Washing Hands Makes Tough Choices Easier

Now, scientists report that when people wash their hands immediately after making a decision, they are less likely to rationalize its merits -- possibly making them less content with the decision but more objective about the option they rejected.
While the finding doesn't necessarily offer any obvious practical advice, it adds to a growing body of evidence that washing is both literally and figuratively cleansing and that sensory experiences often reflect abstract feelings.
"There is a really clear psychological connection between feeling morally clean and physically clean, and between feeling morally dirty and physically dirty," said Spike Lee, a doctoral student in social psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His new study appeared today in the journal Science.
"Now, we're expanding the scope of the metaphor to mean wiping the slate clean," he said. "We're saying that things in the past can be washed away and you can start something afresh. I think this might have pervasive implications about how we live our daily lives."