Poker Face Peril

Scientist Says: Show your disgust!

Subjects who were asked to suppress their disgust when shown images of, for example, a dirty toilet or a film depicting an amputation were able to do so.

Which seems like a useful ability - say, when you're dealt a lousy poker hand but intend to bluff.

‘But the emotion then found its way into the open through other channels’, says Grob. ‘At the cognitive level, they began to think about disgusting things much more often and also felt much more negatively about other issues.

So you mask your reaction to your bad poker hand, but then your beer starts tasting bitter.

The same phenomenon occurs in a situation where you are not allowed to think of something, say a white bear. Precisely because you are trying to suppress that thought, it becomes hyperaccessible’.

Your poker hand
is less than grand
so you keep your face clear,
but it ruins your beer!

If a big white bear joins the game,
you should keep a straight face, all the same.