Replication of “Experiencing Physical Warmth Promotes Interpersonal Warmth” by

2014/05/01 by Dermot Lynott, Katherine S. Corker, Jessica Wortman +4 · 1 voice · 2 citations
Psychology · Neuroscience · Social Sciences · #Behavioral Health and Interventions #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment #Social and Intergroup Psychology

paper · doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000187

openalex publication_date 2014/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11

Abstract

We report the results of three high-powered, independent replications of Study 2 from Williams and Bargh (2008) . Participants evaluated hot or cold instant therapeutic packs before choosing a reward for participation that was framed as a prosocial (i.e., treat for a friend) or self-interested reward (i.e., treat for the self). Williams and Bargh predicted that evaluating the hot pack would lead to a higher probability of making a prosocial choice compared to evaluating the cold pack. We did not replicate the effect in any individual laboratory or when considering the results of the three replications together (total N = 861). We conclude that there is no evidence that brief exposure to warm therapeutic packs induces greater prosocial responding than exposure to cold therapeutic packs.

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• Addressing the theory crisis in psychology

Discussions

• (doi.org/10.1027/1864...) In der Sozialpsychologie heißt das u.a. "distale" Effekte, also jene, die im Vergleich von Ergebnis zur Intervention eher sehr entfernt scheinen. [bsky, 5 points, 0 comments]

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