Moon and sun

Cómo afecta el calor a nuestro comportamiento y toma de decisiones

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Sep 08, 2022

Todos hemos pasado por esos días calurosos de verano en los que sudas a través de la ropa y te parece insoportable moverte un centímetro más de lo necesario. Esos días en los que todo el mundo parece especialmente molesto y lo único que quieres es irte a casa, poner el aire acondicionado y refrescarte.

A medida que el cambio climático avanza a toda máquina, las olas de calor son cada vez más frecuentes e intensas.1 Muchos expertos han dado la voz de alarma sobre cómo el calentamiento del planeta puede afectar a nuestra salud física, exponiendo a las personas vulnerables a un mayor riesgo de padecer enfermedades relacionadas con el calor, como enfermedades cardiovasculares e insolaciones.

Pero otra consecuencia del cambio climático que a menudo se pasa por alto es el efecto que este calor adicional tendrá en nuestros procesos de toma de decisiones. Si ha notado que se siente más irritable en los meses más cálidos, puede estar seguro de que no se trata sólo de usted. Resulta que los científicos sociales han documentado este fenómeno y lo han bautizado como la hipótesis del calor. La teoría postula que el calor puede aumentar el comportamiento colérico, agresivo e incluso violento.2,3,4,5

Si queremos evitar lo peor de la crisis climática, tenemos que cambiar nuestro comportamiento, y rápido. Pero, dado lo que sabemos sobre el cambio climático y todos los elementos humanos que contribuyen a él, ¿podría el propio calor ser un obstáculo para avanzar en este frente? ¿Y qué otras consecuencias tendrá el calentamiento del planeta en nuestra toma de decisiones?

References

  1. Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. (2022, July 27). Heat Waves and Climate Change. Retrieved September 8, 2022, from https://www.c2es.org/content/heat-waves-and-climate-change/
  2. Allen, J. J., Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2018, February). The General Aggression Model. Current Opinion in Psychology, 19, 75–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.03.034 
  3. Anderson, C. A. (1989, July). Temperature and aggression: ubiquitous effects of heat on occurrence of human violence. Psychological Bulletin, 106(1), 74–96. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.106.1.74 
  4. Anderson, C. A., & Anderson, D. C. (1984, January). Ambient temperature and violent crime: tests of the linear and curvilinear hypotheses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(1), 91–97. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.46.1.91 
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  6. Ceccato, V. (2005, September). Homicide in São Paulo, Brazil: Assessing spatial-temporal and weather variations. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25(3), 307–321. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494405000393?via%3Dihub
  7. Breetzke, G. D. (2011, February 10). Seasonal Assault and Neighborhood Deprivation in South Africa: Some Preliminary Findings.  Environment and Behavior, 44(5). https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916510397758
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  9. Plante, C., Allen, J. A., & Anderson, C. A. (2017, April). Likely Effects of Rapid Climate Change on Violence andConflict. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.013.344
  10. Mullins, J. T., & White, C. (2019, December). Temperature and mental health: Evidence from the spectrum of mental health outcomes. Journal of Health Economics, 68, 102240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102240
  11. Burnett, D. (2018, February 14). Cruel Summer: how hot weather makes people angrier. The Guardian. Retrieved September 8, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2015/jul/03/summer-hot-weather-anger-psychology
  12. Liu, J., Varghese, B. M., Hansen, A., Xiang, J., Zhang, Y., Dear, K., Gourley, M., Driscoll, T., Morgan, G., Capon, A., & Bi, P. (2021, August). Is there an association between hot weather and poor mental health outcomes? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environment International, 153, 106533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2021.106533
  13. Lerner, J. S., & Tiedens, L. Z. (2006). Portrait of the angry decision maker: how appraisal tendencies shape anger’s influence on cognition. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 19(2), 115–137. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.515
  14. Meissner, P., Poensgen, C., & Wulf, T. (2021, August). How hot cognition can lead us astray: The effect of anger on strategic decision making. European Management Journal, 39(4), 434–444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2020.09.010
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  22. Underwood, E. A. M. (2021, June 23). How to Prevent Air Conditioners from Heating the Planet. Scientific American. Retrieved September 8, 2022, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-prevent-air-conditioners-from-heating-the-planet/
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