What a more virtuous and positive politics? Stick polling stations on the first floor

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 🙂

Read more by or more about .
This entry was posted in Election law.
Advert

5 Comments

  • 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!

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert



Recent Comments

  • Jenny Barnes
    And all those holiday adverts....
  • Keith Sharp
    Following Mark's link to the (amazing to hear it now) last Reagan speech, I was reminded of these words: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masse...
  • Christopher Haigh
    A very wide article William. I never understood why right wing Tory 'global trader' advocates like Johnson were so keen on Trump. The ex President had noted th...
  • expats
    Trump won US voters because he offered a simple four word solution to ALL their problems "Make America Great Again"(MAGA)..No fancy analyses nor intricate detai...
  • Martin Pierce
    The wake up call was in 2016 when he first won - and for Europe perhaps in 2014 when Russia first marched into parts of Ukraine. There has been no waking up. ...