But what does psychology tell us about these women who immediately put things away after moving them? Where does this habit come from? Does it require constant effort? Researchers have investigated the subject...
We
all know that woman who invites us over and, as soon as our glass is empty,
grabs it and puts it in the dishwasher without even asking if we want to keep
it for another drink later. Annoying to some, amusing to others, she can
nevertheless boast of having a perfectly
tidy home and, above all… of being much less
stressed than most people, if we are to believe the experts.
In 2010, American psychologists Darby Saxbe
and Rena Repetti published a study in the journal Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin examining the link between women's perceptions of
their homes and their stress levels. They visited 60 American couples where
both partners worked and allowed themselves to be guided through their homes,
noting each partner's comments as they gave tours. The team then analyzed
saliva samples from the participants.
The results? Women who described their
homes as cluttered or a construction site showed a less pronounced daily
decrease in cortisol, a profile associated in medical literature with chronic
stress. Conversely, in those who described a peaceful home, the stress hormone
decreased normally in the evening. The scientists also observed a more
pronounced depressive mood in women whose homes were described as messy. In
men, however, no clear link was found.
Actions performed on autopilot
But in their partners, the associations
persisted even after accounting for marital satisfaction and neuroticism.
Therefore, although the study sample size is small, the researchers suggest
that a home environment perceived as cluttered or unfinished could be
associated with poorer physiological and emotional recovery after a workday.
But do these women, who keep their homes so
meticulously tidy, make an effort when they put everything away at lightning
speed?
From
a cardiovascular standpoint, animal studies show that chamomile extracts lower
systolic and diastolic blood pressure and reduce heart rate. Some extracts
inhibit angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), the target of many hypertension
treatments, and relax vascular smooth muscle. When stress activates the
sympathetic nervous system, blood pressure rises; by bringing the body back to
a resting state, the plant can make high blood pressure
less unstable, although it is not sufficient to correct it on its own.
In two studies jointly published in 2002 in
the Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology , psychologist Wendy Wood
asked participants to record their activities, thoughts, and emotions hour by
hour in their dashboards. She also observed that between 35% and 43% of the
actions performed were habitual—gestures repeated almost daily in the same
place.
When participants performed these actions,
they tended to think about other things: they acted automatically and reported
less stress than when undertaking a new action. This is because new behaviors,
or those performed in changing contexts, required more thought and
concentration, as individuals had to reflect more deeply.
What about habits?
Thus, we can conclude that habits serve a
cognitive economy and stress regulation function. Those who tidy up immediately
would therefore act more automatically than voluntarily, and this automatic
behavior would have been established by the force of habit.
But a habit is something that is built up.
However, contrary to the famous saying "It takes 21 days for a new habit
to become established", the reality is quite different.
