To Wash Your Body, or Purify Your Soul: Physical Cleansing Would Strengthen the Sense of High Moral Character

doi:10.4236/psych.2011.29149

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Psychology

2011. Vol.2, No.9, 992-997

To Wash Your Body, or Purify Your Soul: Physical Cleansing

Would Strengthen the Sense of High Moral Character*

Zhixiong Yan1, Daoqun Ding1,2#, Liangshi Yan2

1Department of Psychology, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China;

2Institute of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China.

Email: #[email protected]

Received September 7th, 2011; revised October 8th, 2011; accepted November 9th, 2011.

Physical cleansing, such as bathing or washing hands, is at the core of many religious rituals, suggesting that

physical cleansing ceremonies can purify the soul. The present research examines the association between

physical and moral purity by the semantic priming paradigm on which the participants made a lexical decision

task. There is an interaction effect between the prime word (cleaning related vs. non-cleaning related) and target

word (moral related word vs. non-word) which shows a significant priming effect. Thus, we think that physical

cleansing would not only associate with moral transgression in memory stage, but also the sense of high moral

character in perception stage.

Keywords: Physical Cleansing, Moral Purity, Moral Disgust, Priming Effect

Introduction

Baptism has existed as a significant ritual in many religions

such as Christianity, Mandaeanism, Judaism, and Sikhism for

thousands of years. The prevalence of this practice suggests a

psychological association between bodily purity and moral

purity. Uncleanness has been served as a metaphor for sexual

misdeed, idolatry, or unethical behavior. Cleanness has been

compared to sexual purity, service to one God alone, and cor-

rect action (Neusner, 1973). In China, Water-Splashing Festival

is a grand traditional festival for The Dai in April 13 to 15 of

every year. The Dai people splash water on one another to

vanquish the devil and symbolically express the wish for better

times ahead, meanwhile, singing the song “Ode to Dripping

Water” in order to wash away all their worries and misfortunes,

cleanse them of their selfishness and greediness, and keep them

safe and sound forever. Moreover, no important ceremonies,

such as wedding, funeral and birth, will take place without wa-

ter. When young couples get married, the old man who presides

over the wedding ceremony will sprinkle water on them to wish

a happy time and a good future. In a word, Chinese are sure

about that physi cal cleansing ceremony can purify the soul.

In Western cultures, the association between physical and

moral purity has been demonstrated by Zhong and Liljenquist

(Zhong & Liljenquist, 2006). Participants are more likely to

think of cleansing-related words after recalling a moral trans-

gression from their own lives, and they reveal a desire to en-

gage in cleansing behavior. Schnall (2008) uses prime para-

digm and further demonstrates that the feeling of cleanliness

reduce the perceived seriousness of moral transgressions

(Schnall, Benton, & Harvey, 2008). Schnall also demonstrate

that induced feelings of disgust can attach themselves to moral

judgments, leading the person to conclude that a particular

moral action is quite wrong (Schnall, Haidt, Clore, & Jordan,

2008). The experiments reported in this article investigate the

basic relationship: the feeling of cleanliness would strengthen

the sense of high moral character through priming paradigm

because concepts of cleanliness can be primed in subtle ways.

In research 2, we investigate if one after moral trespasses would

be induced to clean body for keep a good self-image. A lexical

decision task has been used in this experiment. The prime and

the target are presented in pairs and a word/non-word judgment

to the target is required. Because the sense of physical cleaning

from the priming should be attributed to the moral judgments

and one after moral trespasses would be induced to clean body,

it is expected that priming with cleanliness words would

strengthen the sense of high moral character more so than

would priming with neutral control words. We also infer that

priming with moral trespasses words would strengthen the ten-

dency to clean body more so than would priming with neutral

control words.

Experiment 1

Method

Participants

Forty Hunan normal university undergraduate students (30

female, 10 male; mean age = 20.00 years, SD = 1.85 years)

participated as part of a course requirement. All subjects were

healthy, right-handed, with normal or corrected to normal vi-

sion, and reported no history of affective disorder. Each subject

signed an informed consent form for the experiment.

Materials

The stimulus material consisted of 80 prime-target pairs,

which were divided into four experimental conditions, and each

including 20 prime-target pairs (See Appendix A). All pairs

repeat twice (160 prime-target trials). The main factors ma-

nipulated in the experiment are prime word (cleaning related or

non-cleaning related word) and target word (moral purity word

or pseudo word). All prime words are verbs and target words

are adjectives. All experimental stimuli were made into images

by PC with Microsoft Office Picture Manager, with the image

size, word length and familiarity matched between cleaning

related or non-cleaning related words. The level of design is 2

*This research was supported by the National Social Science Foundation o

China (Grant No.11BSH046).

