The Cold Shoulder Literally Makes People Feel Cold

(Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.)

Those on the receiving end of social rejection actually feel colder than those who are accepted.

A recent study determined this by having one group of participants remember a time when they were excluded from an activity and having another recall memories of social acceptance. Then both groups were asked to estimate the room's temperature. Those who recalled feeling ostracized pegged it at four degrees lower than the other group -- a statistically significant discrepancy.

The researchers then performed another experiment: playing a computer-simulated ball tossing game in which some participants got the ball more often than others. Afterward, the participants were asked to rate the appeal of certain beverages, some hot and some cold. The players who had received the ball fewer times were more likely to go for hot soup than those who had just basked in the warmth of acceptance.

We suspect the study was funded by Campbells, and assume the research will be used to engineer a chicken noodle for kids who are regularly targeted during dodgeball games.