Motivation being such a difficult hurdle for people to get over, I figure any helpful boosts our environments can give us are worth looking in to.
Today, I want to talk about mirrors. Mirrors seem like such simple, everyday devices, but there is more going on there then you think. They reflect your image, and it turns out, they make your mind more reflective as well:
Researchers have determined that mirrors can subtly affect human behavior, often in surprisingly positive ways. Subjects tested in a room with a mirror have been found to work harder, to be more helpful and to be less inclined to cheat, compared with control groups performing the same exercises in nonmirrored settings. Reporting in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, C. Neil Macrae, Galen V. Bodenhausen and Alan B. Milne found that people in a room with a mirror were comparatively less likely to judge others based on social stereotypes about, for example, sex, race or religion.
The article goes on to state that the underlying mechanism here is that when we are aware of the mirror being present, we go off autopilot a little and go on a more reflective, more positive thought process.
How to apply this research to your life
This is, perhaps, one of the easiest personal growth exercises you can do. Mirrors are cheap, and there’s always somewhere to put a mirror but most of us don’t have that many in our houses, especially in rooms that we spend a lot of time in.
So go out, buy a mirror, and know that you just achieved a little piece of personal growth.
Further Reading:
- Mirrors Don’t Lie. Mislead? Oh, Yes. found via Mind Hacks
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This is interesting. There had been an experiment about effect of mirrors. And it turned out that people cheat/steal less when they can see themselves doing the act.