#Corresponding author.

Z. X. YAN ET AL. 993

(cleaning related VS non-cleaning related word) × 2 (moral

purity word VS pseudo word).

Procedure

Subjects were seated in a quiet room at approximately 120

cm from a computer Screen. In order to familiarize participants

with the task, experiment started with 14 practice trails (7

words and 7 pseudo words). Each trial was initiated by a 500ms

presentation of a small white cross on the black computer

screen, followed by a blank screen for 800 - 1000 ms. Then, the

presentation of prime words followed by the presentation of

target words (presentation time for prime was 150ms, and for

target was 500 ms). The interstimulus interval (ISI) between

prime and target was 100 ms. Half subject were instructed to

press the “Z” key on the key board (as accurately and quickly

as possible) if the targets were words and to press the “/” key if

the targets were pseudo words. If the participants made an in-

correct response, the computer will emit a 500-ms beep. For the

remaining subjects the response pattern was reversed. The pro-

cedure is designed by E-PRIME 2.0

Results

Reaction time is analyzed by a two-way repeated measures

analysis of variance (ANOVA).Trials with reaction times below

300 ms or above 1200 ms are defined as outliers and removed

from the data set. The percentage of the data categorize as out-

liers do not exceed 2.0%. The data from a participant is not

included in the analysis because the participant shows high

error rates (21%) in the lexical decision task. The results showed

a significant prime word by target word interaction effect [F(1,

38) = 4.129, p < .05] (see Figure 1). The simple effect analysis

indicated that the reaction time was faster in cleaning related

word priming condition compared to non-cleaning related word

priming condition when the target word was moral purity word

[F(1, 38) = 10.79, p < .01]. However, there was no significant

response difference between cleaning related word priming

condition and non-cleaning related word priming condition

when the target word was pseudo word [F(1, 38) = .32, p

> .05].

In addition, the analysis of the accuracy also demonstrated a

significant prime word by target word interaction effect [F(1,

38) = 6. 67, p < .05]. The simple effect analysis indicated that

the response accuracy was higher in cleaning related word pri m-

ing condition compared to non-cleaning related word priming

condition when the target word was moral purity word [F(1, 38)

= 9.86, p < .01], and no difference existed when the target word

was pseudo word [F(1, 38) = .03, p > .05]. ALL data is proc-

essed by SPSS.

Discussion

As expected, we found an obvious priming effect indexed by

RT (reaction time) and ACC (accuracy). Subjects made more

fast response for moral purity word when primed by cleaning

related word compared to non-cleaning related word. Moreover,

the ACC also higher for processing moral purity word when

primed by cleaning related word that of primed by non-cleaning

related word. These results were consistent with previous study

that cleaning had a stronger connection with moral purity

(Schnall et al., 2008; Wheatley & Haidt, 2005). Since the study

of Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971) demonstrating that a target

word (e.g. butter) is recognized faster when preceded by an

associated prime (e.g. bread) than by a non-associate (e.g. nurse)

(Meyer & Schvaneveldt, 1971), the semantic priming effect has

Figure 1.

Effects of reaction time and accuracy as a function of prime words

(cleaning related or non-cleaning related words) and target words

(moral purity words or pseudo words). Error bars represent standard

error.

been extensively applied in written word recognition, especially

for associatively related pairs (Lupker, 1984). The priming

paradigm has been proved to be a good method to investigate

the automatic processing of information. The present study

extended previous studies by proving the existent of connection

between cleaning and moral purity via priming experiment

paradigm. In other words, we proved it at the unconscious level,

which could made our result more objective compared to pre-

vious research’s results indexed by participant’s subjective

rating (Schnall et al., 2008; Wheatley & Haidt, 2005). As dis-

cussed above, we found aims of the experiment which is the

stronger association between cleaning and moral purity. In the

Experiment 2, we also adopted priming experiment paradigm to

investigate whether the exposure to moral disgust produced a

psychological desire for cleansing or not.

Experiment 2

Method

Participants

Forty Hunan normal university undergraduate students (20

female, 20 male; mean age = 20.00 years, SD = 1.85 years)

have participated as part of a course requirement. All subjects

were healthy, right-handed, with normal or corrected to normal

vision, and reported no history of affective disorder. Each sub-

ject signed an informed consent form for the experiment.

