Hot Coffee (Achievement Nudge about Achieving a Better Outcome)

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Last Updated on February 10, 2025 by Bill Truby

Worldwide, we drink about 500 billion cups of coffee a year. New research shows this might be a good thing. Turns out, holding a hot cup of coffee affects your brain, AND how you treat others.

In 2008, a study conducted by Lawrence Williams at the University of Colorado, and John A. Bargh of Yale, showed that holding a hot beverage has strange effects on how we view other people and our willingness to accommodate them…and we don’t even know it.

In the study, participants were asked to come to a lab where they would fill out a short questionnaire to rate a stranger’s personality. Each participant had to ride an elevator to get to the lab. THIS is where the sneaky part of the research was conducted.

When the participant entered the elevator, another person (a research assistant) entered with them. The research assistant appeared to be having a hard time holding a cup of coffee while juggling other things. The assistant would ask the participant to hold their cup as they went up the elevator, and this is where the research actually began.

Half of the participants were asked to hold a warm cup of coffee, the other half an iced coffee. When the participants got to the lab, they were asked to fill out the questionnaire about a stranger’s personality, i.e. whether they were generous, caring, good-natured, etc. In all cases, the participants who held the warm cup of coffee rated the stranger with a “warmer” personality than those who held the iced coffee.

Someday, when you attend one of our seminars, you’ll learn the deeper psychology surrounding “priming” and “sub-modalities,” but the essence is this: Our mind is constantly being “prepped” for what’s next by what’s current. It carries the attitude, judgments and “feel” of our current situation and experience into the next one. The problem is few of us realize this subconscious effect on our lives.

Other than hot coffee, what else affects how we treat others…and self? Could a hard chair, dirty glasses or tight shoes affect our well-being or relationships? Could drinking a hot cup of coffee affect my mental musings differently than an iced tea? Maybe. This research clearly shows there is cause and effect from something as “insignificant” as the temperature of the cup of coffee we hold. And there’s more…

In other stages of the research, participants were told they were going to review a new product – a therapeutic pad. Half the participants held a hot pad, half a cold one. Once again, there was a sneaky part of the study, and the REAL research happened after the participants got to feel the pad.

As a reward for participating in the evaluation of the pad, each participant was given a choice: (1) a refreshment for themselves, or (2) a gift certificate for a friend. Only 25% of the people who held the cold pad chose a gift certificate, but 50% of those who held a hot pad picked the gift for a friend. There was a clear connection between “experience” and “benevolence.” Clearly, what you are experiencing now affects what you experience next. That explains a lot, doesn’t it!

In fact…didn’t we learn once that the happiest places on earth were in some of the coldest countries on the planet? Maybe it’s because they drink more hot beverages. In any case, one thing you can learn from this Nudge; if someone wants to talk about a problem they have with you, ask them first, “Want a cup of coffee?”

This article is part of our ongoing Achievement Nudge series—short, witty, and often inspirational articles to spark your personal and professional growth. Explore more nudges on our blog, or sign up for our weekly Nudge and News email. Each edition includes an Achievement Nudge plus leadership, professional development, and personal growth videos and articles to keep you inspired and on track.

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