It is well established that people on their own take more long baths and spend more time snuggling under blankets, and that they report that these behaviours alleviate both physical cold and loneliness. However, psychologists have now taken this a step further and investigated whether increasing the temperature can actually reduce feelings of loneliness.
Fay and Maner (2019) carried out a field experiment with 78 people on days where the temperature ranged from 8°C to 28°C. Participants were asked to report on their experiences of wearing an electric-heated back-wrap. In the experimental condition this was switched on, while in the control condition it was not. Participants were then questioned about their plans to socialise over the next week. Those wearing the warm wrap reported less desire to socialise, suggesting that being physically warm was sufficient to satisfy social-emotional needs for contact with others.
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