The London Enterprise Office

3rd November 2008

Making a cup of hot tea in a crisis has become somewhat of a British tradition. Well now new research has revealed that there might actually be scientific reasoning behind why this makes us feel better.

London Metropolitan University lecturer Dr Simon Moore recently commented on research conducted by US scientists which found a link between the consumption of hot drinks and emotional well-being.

Participants in the study were asked to hold a hot cup of coffee or a cold drink and were then asked to rate a fictional character. Those holding the hot drinks were 11% more likely to rate the character as warmer than those holding cold drinks. But the warmth of the drink had no impact on how volunteers viewed other personality traits.

In a second study volunteers were asked to hold either a hot or a warm pad, believing it to be a new medical product. They were then asked to choose between a free hot drink for themselves or a voucher they could give to a friend. Those primed with the hot pad were more likely to give the gift to a friend than those given the cold pad to hold.
Dr Simon Moore, Lecturer in Psychology at London Met said similar results had been shown in other types of experiments.
In an other test participants asked to memorise a list of words afterwards rated the experience more positively if the list contained ‘warm’ words.

‘It's basic conditioning - warm sensations are nicer than cold sensations and if you feel something nice you transpose it on to something else.’

He added: ‘It would be interesting to test someone's personality first- I would think the more suggestible they are the greater the effect of the warm cup or cold cup.’