Another Benefit of Washing Hands

Recent research suggests that washing hands after making a decision can prevent second-guessing our choice.

A previous post showed hand washing can remove the guilt of past misdeeds. But it was unclear if it was due to the brain linking physical and moral cleanliness or because one forgets about the past.

So psychologists removed any moral implications from the decision - asking subjects to choose between a pair of CDs or flavors of jam. Subjects who washed their hands immediately after making their choice didn't second-guess but the rest spent more time justifying their decision.