People sitting in a cold room are more likely to describe an unidentified mugshot as a person who committed a premeditated murder, according to new research. In other words, when you are cold, criminals seem more cold-blooded.
“In this study, we demonstrated that ambient temperature affects the judgment of criminals. Participants in rooms with low temperature were more likely to attribute premeditated crimes, tended to ascribe crimes resulting in higher degrees of penalty, and attributed more murders to criminals than participants in rooms with medium/high temperature,” Christine Gockel of University of Fribourg and her colleagues wrote in their study, which was published in PLoS One.
The researchers showed four female and four male mugshots in random order to 147 students from Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany. The students were told to attribute a crime to each mugshot by answering the question “What kind of crime did this person commit?”
Each participants sat in either a cold room (67.8°F), a medium temperature room (74.8° F), or a warm room (79.2° F) while they completed this task. The researchers gave the students unrelated tasks for around 15 minutes before they started the main task so they would be adjusted to the temperature.
Students in the cold room were more likely to attribute premeditated crimes to the eight mugshots. They were also more likely to attribute crimes resulting in higher degrees of penalty, and attributed more murders to the criminals.
“Descriptions of cold-hearted and hot-headed behavior are more than simple expressions,” Gockel and her colleagues wrote. “They point to the fact that cognitive representations of temperature are closely related to representations of criminal behavior in general and of criminal intent more specifically.”
The researchers noted that a previous study found experiencing physical warmth increased feelings of interpersonal warmth and promoted cooperation.
“Mental concepts about the environment or other people (e.g., cold-blooded, warm-hearted, or hot-headed behavior) are grounded in direct and concrete physical experiences,” Gockel and her colleagues explained. “For example, caretakers who hold a baby closely and provide a warm hug might provide love and support (i.e., psychological warmth) at the same time. Likewise, not holding a baby closely and rather keeping the baby at a distance might signal lack of love and support (i.e., psychological coldness). This tight connection between physical and social experiences can help explain why we so easily use metaphors based on physical experiences when referring to more abstract social concepts.”