Task in Hand

Though hand-washing may be an important factor where hygiene, politics and public opinion are concerned, some consider it fundamental in terms of their soul’s salvation. For thousands of years, religious ceremonies have equated bodily purity with moral purity. In what some researchers call the “Macbeth effect” – a threat to one’s moral purity induces the need to cleanse oneself – the faithful believe they are truly washing away their sins.

Christians, Mandaeanists and Sikhs perform water purification through baptism. Wudu (translated as “ablution” – washing of the hands), is central to Islam. Muslims prepare for worship by first washing their hands followed by other body parts. Hinduism follows similar customs.

Morality outside of the sacred is also affected by the act of hand-washing. In a 2006 study at the University of Toronto, researchers asked participants to perform tasks such as cheating on tests (in a controlled environment) and retelling of an unethical deed. In order to affirm an “adequate” amount of distress, the researchers surveyed the emotional states of the participants. After these actions, ½ of the participants were instructed to wash their hands. The researchers then asked if the participants would volunteer for another study that would benefit a desperate graduate student. Searching for a correlation between physical and moral purity, researchers found 74% of the unwashed volunteering to help, whereas only 41% of the clean hands were raised. The unwashed were still in need of an immorality purge.

At a point where our hands are bombarded with bottles of sanitizer, pictures of scary bugs and Starbuck’s gift cards so that we may scrub the critters off, there are some people who can’t stop. One of the most common symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an extreme preoccupation with dirt and contamination. Sufferers of OCD repeatedly wash their hands, often more than 100 times per day resulting in rawness, chapping and, sometimes completely rubbed-off skin. While the origin of OCD (and its related severity of hand-washing) is unknown, doctors currently find that the application of behavioral drugs like Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft curb the neuro-stimuli believed to be the root.

As population growth and modern movement bring Earth’s inhabitants closer to one another, the need for a responsible approach to hand-washing will grow increasingly important. Like so many benign acts that become taken for granted, improper practice of this simple action can result in extraordinary circumstances – jeopardizing the world’s health, its commerce, even its faith – and most importantly its future. President Garfield probably would have agreed.