Economy & Policy

Members of Congress who want to pass health-care reform should sneeze every time they talk about it

By Barbara Kiviat | November 2, 2009 | +

Here’s a little advice for folks pushing health-care reform: sneeze more.

A study due out in the journal Psychological Science finds that when people have just witnessed a sneeze, they’re more likely to want to fund federal health initiatives.

Last May, University of Michigan psychologists Spike W. S. Lee and Norbert Schwarz sent an experimenter out to shopping malls and downtown business areas to see if people would rather have the federal government spend $1.3 billion on the production of flu vaccines, or $1.3 billion to create “green” jobs. The experimenter got responses from about 50 people. In about half the cases, she coughed and sneezed once before handing over the questionnaire. In the other instances, she simply handed the form over.

The result: of the people who had just witnessed a sneeze up close and personal, 47.8% said that $1.3 billion should be spent on vaccine development. Of the people who had not been a party to the sneeze, 16.7% thought flu vaccines were the way to go.

Score for social determinism! And perhaps for passing health-care reform, too?

Barbara!

Related Topics: Congress, health-care reform, psychology, sneezing, Economy & Policy

  • Latest on Business

    REUTERS/Jeff Haynes
    Real Estate February 10, 2012

    Three Cheers and Three Jeers for $25 Billion Foreclosure Settlement

    A key step was taken yesterday in moving the country beyond the housing crisis, a crisis that triggered the worst recession in decades and whose lingering effects continue to hinder the nation’s nascent recovery. The deal, which brought together 49 state attorneys general and the Justice Department, was a large-scale compromise between states, the federal government, two political parties and the nation’s largest financial institutions. Given the number of players at the bargaining table, it’s no surprise that this isn’t a deal made in heaven. There are significant shortcomings, and critics have already offered legitimate reasons why the deal will not turn the housing market around or even serve justice to those parties that committed fraud and broke the law. At the same time, the settlement will offer real relief to homeowners across the country, and it lays the groundwork for sane regulation of servicer conduct.

    From our Partners

    Ben Bernanke Is Wrong About Debt and Interest RatesSlate

    Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty Images
    Europe February 10, 2012

    Why the Greek Bailout Doesn’t Change Much of Anything

    Thursday’s deal is supposed to allow Greece to avoid default and prevent the Eurozone from breaking up – but the deal isn’t final, it can’t work, and the real problems lie elsewhere.

  • waltwriston

    It’s rather amazing how many people rush “to the cure.” Jeez what a great way to psychologically spread propaganda: sneeze! The so-called government healthcare will be privatized by no less than the year 2020.

blog comments powered by Disqus