A business school might seem like an unlikely source for this kind of news, but apparently packing up our troubles does help us get past unwelcome events, according to research from the Rotman School of Management.
A new study... suggests you might want to stick something related to your disappointment in a box or envelope if you want to feel better. In four separate experiments researchers found that the physical act of enclosing materials related to an unpleasant experience, such as a written recollection about it, improved people's negative feelings towards the event and created psychological closure. Enclosing materials unrelated to the experience did not work as well....
While the market implications might not be immediately obvious..., the findings point to new angles on such things as fast pick-up courier services and pre-paid mortgage deals that relieve people's sense of debt burden. If people realize that the memory of past events or tasks can be distracting, perhaps there is a market for products and services that can enclose or take away memories of that task.
Wayne
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/biggreymare/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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