6.While feelings of disgust can increase behaviors such as lying and cheating,cleanliness can help people return to ethical behavior,according to a recent study by marketing experts at Rice University,Pennsylvania State University and Arizona State University.The study highlights the powerful impact emotions have on individual decision-making.
As an emotion,disgust is designed as a protection.When people feel disgusted,they tend to remove themselves from a situation.The instinct is to protect oneself.People become focused onself'and they're less likely to think about other people.Small cheating starts to occur:If I'm disgusted and more focused on myself and I need to lie a little bit to gain a small advantage,I'II do that.That's the underlying mechanism.
In turn,the researchers found that cleansing behaviors actually keep the self-serving effects of disgust to a minimum.If you can make people think of cleaning products,the likelihood of cheating also goes away.People don't know it,but these small emotions are constantly affecting them.
The researchers conducted three randomized experiments causing disgust through various means.The study involved 600participants around the United States; both genders were equally represented.In one experiment,participants evaluated consumer products such as antidiarrheal medicine(止瀉藥),and diapers(尿布).In another,participants wrote essays about their most disgusting memory.In the third,participants watched a disgusting toilet scene from the movie"Trainspotting".Once effectively disgusted,participants were willing to lie and cheat for financial gain.
In another set of experiments,after falling into the state of disgust on participants,the researchers then had them evaluate cleansing products,such as household cleaners and body washes.Those who evaluated the cleansing products did not engage in deceptive behaviors any more than those in the neutral emotion condition.
At the basic level,if you have environments that are cleaner,people should be less likely to feel disgusted.If there is less likelihood to feel disgusted,there will be a lower likelihood that people need to be self-focused and there will be a higher likelihood for people to cooperate with each other.
The deeper meaning of the study's findings is that these powerful emotions can be caused by a variety of small things when people are reading the newspaper or listening to the radio.What we found is that unless you ask people,they often don't know they're feeling disgusted.The question is how to make people more self-aware and more thoughtful about the decision-making process.
71 impact(s)/influence(s)/effect(s) 72.others 73.purpose/intention74.reduce/minimize 75.tendency 76.willing/ready/likely 77.behaviors 78.meanings 79.cooperation80.various.