A new study just came out by the University of Michigan regarding psychological benefits of hand washing.

The study, conducted by U-M psychologists Spike W. S. Lee and Norbert Schwarz, expands on past research by showing that hand-washing does more than remove the guilt of past misdeeds.

“It’s not just that washing your hands contributes to moral cleanliness as well as physical cleanliness, as seen in earlier research” said Lee, a doctoral candidate in social psychology. “Our studies show that washing also reduces the influence of past behaviors and decisions that have no moral implications whatsoever.”

According to the authors, the results show that as much as washing can cleanse us from traces of past immoral behavior, it can also cleanse us from traces of past decisions, reducing the need to justify them.

This “clean slate” effect may be relevant to many choices in life. Does washing away the urge to justify one’s choice of one car over another, or even one partner over another, result in less rosy evaluations of them in the long run? If so, does this increase buyer’s remorse because buyers are less likely to convince themselves that they made the best choice possible?

If you are having trouble working or making a decision, could washing your hands be beneficial to you? Perhaps. If your coworkers are annoying you and you are regretting something you said to them (and wishing you had just blocked them out entirely) would washing your hands make you feel better about the situation? This study seems to think so.

In my mind, I figure it couldn’t hurt. Not only does washing your hands help to reduce your chance of illness by washing away germs, now it seems like it can refresh my mind as well. Its a win-win-win.