When there’s a global pandemic going on, there’s nothing more unwelcome than the sound of a sniffly nose or a raspy cough from the person standing behind you.
Coronavirus is spread through tiny droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze.
But just because someone sounds like they’re ill doesn’t mean they are, a new US study has found.
Researchers at the University of Michigan have discovered that the more disgusting people perceive a sound to be, the more likely they are to believe that it came from an infected person – regardless of whether or not that’s true.
They looked at participants in four studies who were asked to judge cough and sneeze sounds were produced by people infected with a communicable disease or not (where can I sign up?).
On average, participants only guessed four out of ten sounds correctly from either an infected or non-infected person.
There was also no evidence that participants’ accuracy improved when they knew the actual number of infectious sounds or when they focused on how clear or disgusting they perceived the sounds.
Yet the participants overwhelmingly reported that they believed their judgements were right.
The researchers say the lesson is: next time you next time you hear someone cough or sneeze, leave the diagnosis to the doctor.
I’m still reaching for the hand sanitiser though.
