What you are experiencing every day can influence your thoughts, like holding a hard or soft ball can influence your perception of how masculine or feminine others are, according to a recent study。
In the study, Michael Slepian at Tufts University and his colleagues had subjects clench either a hard ball or a squishy ball in their hands while looking at pictures of faces that had been altered to appear gender-neutral. They then were asked to categorize the faces as either male or female。
When touching the hard ball, volunteers were about 10 percent more likely to categorize a face as male; for those clutching the soft ball, the results were slanted toward females. The findings are likely the result of the gender stereotypes people hold, the researchers said: that guys are tough and gals are tender。
Recent studies by others have similarly found connections between our sense of touch and our perceptions of others, the researchers said. For instance, holding a warm cup of coffee makes you more likely to have "warm" feelings toward others. Hand-washing can make people feel cleansed of their sins. Holding something heavy can change our perception of the importance of a topic。
"Our knowledge isn't stored in our mind the way a computer stores knowledge," Slepian said. "To understand these concepts you need your body. Those sensations are actually part of your knowledge of abstract concepts like masculinity and femininity."