Most people would like to be less stressed. With our increasingly fast pacedand busy lives it appears that stress related issues are increasing, with the addition ofissues such as terrorist attacks, stress at times can be hard to avoid. Many studies havefound that cooling the brain is beneficial for those who have sustained traumatic braininjuries and the process of cooling can often stop or prevent further damage (Qui et al,2006). The body may also use a natural cooling mechanism, yawning, as a way ofkeeping the brain at optimum temperature, so it can perform at its best (Gallup &Gallup, 2008).There seems to be very little research on the effects of head cooling onpsychological variables. It was hypothesised that cooling would reduce stress levelsand when put in conjunction with a self-affirmation manipulation would decreasestress levels even further. Participants had their ear temperature measured, filled out astress questionnaire and then were asked to sit in between two fans for 12 minutes.Their ear temperature was measured again, they then went on to complete anotherquestionnaire, some containing a self-affirmation manipulation and then went on to astressor task. Lastly, they received a final stress questionnaire. Results werenonsignificant, yet general trends headed in the hypothesised direction. Theimplications of the findings are discussed as are limitations and suggestions for futureresearch.
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