Actual Cleaning and Simulated Cleaning Attenuate Psychological and Physiological Effects of Stressful Events

Bibliographic Data

ID21209151
AuthorsSpike W S Lee (0000-0002-3357-0179, University of Toronto, corresponding author), Kobe Millet (0000-0003-4365-6109, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Amir Grinstein (0000-0002-0743-6961, Northeastern University), Koen Pauwels (0000-0002-5975-5980, Northeastern University), Koen H Pauwels (Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA), Phillip R Johnston (0000-0001-5020-7999, University of Toronto), Alexandra E Volkov (Toronto Metropolitan University), Arianne J van der Wal (0000-0001-8704-1662, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research)
Year2023
Volume14
Issue4
Pages381-394
Publication date2023-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Psychological and Personality Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1948-5506 • E-ISSN: 1948-5514
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/19485506221099428
PMID40124905
OpenAlexW4284970265
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited83

The human mind harbors various mechanisms for coping with stress, but what role does physical behavior play? Inspired by ethological observations of autogrooming activity across species, we offer a general hypothesis: cleaning attenuates effects of stressful events. Preregistered behavioral and psychophysiological experiments ( N = 3,066 in United Kingdom, United States, and Canada) found that (a) concrete visual simulation of cleaning behavior alleviated residual anxiety from a stress-inducing physical scene, an effect distinct from touch, and (b) actual cleaning behavior enhanced adaptive cardiovascular reactivity to a highly stressful context of social performance/evaluation, which provides the first physiological evidence for the attenuation of stress-related effects by cleaning. Overall, actual cleaning and simulated cleaning attenuate effects of physical or psychological stressors, even when they have nothing to do with contamination or disease and would not be resolved by cleaning. Daily cleaning behavior may facilitate coping with stressors like physical risks and psychological threats to the self

Anxiety · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Psychological stress · Stressor · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Clinical Psychology · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Neuroscience · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access