Who: Researchers such as Lawrence Williams of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and John Bargh, the researcher and psychologist from Yale University. For their study, the researchers randomly chose 41 undergraduate students, 27 of whom were female.
What: Scientists from across the country came up with a theory that those who held a warm beverage viewed a stranger with having more warmer personality traits, and were more generous in dealing with others, as opposed to having a cold beverage, such as an iced coffee. Therefore, they held a study in which the 41 students were being tested on. The students were either given a hot cup of coffee or an iced coffee, while giving their names and other basic information. They were then each given a packet of questions regarding another individual in the room. They were asked to rate that person's overall personality such as being generous/ungenerous, happy/unhappy, good-natured/irritable, sociable/anti-social, and caring/selfish. As a result, the subjects that had held the warm beverage rated people as being "warmer". However, on the questions that were unrelated to warmth, the researchers found no difference in the answers between the warm beverage holders and cold beverage holders. In additon, to the beverage study, the researchers also conducted a similar study in which the 41 students either held a hot pack, or an ice pack. They were then offered a gift certificate to give to a friend, or they could recieve a gift for themselves. The majority of those who held the hot pack asked for the gift certificate for their friend, and those who held the ice pack asked for the gift for themselves.
Where: The study took place in an elevator en route to another floor of the building.
When: There is no specific date in the article, however I would have to say that the study took place in late September to early October.
Why: The study was conducted because many scientists agreed with the same theory-that a warm beverage in the morning, gives a person a more positive outlook on the day. Therefore, they decided the only way to be sure if their theory was true or not was to test it in an experiment.
My Opinion: Though I do not drink coffee or any other hot beverage in the morning, I would have to agree with the researchers that a warm beverage does give a person a more generous attitude. I agree because not only is their sufficient evidence to support the theory, I have witnessed it with my own mother. For example, when my mother has a hot cup of coffee, she tends to be less cranky and kinder to my sister and I. However, the days that she has a cold glass of milk, she tends to be more negative and more upset.
