees when I was a kid. Wonder if that means I’m not very evolved. To be more serious though, I do wonder whether today’s children aren’t being deprived of tree climbing experiences and all that stuff.