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Having made a hard decision and want to stick to it, go and wash your hands.

A latest research showed that hand washing, which was associated with absolving the mind of guilt, can also erase any doubts about choices.

Spike Lee, a researcher from University of Michigan, said that hand washing appears to erase doubts. He added:

“When people make decisions, they are often faced with choosing between two very attractive options.

“Let’s say they are choosing a vacation spot – Paris or Rome. After choosing, let’s say, Paris, they justify their choice by thinking to themselves it is the right one because French cuisine is better and the art museums are fantastic. They are justifying their choice by focusing on the positive features.

“What our study showed was that after people washed their hands they no longer felt they had to justify their choice.

“They had washed away the compulsion to justify the choice they had made.’ The researchers added: ‘It’s not just that washing your hands contributes to moral cleanliness as well as physical cleanliness.

“Our studies show that washing also reduces the influence of past behaviours and decisions that have no moral implications whatsoever.”