Personality, Are You A Warm Or Cold Person?

Profile image placeholder
Author: Allan Schwartz Last updated:
This content from MentalHelp.net will be updated by March 31, 2025. Learn more

Dr. John Bargh, clinical psychologist, has conducted ongoing research on the relationship between personality and warmth. There are many metahphors that represent this connection. For example, people are commonly referred to as being “warm,” or “cold.” How often have you heard someone saying, “She gave me the cold shoulder.” I am sure that everyone, at one time or another has “felt left out in the cold.” We have a neighbor who is outgoing and has a wonderful sense of humor. She is often referred to as being “hot stuff,” indicating her outrageous and hysterical sense of humor that makes all of us laugh. Then, there is the story of someone’s “cold heart” being melted by someone else’s warmth.

Dr. Bargh’s research has demonstrated that these metaphors accurately portray what we feel, how we act and how we can alter those feelings. For example, in one experiment students were evenly divided between those who were given a warm cup of coffee vs. those who were handed a cup of iced coffee. All of them were given a description of a stranger and were asked to evaluate him. Sure enough, those with the warm cups rated the stranger as warm as opposed to those with iced coffee who rated the same stranger as cold. Many variations of this experiment and others have all demonstrated the relationship between warmth and social relationships. In cases where someone was viewed as cold, behavior toward that person was equally cold – all based on the presence of something hot or cold. This supports the the old saying, “Warm hands, warm heart.”

Now, there is further evidence that doing such things as taking a hot bath or shower, eating a hot meal, and having hot soup all influence the way we see ourselves and others.

It is important to note that all of this is unconscious, something Bargh has also studied for many years. In these experiments, all participants were unaware of the purpose of the study or of the role of the hot or cold substances.

How can you benefit from all of this? For one thing, taking a hot bath or shower is not only comforting but influences how you feel about others and yourself, which then influences how you act later in the day. Hot soup on a cold day really is warming in more ways than one!

Take that hot bath, it will help you feel less lonely and behave more warmly toward your fellow human beings. You will be more likely to give friends and strangers a warm, rather than chilly, reception the next time you see them.

About MentalHealth.com

MentalHealth.com is a health technology company guiding people towards self-understanding and connection. The platform offers reliable resources, accessible services, and nurturing communities. Its mission involves educating, supporting, and empowering people in their pursuit of well-being.

Content Disclaimer

The content on this page was originally from MentalHelp.net, a website we acquired and moved to MentalHealth.com in September 2024. This content has not yet been fully updated to meet our content standards and may be incomplete. We are committed to editing, enhancing, and medically reviewing all content by March 31, 2025. Please check back soon, and thank you for visiting MentalHealth.com. Learn more about our content standards here.

Profile image placeholder
Author Allan Schwartz

Dr. Allan Schwartz is a medical writer on the MentalHealth.com Editorial Team with over 30 years of clinical experience as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He writes about various mental health disorders, eating disorders, and issues related to relationships, stress, trauma, and abuse.

Published: Feb 28th 2012, Last edited: Oct 1st 2024