Materials

The stimulus material consisted of 92 prime-target pairs,

which were divided into four experimental conditions, and each

including 23 prime-target pairs (See Appendix B). All pairs

repeat twice (184 prime-target trials). The main factors ma-

nipulated in the experiment ar e prime word (moral disgust word

or non-moral disgust but negative word) and target word

Z. X. YAN ET AL.

994

(cleaning related word or pseudo word). All prime words are

adjectives and target words are verbs. All four experimental

stimuli (moral disgust word, non-moral disgust word, cleaning

related word and pseudo word) are rated by 100 participants for

the degree of familiarity and arouse on a 5-point scale (1 = “not

familiar at all” to 5 = “extremely familiar”, 1 = “not exciting at

all” to 5 = “extremely exciting”). The degree of familiarity was

4.32(4.32 ± 2.09) for moral disgust words, 4.35(4.35 ± 2.35) for

non-moral transgressions words. The degree of arouse was

4.62(4.62 ± 2.39) for moral disgust words, 4.57(4.57 ± 2.45) for

non-moral disgust words. The T-test showed that there was no

significant difference existed between moral disgust word and

non-moral disgust word in the degree of familiarity and arouse

(p > 0.05). The level of design is 2 (moral disgust word VS

non-moral disgust but negative word) × 2 (cleaning related

word VS pseudo word).

Procedure

The procedure was the same as experiment 1. Subjects were

seated in a quiet room at approximately 120 cm from a com-

puter Screen. In order to familiarize participants with the task,

experiment started with 14 practice trails (cleaning related word

or non-cleaning related word). Each trial was initiated by a 500

ms presentation of a small white cross on the black computer

screen, followed by a blank screen for 800 - 1000 ms. Then, the

presentation of prime words followed by the presentation of

target words (presentation time for prime was 150 ms, and for

target was 500 ms). The inter stimulus interval (ISI) between

prime and target was 100 ms. Half subject were instructed to

press the “Z” key on the key board (as accurately and quickly

as possible) if the targets were words and to press the “/” key if

the targets were pseudo words. If the participants made an in-

correct response, the computer will emit a 500-ms beep. For the

remaining subjects the response pattern was reversed.

Results

Reaction time is analyzed by two-way repeated measures

analysis of variance (ANOVA). Trials with reaction times be-

low 300 ms or above 1200 ms are defined as outliers and re-

moved from the data set. The results showed a significant prime

word by target word interaction effect [F(1, 38) = 5.01, p < .05]

(see Figure 2). The simple effect analysis indicated that the

reaction time was faster in moral disgust word priming condi-

tion compared to non-moral disgust word priming condition

when the target word was cleaning related word [F(1,38) =

13.30, p < 0.01]. However, there was no significant response

difference between moral disgust word priming condition and

non-moral disgust word priming condition when the target

word was non- cleaning related word [F(1, 38) = 0.54, p >

0.05].

However, the analysis of the accuracy did not show signifi-

cant main effect on prime word [F(1, 38) =0.008, p > .05], tar-

get word [F(1, 38) = 2.91, p > .05], or prime word by target

word interaction effect [F(1, 38) = 0.639, p > .05].

Discussion

As predicted, we also found that subjects made more fast re-

sponse for cleaning related word when primed by moral disgust

word compared to non-moral disgust word. This was likely

because that the exposure to moral disgust word made people

more desire for cleaning, which contributed to faster processing

of cleaning related word compared to that of primed by

non-moral disgust word. This is consistent with previous study

of moral cognition where a threat to the moral self would moti-

Figure 2.

Effects of reaction time and accuracy as a function of prime words

(moral disgust word or non-moral disgust but negative word) and tar-

get words (cleaning related words or pseudo words). Error bars repre-

sent standard error.

vate cleansing activities (Zhong & Liljenquist, 2006). In the

present study, we also proved that the exposure to moral disgust

situation would produce psychological need to engage in clean-

sing behaviors. Moreover, the priming experiment paradigm

made our result more objective and convincing.

General Discussion

There exists a moral-purity metaphor that likens moral

goodness to physical cleanliness (Rozin, Millman, & Nemeroff,

1986; Zhong & Liljenquist, 2006). In the Experiment 1, we

found a stronger connection between moral purity and cleaning.

