Can you wash your sins away (literally)? Research says you can

But you need to tread carefully… because this "zero cost wellness tool" has one particular drawback.

Believe it or not, a number of psychology studies have shown that the simple act of washing your hands can alleviate the experience of guilt.

For example, a trio of studies conducted in 2006 found that a threat to our moral purity – that is, doing anything that makes us feel like we're being unethical, such as telling a lie, stealing, cheating, etc. – induces a need to clean ourselves physically. In those three studies, this effect revealed itself through an increased mental accessibility of cleansing-related concepts, a greater desire for cleansing products, and a greater likelihood of taking an offered antiseptic wipe after engaging with a morally questionable behaviour. 

But more than that, these studies also showed that the process of getting clean after doing the thing does indeed reduce the distress we feel as a result. This, I think, is particularly useful for anyone who has ever woken up wracked with guilt over the drunken things they said or did the night before. The simple solution: get in the shower. 

Wait! There's a catch 

As lovely as that may sound, there is a risk involved in reducing the feeling of guilt before acting on it. Obviously, we feel this emotion for a reason. Study after study has shown that guilt motivates the kind of positive prosocial behaviour (behaviour that benefits others, such as cooperating, comforting, sharing and giving) that allows us to repair social bonds and make amends after messing something up. 

Here’s a quote from a study done on this effect:

"To induce guilt, we had participants write about a past wrong they had committed. Next, they washed their hands, watched a washing-hands video, or watched a typing-hands video. After the study was over, participants could help a Ph.D. student complete her dissertation by taking some questionnaires home and returning them within 3 weeks. Results showed that guilt and helping behavior were lowest among participants who washed their hands, followed by participants who watched a washing-hands video, followed by participants who watched a typing-hands video. Guilt mediated the effects of cleansing on helping. These findings suggest that washing one’s own hands, or even watching someone else wash their hands, can wash away one’s guilt and lead to less helpful behavior."

So what can we take from this? Honestly, I mainly find this fascinating. But it could be a useful tool as well. Seeing as hand-washing is pretty much zero-cost, and most people can find themselves feeling guilty about things they really don't need to feel guilty for, this really could be a good thing to remember…just as long as you're okay with losing a little bit of your helpfulness in the process. 

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Thank you for reading!

We’re Hazel (ex boxer, therapist and author) and Ellie (ex psychology science writer). We left our jobs to build an interactive narrative app for self-awareness and emotion regulation (Betwixt), which you can try on Android here and on iOS here.

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