HOPE'S BLOG: Need to make a difficult decision? Switch off the LIGHTS: People think more objectively when in darkness

By: Unknown on 13:44

Researchers found that dimming the lights can help people make more rational decisions and settle negotiations more easily
University of Toronto Scarborough study said both positive and negative human emotions are felt more intensely in bright light

Scientists claim that turning down the lights (illustrated) reduces emotional intensity, allowing you to keep a clear head when making difficult decisions

Some decisions are so difficult that you can mull them over from every conceivable angle and there is still no obvious answer.
But if you need to make an enlightened decision, dimming the lights could help.
Scientists claim that turning down the lights reduces emotional intensity, allowing you to keep a clear head when making tough choices.
A new study led by the University of Toronto Scarborough has found that both positive and negative human emotions are felt more intensely in bright light.

Alison Jing Xu, assistant professor of management at the university and Aparna Labroo of Northwestern University, conducted a series of studies to examine the unusual paradox of lighting and human emotion.
While other studies have shown that people can be more optimistic about the stock market on sunny days, while gloomy days can result in seasonal affective disorder, Professor Xu said: ‘we found that on sunny days depression-prone people actually become more depressed’.
To investigate the phenomena, the duo asked experiment participants to rate a wide range of things, such as the spiciness of chicken-wing sauce, the aggressiveness of a fictional character, how attractive someone was and the taste of two juices, under different lighting conditions.
They found that emotions run higher in bright light, so that sauce tasted hotter, characters felt more aggressive and people looked more attractive, for example.

The researchers found that emotions run higher in bright light. They think this might be because our emotional system perceives sunshine as heat (illustrated) which in itself triggers our emotions

ADVANTAGES OF DIFFERENT LIGHTING CONDITIONS

Dim light helps people make more rational decisions and settle negotiations more easily.
Emotions are suppressed slightly in the dark, but are intensified in bright light.
Participants in the experiment said food tasted more distinctive and people looked more attractive in bright light.
Retailers should consider turning the lights up when selling emotional purchases such as engagement rings or flowers, the study said.

Participants drank more of the delicious-tasting juice and less of the unfavourable juice too, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.
Professor Xu believes the effect bright light has on our emotional system may be the result of it being perceived as heat - and the perception of heat can trigger our emotions.
‘Bright light intensifies the initial emotional reaction we have to different kinds of stimulus including products and people,’ she said.
Most small everyday decisions are made in bright light, but the researchers found that dimming the lights can help people make more rational decisions and settle negotiations more easily.

The scientists said that marketers might want to investigate the lighting levels in shops as if retailers are selling emotional expressive products such as flowers (pictured) or engagement rings it would make sense to make the store as bright as possible

Professor Xu said: ‘Marketers may also adjust the lightening levels in the retail environment, according to the nature of the products on sale.
‘If you are selling emotional expressive products such as flowers or engagement rings it would make sense to make the store as bright as possible.’
She thinks the effect is at its strongest on brighter days around noon when sunlight is the most abundant and in geographic regions that experience sunnier rather than cloudier days