In the Experiment 2, we further found that the exposure to

moral disgust situation would elicit a psychological need for

cleaning. More importantly, these results were based on the

unconscious level using priming paradigm, which made our

result more objective than that of using other subjective evalua-

tion paradigm. As mentioned in the Introduction, religious ritu-

als or traditional custom might not only be a simple religious or

culture phenomenon, but also an acute reflection of human

psyche in implicit level. When you wash your body, you expect

wash your soul, which can make you feel clean, chaste, self-

restrained, spiritually pure, and should strive to live in a sacred,

divine way, distinguish yourselves from other animals, attempt

to place yourselves close to higher spiritual beings by being

physically and morally pure (Haidt, 2001; Haidt, Koller, &

Dias, 1993). Thus, the psychological meaning of baptism is to

protect the purity of your soul, not just your body.

The implications of this research may be substantial. Future

studies that address the psychological and behavioral conse-

quences of physical cleanliness will provide valuable insight

into regulatory mechanisms that drive ethical decisions. Given

the boost to one’s moral self afforded by physical cleansing,

Z. X. YAN ET AL. 995

how might it influence subsequent behavior? Would adherence

to a rigorous hygiene regimen facilitate ethical behavior? It

remains to be seen whether clean hands really do make a pure

heart, but our studies indicate that they at least provide a clean

conscience after moral trespasses. The future research would

investigate the electrophysiological evidence through Event-

related potential technology.

Acknowledgements

We thank Carl. D. Brady for editing English .

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Z. X. YAN ET AL.

996

Appendix A (all words are translated in English)

