Warm Hat, Warm Head, Warm Heart

Researchers have shown that the simple act of holding something warm (like a cup of coffee) can make people more likely to view others in a favorable light — and even make them more generous! Well, if warm hands can lead to a warm heart, imagine what warming up your head with a good cap or hat might lead to.

Let’s say you’ve got two study groups: one group was wearing warm, woolen watch caps on their cold walk into the building and one bare-headed.

Once inside (and following the format of the actual ‘warm hands’ study), participants would be asked to evaluate an imaginary person described with words like intelligent, skillful, industrious, practical, and cautious.

If my theory–and that of the researchers–holds (warm) water, I’d say those with the warm hats would be much more likely to score the pretend person as warmer than those who were not wearing hats.

Since temperatures affect emotions, maybe I should go a step further: stop selling hats as solely fashion statements and start calling it therapy. After all, one of the researchers, John A. Bargh, Professor of Psychology at Yale University, says

It appears that the effect of physical temperature is not just on how we see others, it affects our own behavior as well. Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also causes us to be warmer — more generous and trusting — as well.

Put a hat on. It’ll make you a nicer person.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
Warm-Hearted CEO Hartford York

If you warmed to this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

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Distracted By My Hat

A study on “inattentional blindness” is to be published in an upcoming issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology — and its findings are startling (to most).

It seems that people using their cell phones are so distracted, and pay so little attention to things happening around them, that they fail to notice bizarre occurrences taking place. Bizarre like a unicycling clown.

Dr. Ira E. Hyman, Jr. of Western Washington University, is head researcher of the study and says that cell phone users were the group most prone to oblivious behavior (as compared to individuals walking alone, in pairs, or listening to their ipods). Only one-quarter of them noticed the unicycling clown, while pedestrians not not using a cell phone noticed the clown over half the time.

Now, Dr. Hyman, that’s all very interesting and I agree that all cell phone use while driving a motor vehicle should be banned. However — in the interest of science and all that, I think you should know that when you’ve got me in my stockroom, trying to decide between a couple of glorious tweed caps, you could have the entire troupe from the Cirque de Soliel, dancing on stilts, and I wouldn’t see a thing. Just saying.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

If you called someone on your cell phone after reading this post, get free updates (and maybe a unicycle) by email or RSS.

ScienceDaily.com source article

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Subliminal Advertising In My Hat

Seems a study shows that people are able to subconsciously register an image even when they can’t see it or are unaware of the visual stimulation caused by the image. However, says Steve Connor, Science Editor at The Independent in his article called Subliminal messages do reach your brain – but you won’t know it, “some degree of attention is needed by the brain to register a subliminal image. If the brain is too busy doing something else, the image has no effect on it.”

This (and the revelation that the famed drink more Coke subliminal messages aimed at movie goers some 50 years ago was a hoax) is astounding.

As I see it, you need two things for a successful subliminal message campaign: the first is to engage the conscious mind in something easy (like reading this post); the second, have an image posted for the subconscious to look at (like the image of a hat).

HA! I’ve been playing with your minds all along people. How many of you out there are in hats? Come on, raise your hands!

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer, The Subliminal
CEO Hartford York

If you (or your subconscious) enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

categories: straw hats summer hats panama hats straw fedora hats straw fedoras winter hats fedoras cowboy hats leather hats Kangol hats Borsalino hats Scala hats Stetson hats Wigens hats fur hats fall hats autumn hats hats for winter wool caps hats women’s hats men’s hats fashion humor