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New research in psychology proves that cleaning yourself would have a real impact on the anxiety caused by stressful events.
What if a good shower and a good cleaning could really wash away your ambient stress? This is the idea induced by a new Canadian study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, according to which cleaning and cleanliness would be linked to the reduction of anxiety. Beyond the well-being felt in a shower, or water at the right temperature, the experiments carried out by researchers at the University of Toronto would present the first quantified and scientific evidence of “cleansing” on our signs of anxiety. .
Wash to relieve tension
To reach its conclusions, the team of Spike W. S, main author of the study, conducted various visual and sensory experiments on a panel of 1150 people. Subjected to stressful videos (such as a terrified woman before a bungee jump), the participants were then treated to a video of washing hands, drawing, or cooking. Those who watched the handwashing video tended to report lower levels of anxiety afterward than others. Another visualization experiment was set up: faced with a stressful video, participants were asked to visualize washing themselves thoroughly from head to toe, or to imagine themselves touching their neck, arms and face. This exercise was to find out if touch came into play or if “washing” acted more on stress. Again, the team found that anxiety levels were lower in those who imagined cleaning compared to those who imagined touching.
An underlying psychological parallel
Why do we associate washing with cooling down? The author attempted a rational explanation: “When we engage in cleansing behavior, it involves separating residues from our bodies (e.g., washing dirt off your hands)”, yet this basic physical experience consisting separating the residuals from our body can trigger a more psychological form of separation, namely separating the residual influence of past experiences from the present.”
The author warns, however, that his study is currently only based on a Western population, and that it does not claim to know the effect of cleaning in different cultures. But the purification rituals that exist in many religions raise the question of a more universal conclusion.