Type1 Type2 Type3 Type4

Physical clean

Word (Verbs) moral rela ted

word (adjective) non-physical

clean word (Verbs)moral rela ted

word (adjective) physical clean

word (Verbs) non-word non-physical

clean word (Verbs)non-word

洗澡

bathe

贞操

virtue

奔波

rush about

敬仰

worship

打扫

sweep 案焦爬行类历

洗手

wash one’s hands

廉洁

incorruptible

参观

visit

敬佩

admire

盥沐

wash one’s hands and

face

傲忙闲逛

hack around 领丈

沐浴

take a bath

清廉

uncorrupted

走动

walk about

廉明

incorruptible and

intellighet

盥漱

wash one’s face and

rinse one’s mouth

米依漫步

ramble 陋泥

洗脚

footbath

孝敬

Give presents to one’s

elders

降落

descend

廉正

rightness

盥澡

scouring bath 薄狠踱步

pace 碌粗

净手

wash one’s hands

尊贵

honorable

解散

dismiss

贞节

chastity

换洗

change and wash 衬极攀爬

scramble 率凄

漱口

gargle

圣洁

sanctity

旁观

look on

仁义

humaneness and

righteousness

净白

pandaram 楚疲跛行

limp 忙夸

洗浴

Bath

宽容

tolerant

跑步

run

忠诚

loyal

清洁

clean 荡保健步

walk with vigorous

strides

蒙拥

漱洗

wash one’s face and

rinse one’s mouth

仁厚

clemency

散步

take a walk

坚韧

tenacity

清扫

clear 点纪赛跑

run 纳滋

搓洗

hand-launder

忠厚

kind and sincere

搜寻

hunt for

忠实

faithful

漱涤

gargling 周点奔驰

coursing 巧早

搓澡

give sb. a rubdown

with a damp towel

孝顺

filial

挖掘

excavate

忠烈

loyal till death

漱盥

brushed one ’ s teeth朵精追赶

pursue 然紧

沐澡

Bath

贞洁

chastity

围观

surround and watch

正义

justice

刷白

whiten 分严冲刺

spurt 弱仓

冲洗

rinse

坚贞

faithfulness

消遣

amuse

坚强

staunch

刷亮

brushing 怪默踏步

tramp 式实

淋浴

shower

坦荡

magnanimous

休假

vacation

忠勇

loyal and brave

刷洗

scrub 犷初慢跑

jogging 适信

冲澡

take a shower

正直

probity

摇摆

waver 刚毅 fortitude 刷牙

tooth brushing 糊瘦徜徉

roam 酸自

洗漱

wash one’s face and

rinse one’s mouth

善良

kind-hearted 走路 walk 崇敬

admire

洗涤

rinse 华崇转悠

take a leisurely walk态国

擦背

rub one ’ s b ack wit h a

towel

忠孝

loyalty and filial

piety

蹒跚

stumble

正派

upright and honest

浸洗

immersion cleaning滑凑小跑

trot 统极

清洗

purge

仁慈

kindness

踉跄

stagger

崇高

sublime

洗烫

laundering 缓迷飞越

fly 味规

擦洗

scrub

恭敬

respectful

奔走

be busy running

about

无私

selfless

洗衣

wash clothes 境激游泳

swim 物呼

擦澡

take a sponge bath

忠贞

loyal and dependable

徘徊

linger

仗义

uphold justice

洗濯

cleanse 峻怜运动

campaign 吸总

洗脸

have a wash

高雅

elegance

飞奔

run like split

敬爱

respect and love

洗面

wash one’s face 愧艰咀嚼

chew 雄优

Z. X. YAN ET AL. 997

Appendix B

Type1 Type2 Type3 Type4

moral aversive

word (adjective) Physical clean

Word (Verbs) Non moral aversive

word (adjective) Physical clean

Word (Verbs)moral aversive

word (adjective) non-word Non moral aversive

word (adjective) non-word

歹毒

vicious

冲洗

rinse

烦恼

upset 洗漱刻薄

acrimony 浑安消极

passive 遥光

卑贱

mean and low

漱口

gargle

消沉

depression 沐浴淫秽

obscene 宁便焦躁

impatient 滑方

下贱

baseness

洗脚

footbath

荒唐

absurd 洗涤狡黠

crafty 宜浑蛮横

rude and unrea sonable便知

奸诈

duplicity

洗澡

bathe

郁闷

unhappy, gloomy 洗面粗野

insolent 圆奇苦闷

anguish 足简

自私

selfish

刷牙

tooth brushing

恼火

annoy 擦洗龌龊

dirtily 异资懒惰

lazy 朴果

虚伪

hypocritical

洗浴

Bath

窝囊

wimp 清扫险恶

inclemency 深冷沮丧

dejected 效梧

可耻

shameful

擦澡

take a sponge bath

颓丧

dispirited 擦澡放荡

libidinous 皙威怯懦

recreancy 善缠

卑劣

despicable

清洗

purge

衰老

feeble and old 清洁淫荡

lechery 武古迟缓

sluggish 绵稳

残忍

merciless

沐澡

Bath

孤单

lone 浸洗阴险

cattiness 朴严惶恐

terrified 凉超

残酷

cruel

搓洗

hand-launder

懒散

lentitude 冲澡低俗

vulgar 谨坚悲观

pessimistic 理洪

粗俗

vulgar

淋浴

shower

落后

fall behind 洗脸无耻

without any sense

of shame

决详惆怅

disconsolate 宗迅

刻薄

acerbity

洗漱

wash one’s face and

rinse one’s mouth

自卑 inferior 洗手下流

ribaldry 俭逍烦恼

upset 捷显

淫秽

obscene

沐浴

take a bath

消极

passive 冲洗歹毒

vicious 利审消沉

depression 赫合

狡黠

crafty 洗涤 rinse 焦躁

impatient 漱口卑贱

mean and low 妙顽荒唐

absurd 适殷

粗野

insolent

洗面

wash one’s face

蛮横

rude and unrea sonable洗脚下贱

baseness 皮含郁闷

unhappy, gloomy 切幽

龌龊

dirtily

擦洗

scrub

苦闷

anguish 洗澡奸诈

duplicity 蓄雍恼火

annoy 静称

险恶

inclement

清扫

clear

懒惰

lazy 刷牙自私

selfish 密正窝囊

wimp 俭无

放荡

libidinous

搓澡

give sb. a rubdown

with a damp towel

沮丧

dejected 洗浴虚伪

hypocritical 规谦颓丧

dispirited 畏镇

淫荡

lechery

清洁

clean

怯懦

recreancy 搓澡可耻

shameful 重亢衰老

feeble and old 面高

阴险

cattiness

浸洗

immersion cleaning

迟缓

sluggish 清洗卑劣

despicable 奋委孤单

lone 朗细

低俗

vulgar

冲澡

take a shower

惶恐

terrified 沐澡残忍

merciless 婉合懒散

lentitude 确合

无耻

without any sense of

shame

洗脸

have a wash

悲观

pessimistic 搓洗残酷

cruel 体茂落后

fall behind 格厚

下流

ribaldry

洗手

wash one’s hands

惆怅

disconsolate 淋浴粗俗

vulgar 密庄自卑

inferior 职明