Think Better With a Full Bladder

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Fred
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Think Better With a Full Bladder

Post by Fred »

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/choke/2 ... t-thinking

Got to Go? Wait. You'll Do Your Best Thinking.
Not just quicker decisions, but better ones.
Posted Apr 28, 2011

Picture it: You're in the middle of making a string of important decisions at work or with your family when—all of a sudden—you realize you really need to pee. Common sense would suggest that you should politely excuse yourself, attend to your business, and return so that you can make clear -headed decisions without being distracted by the need to go.

But common sense is wrong.

New research suggests that holding it in actually facilitates our ability to control our impulses and make the best decisions in whatever situation we find ourselves.

For some time psychologists have known that visceral states such as hunger and desire can affect the decisions people make: People buy more unhealthy food at the grocery store when their stomachs are empty, and they are more likely to engage in unsafe sexual practices when they are aroused, even when they are aware of the potential consequences. It's also been shown that these visceral states lead to more impulsive behavior in general—not just in the context of food or sex. So it wasn't such a big leap to think that, maybe, inhibiting your bladder might spill over and lead to better inhibition ability in all sorts of situations.

To test this idea, researchers Mirjam Tuk and colleagues had people complete several different decision-making tasks after drinking a great deal of water (meant to increase the urge to urinate). In one task, known as "the Stroop task," people were asked to identify the color of the ink a word was written in. This is easy if the word is "green" and the ink color is green as well. It becomes more difficult if the word is "blue" but it's written in green ink. To successfully complete the task, people have to inhibit their automatic tendency to read the word and just name the color the word is written in. In another task, people were asked a series of questions in which they had to choose between getting a small reward soon, or a large reward later in time. For example, participants chose between receiving €16 the next day or €30 in 35 days. (The study was conducted in the Netherlands.) Inhibiting the desire for the immediate payout leads to greater earnings in the long run.

What the researchers found was that the stronger people's urge to pee, the better they were at controlling their impulses. Folks were better at inhibiting reading the word and just naming the ink color in the Stroop task, and they were better at inhibiting their impulses in the monetary decision-making task. People who had to go were more willing to forego a smaller sum of money sooner and instead wait for the bigger payout later than people who didn't need to pee.

Interestingly, people's impulse control was also better when the researchers primed their urge to go by having them search through a word puzzle for words like urination, toilet, and bladder before they completed the decision-making tasks.
Visceral drives have an enormous impact on people's daily lives, but this new research shows that these states have even more of an impact than anyone previously thought. The next time you are trying to make a difficult decision, in which the best option may not be the most immediately rewarding or appealing, and you find yourself needing to pee, push common sense aside and finish your decision making with a full bladder.
evergreen
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Re: Think Better With a Full Bladder

Post by evergreen »

I can relate this to waking in the morning with a very full bladder before going to assemble breakfast. If I then add to that washing and shaving I have sometimes found myself dancing around holding myself only to suddenly lose it and having to yank my bits out of my briefs before having a total disaster. Why I don't simply go when I get in the bathroom or even before assembling breakfast I have no idea. Maybe this is the answer!

Thank you! :oops:
Fred
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Re: Think Better With a Full Bladder

Post by Fred »

I remember my college years, up half the night with coffee after coffee trying to complete a report. And not wanting to interrupt my train of thought by going downstairs to pee! I think the urgency did actually sharpen my focus, at least up to the point where I was leaking. :o
Brian
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Re: Think Better With a Full Bladder

Post by Brian »

I remember the former UK prime minister David Cameron saying that he made his speeches with a full bladder because it let him concentrate better. It does strike me, though, that this is a pretty risky thing to try to do. A slight miscalculation and Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons would take an unusual turn...
Fred
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Re: Think Better With a Full Bladder

Post by Fred »

Brian wrote: 29 Oct 2018, 12:41 I remember the former UK prime minister David Cameron saying that he made his speeches with a full bladder because it let him concentrate better. It does strike me, though, that this is a pretty risky thing to try to do. A slight miscalculation and Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons would take an unusual turn...
Oh, but I'm sure the Prime Minister would become more interesting and his speeches better attended.
evergreen
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Re: Think Better With a Full Bladder

Post by evergreen »

Agreed Fred - it would do a good deal to increase my interest in political debate ;)
Lee
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Re: Think Better With a Full Bladder

Post by Lee »

Fred wrote: 29 Oct 2018, 13:26
Brian wrote: 29 Oct 2018, 12:41 I remember the former UK prime minister David Cameron saying that he made his speeches with a full bladder because it let him concentrate better. It does strike me, though, that this is a pretty risky thing to try to do. A slight miscalculation and Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons would take an unusual turn...
Oh, but I'm sure the Prime Minister would become more interesting and his speeches better attended.
Is that why you never see an MP in the House of Commons in a light grey suit, I wonder?

Also, maybe some of the Royals, like Prince Harry might employ that technique? He always seems to wear light grey trousers!!
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