Psychology
2011. Vol.2, No.9, 992-997
Copyright © 2011 SciRes. DOI:10.4236/psych.2011.29149
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: #psychding@gmail.com
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
f
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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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